In view of the recent brutal terror attack by the Taliban on school children in Pakistan, the Goa police have reportedly asked the schools and higher secondary schools in the capital city to deploy armed security guards in their institution premises. It must be said that not just schools in Panjim but schools in other cities too are vulnerable and hence the respective police stations should also review the safety aspects in the schools from the respective jurisdictions and ask for armed security to be deployed in their school premises.
It seems necessary for plainclothes police personnel to keep a close vigil on the happenings in the vicinity of the schools. It must be said that the schools should also have proper wall-fencing around their premises, the walls of which should be of a particular height or there should be a wire mesh on top of the fence wall so that it is not possible for anyone to jump over the compound wall. Just having armed security at the gate will not serve the purpose if there is access to the premises from other sides of the compound wall. Unfortunately many school premises even do not have a proper compound wall. This needs to be rectified.
Schools should have just one entry-exit point and all other access to the school premises should be sealed. Schools should also employ night watchmen in order to provide proper security during the night. Of course CCTV surveillance in schools is no longer a luxury but a necessity and all schools need to have CCTV camera installed in the premises. The government should provide financial assistance to schools which cannot afford to provide CCTV cameras in their schools. The teachers and staff should be given identification cards which should be prominently displayed at all times during the school hours. The security personnel should be able to recognize the school staff from these identification cards.
It would be desirable to provide the parents visiting the schools where their wards are studying with identification cards which should be produced to the security personnel at the gate when the parent visits the school. Strangers should be totally prevented from entering the school premises. Students should be discouraged from leaving the school premises during the school hours except in exceptional instances when they should be accompanied by their parents. School authorities should immediately contact the local police stations if there is some unusual activity going on in the vicinity of the school premises. After the attack on the school at Peshawar in Pakistan, security in school has assumed more importance.
