Bengaluru: Less than three months after a six year old was raped in VIBGYOR High, Bengaluru has woken up to the horror of a four-year-old being sexually assaulted in another city school.
Ironically, Orchids, The International School in Jalahalli part of a chain of schools with its headquarters in Hyderabad where the latest case was reported, is one of the few in the city to have installed CCTV cameras as asked to by the Department of Public Instruction and the city police following the VIBGYOR High incident.
While the police and DPI had issued two sets of guidelines to keep children in schools safe, there were not many takers for them in private schools which dismissed them as impractical.
Orchids, however, did as told and installed the cameras, but they have proved of little use both in preventing another child from being sexually abused or in finding the culprit, as the footage has not thrown any light on his identity as yet.
The school has CCTV cameras installed across campus, according to Mr D. Shashi Kumar, secretary, Karnataka State Private Schools Management Federation (KSPSMF), who visited it for an inspection after the recent child abuse case came to light. “They have been very prompt in implementing the latest directions,” he adds.
But the fact that this has not helped stop another child from suffering the trauma of sexual abuse only seems to have proved the schools, which have refused to install the CCTV cameras in their grounds, right.
“The guidelines are simply not feasible. The authorities seem to think that CCTV cameras are the answer, but you can’t possibly have a camera in every classroom, every corridor and every tree! It’s a joke!” says Mr Vasudeva Sharma, founder, child Rights Trust, a quasi-governmental organisation, calling for a more practical solution to the problem.
While Mr Kumar says the authorities need to take action against the officials who have allowed Orchids to function despite its lack of affiliation to any board, Major Aditi, who is part of the task force,
The Fighters Bengaluru Against Rape, says the school needs to be shut down following the latest incident. “There is no point in creating a hue and cry after something like this happens unless the police ensures the culprits are severely punished as soon as possible,” says the Major.
Most private schools don’t follow rules
Now that a child has been sexually abused in Orchids, The International School, despite the CCTV cameras it has in place, child activists are insisting that technology cannot be relied on alone and school managements need to be more careful when appointing staff. Background verification of new staff and an effective monitoring system are a must, they underline.
Dr. Shailaja H.R. Kamath, an independent researcher, points out that when the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) appoints teachers in government schools it considers various issues besides their training. “The candidates must be graduates or have a masters degree.
Also, proper background verification has been made mandatory for outsourced staff. But unfortunately many private schools which are out to make money don’t follow most of the rules including mandatory affiliation,” she rues.
According to DPI rules and regulations published on its website, all schools must give data on their teachers and other staff to the local police. They must also have a parents-teachers association, women staff accompanying school vehicles and so on. But most schools rarely follow any of these rules. Says a block education officer, “If private schools allowed parents’ scrutiny, most of the problems would be solved.
The state government must make sure that all schools have parents-teachers’ committees with representatives from local education and police departments as well. In the Orchids school parents, who were paying between Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh never insisted the school make public its affiliation letter or hold parents-teachers’ meetings at least once in three months. Today they are protesting against the DPI. But everyone must be vigilant.”
