Bhopal: There is considerable resentment and confusion among the teachers and managements of private schools in the city over the slew of directives being issued on almost daily basis by the administration and the police in the wake of the horrifying incident at Ryan International School, Gurugram.
Besides being asked to get the police verification of all the staffers – from the principal to the peon – done, the managements have also been directed to install CCTV cameras at all conceivable places, subject teachers to psychometric tests. They have been also asked to form WhasApp groups of teachers and parents, equip school buses with cameras and GPS and deploy a female attendant in all buses. They have even been asked to form WhatApp groups in which drivers of Maruti Omni vehicles ferrying children and their parents would be members!
The managements say that implementing the measures will be cumbersome and expensive and some of them find them “degrading”. “What have things come to? We are being treated like suspects”, rues Keshav Raut, who teaches in Anand Vihar School. “I have already got my police verification done. We hardly have any option. We cannot raise objections for if we do, we will be thrown out. It seems as if all of us are criminals or at least potential criminals”, says Girish Urkude, a teacher with Sharda Vidhya Mandir.
Rajesh Kumar Sharma, principal of Bal Bhawan School finds the police verification part “hurtful to the dignity of the teaching profession”. “In no case will our senior teachers visit police stations for any sort of verification. This is against our dignity”, he said. He also questions the directive to deploy female attendants in buses. “Who will be responsible for their security?” He wants to know.
The modalities of the police verification are yet not clear. The managements and principals do not know whether the teachers will be required to visit the police stations or whether the cops will come visiting their homes or schools or whether it be done online. “It will not be possible for teachers, especially women, to go to police stations”, avers Shailesh Jhope, principal of Anand Vihar School.
Some, however, have already stated following the directives. DPS, Neelbadh principal Vineeta Malik said, “We have already got the police verification of all our staffers done. We stick to all SC norms. Even if our teachers are asked to visit police stations, we will abide by the directive”.
Similarly, Niti Shrivastava, a Hindi teacher DPS said that she will readily visit police station to get her verification done. “The issue is of security of the children. After all, besides a teacher, I am also a parent”, she says. Mahua Chatterjee, who teaches Economics at Sanskar Valley School has no issues with the police verification diktat but says that it is not a solution. “What about first-time offenders? How will police verification deter them?” She queries. She said that it is the mindset which needs to be changed. “Regular counselling, gender sensitisation and drawing lessons from mistakes can help minimise such incidents”, she says.
Psychometric tests are used to measure an individual’s mental capabilities and behavioural pattern. These tests are designed to measure candidates’ suitability for a role based on the required personality characteristics and aptitude. Subjecting teachers and other staffers to these tests is also easier said than done. To begin with, these tests can only be administered to an educated person. School managements say that many of their staffers including cleaners and drivers etc are not educated enough to take these tests. Rajesh Kumar Sharma, who is a psychologist by training, says that there are at least 16 types of personality traits and it is not clear which of them have to be tested. Br Alex, President of SAHODAYA group, Bhopal says that there is confusion about the issue. “The CBSE has issued a circular regarding the tests after the Ryan incident. We don’t know exactly what these tests are, how useful they will be and how to get them done. We are talking to psychologists”. Then, there is also the question of who will bear the cost of the tests, which is around Rs 800 per person. “Either the school or the teachers will have to pay”, says Alex.
Young women teachers are not comfortable with idea of forming WhatsApp groups with parents of children. “That will mean all the parents will have my mobile number and access to me. What is the guarantee that any of them may not start harassing or stalking me?” Says Anjali Gautam, 23, who has joined a recently after completing her PG. However, Alka Dwivedi, principal of Kopal School, Neelbad, seeks to allay such fears. “We will propose that the teachers should be the admin of these groups so that can remove anyone who plays mischief”, she says.
