Mysore: Children spend a large part of their day in schools and while traveling to and from their schools. Their safety during this time is exceedingly important.

Cases come up from time to time of abuse of children at the school premises,    or even accidents that could have been easily prevented with just a simple system in place and a little extra care. For every case reported, there are many others that go unreported.

In view of the above, City Police Commissioner K.T. Balakrishna has issued a set of guidelines to be followed strictly by school and high school managements and the authorities who run the day-to-day administration of the schools.

There is a clear and significant role each school has to play in the prevention, reporting and handling of child abuse, and other safety-related accidents during the time children are entrusted to the care of the school. The board of directors, principals and senior management teams have primary responsibility for the care and welfare of their students.

These guidelines must be strictly followed at all schools coming under the Mysuru Police Commissionerate and must be implemented before June 1, the beginning of the academic year.

• A school bus is considered to be the safest commute option for children. Buses should follow clear mandates including the seat to student ratio, display of emergency numbers and tracking system, etc.

• While picking up and dropping children, one male staffer and a female staffer must mandatorily accompany the children in the bus.

• Seats in the bus must be occupied by children in accordance to the guidelines issued by the Transport Department. Extra students must not be made to squeeze in.

• All school vehicles, be it small or big, must have Global Positioning System (GPS) and must be in working condition for authorities to track movements.

• All school vehicle drivers must have Driving Licence and before hiring a driver, the school must check their background and must get a Police verification done on the drivers.

• If the school has no own vehicles, it must enter into a formal agreement with third parties to supply vehicles. In such a case, the owners of the vehicles are responsible for the conduct of the drivers.

• Keeping in view the safety of the school students throughout the journey, no outsider except the bus staff or the said authorised teacher or one person authorised by parents shall be allowed to board the school bus.

• While hiring such vehicles, the school managements must ensure that vehicle documents are up-to-date including Fitness Certificate and Vehicle Insurance.

• During school hours, the drivers and other vehicle staff must remain in buses instead of loitering inside the school compound. They should not unnecessarily interact with children or indulge in any other activity with them. Specific instructions must be given to drivers on which areas are out of bounds for them.

• Access to areas like bus area, gym, swimming pools, sports rooms/fields, canteen and toilets should be confined to persons whose presence in the area is required, and are therefore specifically authorised access to these areas. Loitering in such specific areas by unauthorised personnel should be prevented.

• Parents or other visitors must not have free access across premises during school hours and if their entry is necessitated, they must be accompanied so that their access is limited and monitored.

• If there is more than one floor to the school building, each floor must have a floor supervisor who has to have a dedicated place on the floor to watch the surroundings.

• A record of all staff reporting for duty must be maintained, be it electronic swiping or by signing a register, recording both in and out times. All contract staff must sign their in and out times as well.

• Schools must have adequate CCTV coverage. Cameras must cover all critical areas of the premises. Entry and exit points of the school (in case there is a side entrance, this too must have a CCTV camera).

• Any point on the outer perimeter/ wall which is vulnerable must have cameras, and which could show footage of persons attempting to gain entry to the premises, especially covering persons outside the main entrance.

• CCTV equipment must be maintained regularly and it must be ensured that once installed, the footage is viewed and the equipment used to bring in a strong control.

• Apart from providing identity cards to all the school employees including support staff, all parents/ guardians of children must be given identity cards and the ID cards must display the photos of their children.

• Mobile numbers of parents/ guardians must be mandatorily taken and parents must be informed from time to time about the school activities. Parents and guardians must be immediately alerted in case of emergencies.