TimesView The government’s grand talk on according priority to children’s safety on school campuses rings hollow. That a whopping 1,151 schools are without CCTV cameras shows the seriousness being attached to kids' safety. A robust surveillance system can be a strong deterrent and is a basic requirement to tighten security infrastructure of any place. Multiple instances of child abuse have been reported from schools, indicating little ones are vulnerable in spaces which are supposed to be highly secure. The government needs to show more urgency in addressing this lacunae in its own educational institutions.

Lacking transparency

BENGALURU: A year after the state government announced that installation of CCTV cameras in government schools will be its top priority, none of the 1,151 government schools in Bengaluru North and South education districts have adopted the security feature.CCTV cameras were made mandatory in schools a few years ago after a spate of child abuse incidents were reported on campuses in the city. Curiously, the mandate was assumed to be restricted to private schools.“It’s a misconception that only private schools need CCTV cameras. What most people do not understand is that child abuse happens even in government schools, but go unreported,” said Nagasimha G Rao, convenor, RTE taskforce.According to Rao, child abuses come to light in private schools because parents take the risk and fight for the sake of their children, but fear among students and guardians ensure that such incidents in government schools remain unheard.The government school in Rajarajeshwari Nagar has nearly 100 boys and girls on its rolls, but not a single CCTV camera can be seen on campus. “Education department staff came for an inspection of the campus last November and announced that two CCTV cameras would be installed. But not one has arrived yet,” a teacher from the school said.In another government school, a class 5 girl stopped attending class for almost a month following harassment by her seniors. “During our daily physical training session, a senior boy would pull my hair and touch me inappropriately. I complained to my teacher, but was told not make an issue out of it. When I told my mother, she stopped me from going to school,” Preethi N (name changed) said. The child returned to school only after the principal assured her parents that he’d take extra care to ensure that such things don’t recur.Another teacher from the RR Nagar school said that a three-year-old child was abused by a housekeeping staffer on campus. “The housekeeper would follow the child every time she went to the toilet. The child would come back to me crying. One day, I followed the child and found the man abusing the girl. I immediately rushed in and rescued her. The housekeeper threatened to harm me. He was immediately removed from the job, but the incident continues to haunt us,” she said.“Installing CCTV cameras on campus will create a sense of fear among miscreants and there will be discipline,” she added.“Government schools do not need CCTV cameras, but a lot of other facilities which they lack. Every year the government discusses CCTVs in its plans, but nothing turns into reality. There is a lack of transparency in the system,” said a senior officer belonging to the department of public instruction.