Self Defense Talim

School Girls Self Defense Talim       

    As per the latest circular issued in September 2017, any violation or lapses with regard to student safety and well-being of children in school campuses may result in disaffiliation of the school.

The latest statement comes against the backdrop of a series of incidents in schools across the country, including the murder of a seven-year-old boy in a reputed school in Gurugram, and the rape of a five-year-old girl by a school peon in Delhi.

School had reiterated that the onus of keeping students safe within schools would "solely lie upon the school authorities", bringing the very topic of safety and security of children in schools to centre stage.

Directions by School for student safety:

    The School has directed its affiliated schools to install CCTV cameras at all vulnerable areas within the school and to limit the entry of outsiders within its premises

    The Board has also asked the schools to ensure that the non-teaching staff such as bus drivers, conductors, peons and other support staff be employed only from authorised agencies and that proper records be maintained

    Further, the Board has also directed that schools must constitute separate committees for redressal of grievances of the staff, parents and students, and form an internal committee for complaints regarding sexual harassment under Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012.

While these directions demand a decent amount of accountability from schools, a holistic approach to tackling the student safety issue is also needed. Schools must recognise the power of vigilance as the key to protecting children.

This calls for a proactive collaboration on establishing and monitoring safety procedures applicable to infrastructure, resources, transport, as well as the emotional and physical well-being of children within the school campus to create a safe learning environment.

This five-fold student safety checklist should help protect school-goers.

Here are the five factors to keep in mind to ensure student safety and school security:

    It is essential to keep the school environment including the school buildings, premises, playgrounds, laboratories, swimming pool, computer rooms, libraries, toilets, drinking water facilities, school buses, transport area and the surroundings safe and secure.

    The buildings should be built to ensure "life safety", and be more resilient to hazards

    School administration, staff, teachers as well as students need to be better aware and prepared to respond to any catastrophe, natural or man-made

    School has made it mandatory for its affiliate schools to have their buildings designed to be earthquake resilient and fitted with basic fire safety equipment.

    The schools must leverage low cost and environment-friendly technologies without compromising on structural soundness and safety of the buildings

    Just as the physical safety of children in schools is important to ensure complete student safety, so too is their psychosocial safety

    Children who are victims of violence show continuous symptoms of depression, dissociative reactions, feelings of helplessness, lack of emotional intelligence, and aggression

    Emotional and psychosocial maltreatment destroys a child's sense of self and personal safety. Schools must provide the right ambience to develop and enrich talents to facilitate the total development of a child's personality.

    Installing CCTV cameras at strategic locations across school premises would ensure that a child's day-to-day life in school is constantly being monitored and recorded

    The schools must be vigilant and constantly be on the lookout for any forms of child abuse, whether physical, emotional, or sexual. The staff should be trained to understand key indicators of child abuse, and be prepared to respond instantly to inappropriate or harmful behaviour

    The policy framing process of schools must follow the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery (PPRR) model of risk management. In matters pertaining to child safety, this model would help the school administration to be vigilant

    The security cameras can be effective in school safety investigations, or even act as deterrents to such behaviour

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