Are Money and Life of Kids Both at Stake in Reputed Schools like Ryan International these Days?

So, a big question mark arises on the school authorities with the death of a 7-year-old child, Pradyuman in the school premises. The incident took place on September 8, 2017, Friday in Ryan International School, Gurugram where a student of class II was found dead in the school’s washroom. The seven-year-old boy's throat was slit by the bus conductor after an alleged attempt to sexually assault him inside the school's bathroom. The parents of students outraged on hearing this news and questioned the school authorities for such a careless attitude towards the safety of their children.

 

Schools are an important phase in a student’s life and one cannot avoid going to schools in their childhood. Schools are meant to prepare the children for the outer world so that they can have a mature and rational approach towards their future. But with such incidents coming up every year, it is becoming difficult for parents to trust even the school authorities on their child’s life. This is a matter which no longer can be neglected and the government of India must take strict actions to avoid such incidents in future.

 

Running schools has become more of a sort of a business where school authorities charge surplus money from the parents in the name of various security and maintenance charges but do nothing towards the safe-keeping of the children. Is it that school management cares only about the money being surpassed to them by the parents and bears no responsibility towards the well-being of the children? If it is so, then the management must be reminded of the fact that under the Protection of Child’s Right Act, the safety of a child whether at home or in school should be taken care of.

 

It is no other but the school authority who would be blamed for such casualness but what’s done cannot be undone! We can still secure the future in our hands, by bringing some very easy but effective methods into use. The very first step that schools like Ryan International should follow is that every teaching or non-teaching staff should undertake police verification so that such brutal assaults are never committed to either the teacher or the students. A tough security check to be posted at the entrance of every school so that dangerous weapons like knife, pistol or other such stuff cannot make it way into the school premises. Every teaching and non-teaching staff including the students should be checked thoroughly to ensure that no such mishappening takes place in future. Funds collected from students should be spent on the security of the students. CCTV cameras should be installed at every corner of the schools and suspected areas, where such crimes are likely to take place.

 

A school, after all, is a place where a student is meant to feel safe and secure. So, a combined effort should be made by the school management, teachers, students and parents to safeguard the future of the children and promise them a happy learning.

 

Written by: Anamika Jakhmola