The murder of a seven-year-old boy on the premises of Ryan International School in Gurugram has triggered outrage and concern among parents in Delhi over the state of security at schools and educational institutes in the city.
“It is an unfortunate incident, which needs to be investigated, but schools generally have strict measures in place to ensure safety of children. Outsiders are not allowed in, students can’t go outside. Whether an outsider was involved [in the Gurugram case] or someone who was already inside is a matter of investigation,” said a member of the National Progressive Schools’ Conference, an association of over 1,000 private schools in the Capital.
“Generalising the opinion that schools do not have enough safety measures in place would be unfair,” the member added.
‘Should learn a lesson’
Greenfields Public School’s Pratigya Mehta said: “There are already laid down rules, we as human beings also would not let any kid’s safety be comprised but accidents like this should be taken as lessons to be extra careful.”
Khagesh Jha, an educational activist and a Supreme Court lawyer, said: “How was a sharp-knife allowed to be taken inside the school? It is a major security issue. Schools must scrutinise and verify staff.” He added that schools should invest more on security.
“It may have been an accident but there has to be an explanation about what happened and how,” said Ashok Agarwal of the All India Parent’s Association.
Ameeta Mohan, principal of Amity School in Pushp Vihar, said: “The life of a student is top priority of the school management and staff”.
“As per Supreme Court’s order, CCTV cameras cannot be installed in wash-rooms, so we have kept maids and guards to keep a check there,” she said.
(With inputs from PTI)