Students safety in school direct responsibility of states, UTs: Centre to RS

State governments and the Union Territory administrations have the "direct responsibility" to ensure the safety of students in schools under their territorial control, the Centre has told the Rajya Sabha.

While replying to a written question, Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) Upendra Kushwaha told members of the Upper House that the Centre has already issued necessary guidelines to the states and the Union Territory administration time and again to ensure the safety of schoolchildren.

This comes at a time when the issue of the students' safety in schools has emerged as a big concern with several serious cases, including those of sexual assaults on schoolchildren, reportedly coming to fore from different parts of the country.  

Recently, a seven-year-old boy of the Ryan International School in Gurugram was murdered inside the school toilet. A Class XI student of the same school was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the crime.

 The CBSE has formulated and circulated detailed guidelines to its affiliated schools for the safety of students in schools and prevention of accidents relating to school children,   said Kushwaha.

"The CBSE in its guidelines issued on September 12, 2017, has directed all affiliated schools to get the security/safety audit done of their premises and personnel from their respective local police station and also reiterated that all schools affiliated with the CBSE strictly adhere to all the guidelines on the safety measures in schools issued by the HRD ministry and the board from time to time," Kushwaha added.