The rape of seven year old girl brings into focus theweakest link of Goa’s education system “ the safety of the children who goes toschools. Even as Education Department Authorities, School Management, Policeand Goa Government go into a huddle to draw out guidelines for children’ssafety, The Goan has stumbled upon a Union Ministry of Home Affairs Standard OperatingProcedure on School Safety that was sent in April 2010 to Directorate ofEducation, the administrative arm of Goa State Board for Secondary and HigherSecondary. The SOP, though meant for terrorist attacks, would have ensured a robustdeterrent against Headland Sada type incidents.
The SOP called for concrete boundary wall for schools withthree to four gates each manned by at least three guards round the clock. Thethree to four metre high walls had to be lined with concertina wires. Theguideline if implemented would have avoided the possibility of the assailantscaling the fence of the ill-fated school. However, no authority on Goarecollects it. “I have never come across any such guideline for school safety”,admits Anil Powar, Deputy Director, Education to The Goan. Powar’s admissionassumes significance as he has been one of the longest serving top brass in theEducation Department.
MHA’s guidelines were sent across to all states in Indiawhere the respective Boards for Education were to implement it. Goa ignored it.Not quite though. “I do remember coming across safety guidelines that came fromthe Centre and had specifics such as distance between boys and girls toiletsetc.” confirms Jose Rebello, Chairman, Goa Board for Secondary and HigherSecondary Education. Rebello, who remembers the circular from his previousstint as Principal, Fr Agnel Ashram School virtually damns the EducationDepartment’s we-are-not-aware stand. The Department did have the circular butnever implemented it. The schools did not treat it seriously either.
Meanwhile, the MHA circular also recommended amongst otherthings “installation of CCTV systems all along the boundary as well as someadditional locations inside the premises, to monitor the movement of suspiciouspersons, with recording facilities for the last three days”.
For a state where schools look up to Education Departmentfor every expense, even a basic CCTV system would have been affordable under Rs5000. The schools ignored it. In the case where the incident happened, thefootage could have warned the authorities and avoided the police makingmultiple sketches of an elusive attacker.
What is worse is that the schools have no sync or closecooperation with Goa Police. MHA guidelines not only did make the display ofthe telephone numbers of the local Police Control Room in strategic locationsaround the school but also mandated an independent telephone line at the schoolgates so that a security guard can call up the police independent of the schoolmanagement, in times of distress. But then even the Goa Police is not aware ofthe MHA guideline. “I am not aware of this directive and shall check and revertback to you,” promised Director General of Police Kishan Kumar to The Goan onthe day after the crime. His reply is still awaited.
As the tragedy fast fades out of public memory, the securityof children in Goa’s over 2200 schools lies at the mercy of educationists,bureaucrats and cops who carry on their routine deliberation to come out with asafety guidelines.
It would have been easier if they referred to the MHAcircular that was sent to them three years ago.
