Install cameras, keep staff near toilets, schools told

CHANDIGARH: The UT education department has directed government school principals to install CCTV cameras and ensure the presence of staff outside toilets in an advisory issued weeks after a Class VII boy allegedly sexually abused a Class I student in a school’s washroom.

The school had failed to provide CCTV footage sought by the Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The incident had come to light many days after it had occurred.

The advisory issued by district education officer Anujit Kaur, a copy of which is with TOI, reads, “In the case of child sexual abuse that occurred in a city school, the following advisory is hereby issued keeping in view the safety and security of schoolchildren in future.” The points mentioned in the advisory are for “strict compliance.”

Schools have been asked to install CCTV cameras in corridors, playgrounds and vulnerable spots. “A CCTV camera must be installed in the corridor near the washroom, so that the entry/exit (toilet) can be easily viewed,” the advisory says. The responsibility of principals has been fixed to ensure the cameras are in a working condition. “The working of CCTV cameras must be checked daily by the principal and the CCTV cameras must have memory storage of at least 30 days,” the advisory says.

Five minutes of moral education in ‘zero period’

The education department has said there should be separate toilets for boys and girls in separate wings. “If this is not possible in any school, the principal shall write to the engineering department for a provision of the same.” The staff who manage toilets should sit outside the toilet only, after cleaning the washrooms. The girl’s toilet should be monitored preferably by a female attendant. Moral education should also to be given in “zero period” or in regular periods by the subject teachers for five minutes daily, the advisory states.