The shocking incident of yet another trespass into an Alto Dabolim school and assault of a student, headmistress, senior teacher and peon shows that even 20 months after the Vasco student’s rape on the school premises, schools, students and staff are still as vulnerable as before. Though the accused was immediately arrested by Vasco police, he assaulted the headmistress of the school, when questioned why he was assaulting a student. A senior teacher, who questioned him, also faced the same fate, as well as the school peon. It was only when the entire staff gathered that the accused escaped from campus.
This appalling incident yet again shows two deficiencies – one on the part of the school concerned and two, on the part of the education department.
After the Vasco rape, the chief minister, realizing the gravity of the offence and the vulnerability of the schools, had asked the education department to ensure that schools abide by a strict security code regarding the entry of strangers onto the school campus. The code outlined installation of CCTV cameras, ensure that every visitor to the campus is checked for identity etc.
As the political potency of the issue has lost currency, the government has moved to firefighting on other issues. When this happens the bureaucrats, gauging the changed winds, also allow such important issue to get drowned in red tape and horrendous potential of such incident recurring sinks into the background. Schools too lose focus on such issues given the daily pressures of conducting classes, adhering to syllabus completion regimen, co-curricular activities etc. It is quite possible that aided schools, which receive financial assistance from the government for infrastructure, have not received funds for CCTV cameras installation and appointment of security personnel. The administration of education department, as also other departments, should recognize the gravity of certain issues and ensure that such issues do not get caught in red tape and these matters trump the routine approval route of files. For that matter the chief minister who claims to have rid the Mayem Evacuees property of colonial hold and the temples, of Portuguese imposed Derrama, does not seem to be in a hurry to cleanse the colonial British administrative system, of delay, red tape and corruption to make it efficient. Requirements and financial assistance for such measures, as security of school children, should be fast tracked and effected immediately to save precious lives. For that matter even teachers and management of schools are vulnerable to attacks from senior students and hoodlums, for being punished or caught copying in school examinations.
The State government had insisted that schools should have monitored entrances. But since many schools do not have boundary walls, it is virtually impossible to monitor strangers trespassing. Even a reputed city school, with a vast campus and boundary wall, has multiple entrances which are locked on and off, but given the multiple purposes served by the school as a place for holding commercial exhibitions, mass and with people trespassing through the campus to go to the market, security of students and staff is the biggest casualty. The situation is much worse in other schools.
The horrifying trespass and assault at Alto Dabolim again revisits the debate about students’ security. First, the education department should conduct periodic checks on security apparatus in schools. Secondly, the department has to examine the details whether one security guard will be a match for a couple of hoodlums in case of an assault. The Alto Dabolim school management has pushed the blame on the government saying that it failed to supply CCTV cameras and security guard. This is a gross failing on the part of the school management which has woken up to the reality about one and a half year of the occurrence of the Vasco school rape, in which even today the CBI is totally clueless.
Given the horrendous implications of neglect, students’ and staff security should be the first priority of the government, administrators, school management and staff. The Education Department should be pro-active, discuss and sort out the problems relating to sanctioning of funds and equipment to heighten school security on priority.
