This week, some private schools were issued notices by the police department under the Karnataka Public Safety Measures Enforcement Act 2016 (revised in 2018) for non compliance of safety rules. 

 

In a copy of the notice issued to one of the schools, it has been specified that the notice has been served as the school had failed to install door metal detectors and did not have a hand-held detector on the campus. Meanwhile, some other schools have been served notices for not installing CCTV cameras of specified resolution and storage. 

 

The rules mandate that all schools must have HD resolution CCTV cameras across premises and have data upto minimum 30 days stored on a device for any verification. Schools ought to ensure that all entry points, exists, parking areas covering upto 50 meters of the campus us under surveillance. 

 

“This is an unreasonable demand to place. Budget private schools will not be able to afford storage units that can store so much of data. It is an expensive affair,” argued the principal of a school in Bengaluru. 

 

Meanwhile, D Shashikumar, general secretary, Associated Managements of Private Schools in Karnataka said that schools being served notices under such  pretexts only puts them under pressure. 

 

“The police have served notices only to private schools. The same was done in 2014. We had to approach the court. The government was then told to follow all these in government schools first and set an example for the others to follow. Even as there are a specific set of safety and security measures by the department of women and child development, the intervention of the police is uncalled for. 

 

“We urge the home minister to stop this discrimination between private and government schools and rather focus on ensuring security for all students alike,” said Shashi Kumar.