Some resources for standards of school safety in Karnataka are:
- NCPCR (National Commission For Protection Of Child Rights)- Manual on safety and security of children in schools
- Right to Education Act & Rules
- CBSE & ICSE Boards’ infrastructural directives
- Karnataka Educational Institutions (Classifications Regulation & Prescription of Curricula etc) Rules, 2017 has directives on child safety measures to be implemented in schools
- Karnataka State Child Protection Policy
These cover the following aspects of safety in schools:
School Building, Fire Safety Management Health, Personal & Sexual Safety, Earthquake / Flood/Cyclone/landslide Management, Social & Emotional Safety, Electrical Safety, Safety from Constructional Hazards, Safety in the Playground and Sports Activities, Water Safety, Lab Safety, Transport Management Safety, Trauma Management, Safety of the children with disabilities, Sanitation and Hygiene and Cyber Safety.
Schools should have a Child Protection Policy and constitute a Child Protection Committee to ensure child safety.
The latest directives of the Karnataka School Education Departments dated 21.10.2019 & 07.11.2019 instruct all schools as follows:
- This circular is instructs all schools to follow the NCPCR guidelines which is contained in Handbook called "Manual on Safety and Security of Children in Schools".
- All School Principals are required to conduct an evaluation of the school according to the NCPCR checklist.
- All the Field Education Officers and Deputy Directors are also instructed to ensure that this is followed by the schools.
Further specific directives are:
- CCTV’s in the class
- Drug & tobacco free ( school campus & 100m vicinity)
- impose a speed limit to 20 km around the school areas during the opening and closing hours of school
- All Government and Aided/Unaided schools should obtain a certificate of building safety every 2 years from the concerned authorities
Latest news reports suggest that the compliance drive is going to be taken seriously and schools that fail to comply with this can be penalised up to ₹10 lakh.
