Dehradun: The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday ordered private schools to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in every transport ferrying schools students, the footage of which to be monitored by the Principal or Vice Principal.
This comes days after a three-year-old girl was allegedly molested in a school bus by the driver and conductor in Nainital’s Kathgodam area. The duo was arrested on Friday evening.
A division bench of acting chief justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma gave a slew of directions to the public schools for maintaining a safe environment for the students. The orders came while disposing of a writ petition filed by Aklema Parveen highlighting the ‘insensitivity’ on the part of the school while dealing with the victim.
The court said that the incidents of molestation are reported frequently and the state administration should have taken necessary remedial steps to address the issue by now.
The division bench further directed schools to make it mandatory for the school buses and vans to have female staff in them.
“Schools must provide their students with GPS enabled identification cards to trace their location. Not just ID cards, but buses and vans should also be quipped with GPS tracker systems,” the bench said.
Besides, to enhance the safety of students within and outside the premises of the schools, parents should be informed through SMS after picking up and dropping off their children, the court said.
Uttarakhand is known for its renowned public schools located across Nainital, Mussoorie and Dehradun. However, the reputed schools have often failed to maintain security for the students.
Recently, six people, including the staff, from one of Dehradun’s well-known schools were arrested for covering up an incident of gang rape of a teenager.
The High Court underlined that the district authorities shall regularly monitor the CCTV footage in private schools and the school management must abide by its directives, otherwise, the court shall recommend cancellation of affiliation of the errant schools.
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