PONDA: Parents of children studying at the Marval Curti Government Primary School (GPS) located on the National Highway in Ponda are anxious all morning, and can only breathe easy once their children return from school.
Even as a kidnapping scare has rattled the State, locals worry about the safety of the students here, considering that the school does not have a compound wall, and strangers can easily gain access to the children. To make matters worse, the street opposite the school is used as a parking area for trucks, with truckers and labourers from other States always milling around the area.
“We cannot always watch the children; we have to work. Once they are dropped off at school, the school is responsible for their safety. But it is worrying to see how lax the security is at some schools. Until a compound wall is erected, the school should arrange for security or police patrolling to safeguard the students,” said a parent from Curti.
Marval GPS has 18 primary students, and most of them are from underprivileged backgrounds. The school management, when contacted, said they make every effort to safeguard their students, and are strict about who picks them up after classes.
The Headmaster at Curti Primary School said the administration calls up the parents of any student who remains absent, to confirm whether the student is safe at home. “We also maintain a visitors’ register to keep track of people who enter and exit the school,” he added.
While some of the government schools located along the National Highway have CCTV cameras and security guards, not all of them have a good system of securing their students.
“Children need to be safe not just within the school premises but also outside the schools and all the way home. Many schools do not have Balrath buses to pick up the children. That’s why we demand that CCTV cameras be installed on main roads and important junctions in the town,” say locals.
Apart from this, there should also be strict police verification of tenants residing in rented premises, and also verification of scrapyard operators, they added.
