Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Children need security in schools' that was published in Newsband

Children need security in schools

The news about sexual assault on children inside school premises are disturbing.  There is a fear that cases in schools catering to the poor may not even come to light. Sexual abuse of children is not restricted to schools and often goes unreported in several venues across the country.

A comprehensive survey conducted in 2007 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, found that 53.22 per cent of over 12,000 children interviewed had faced sexual abuse. This issue needs to be addressed in its entirety.

The public debate is over safety in schools. Improving safety measures and fixing vicarious responsibility on school managements are important, but there are deeper concerns that need to be addressed. Schools need to scrutinise their teaching and non-teaching staff more closely. Improving awareness over what constitutes sexual abuse as defined by law is essential. It is also important to counsel parents and teachers to actively encourage dialogue with children and make them aware of any dangers and report such incidents. The psychological impact of such cases on the victims, parents and other children need to be addressed seriously. These are issues that need to be dealt with sternly and swiftly at the national level.

A vigilance officer should be appointed in each school to oversee the behaviour of the management and staff towards children, give them suggestions and in incorrigible cases, report the matter to the police or government.

The school managements can take few proactive steps to save children from animals in human disguise. The schools should do a proper background check before hiring its staff. There can be no excuses for not doing so. The schools that did have children raped should be closed down with immediate effect. The society cannot and should not tolerate negligent management who are only into education for making money through heavy donations.

If one sees the education scenario is India it is improving but very slowly. A few decades earlier we had teachers physically abusing young children, and letting out their frustration by beating them. Now these elite schools have controlled this one behavior but are reluctant to change their unconcerned and negligent attitudes. Shameful! There must be a public list of sex offenders and pedophiles for every city and district in India. Such a list should be maintained by an independent NGO.