The Vasco rape incident almost two years ago shocked Goa and highlighted lax security in schools in the State. Parents assumed the school with a compound wall and gates manned by security to be safe but it was not so. If the perpetrator -who is yet to be nabbed -managed to bypass security in the school, one wonders about the plight of children in schools which have no security guards, no gates and many times not even a boundary wall.
The government on their part has been surveying schools and installing CCTV cameras. Most government schools say their school has already been surveyed and they are waiting for further instructions from the government. Should the government have them installed, many schools will get CCTVs even before they can boast of a compound wall.
The staff in Parsem High School, Pernem say the school cannot afford to build a compound wall. They do however maintain a register and are waiting for the government’s CCTV cameras to be installed. Unity Primary School in Valpoi, too doesn’t have a compound wall but principal Nek Parveen says the teachers are always on guard and follow students out during recess especially since there is a main road in the vicinity.
Senior teacher from Bardez, Maria Fatima says the teachers are busy with teaching and related work and can’t always pay attention to the happenings within the school. “We are alert and ask parents to sign on the register when they ask for their children to leave school prematurely. We also keep watch until they enter their buses after school and enquire about strangers should a different person come to collect them. We do our best but can’t say they are 100 percent safe.”
A staff member from Fatima Convent High School said they were shaken up by the Vasco incident and wasted no time in installing CCTV cameras around all compounds, classrooms and near the toilets. Extra gates are kept locked and nobody is allowed to enter without checking at the counter and giving adequate reasons. Further it is compulsory for not only students but for teachers too to wear identification cards issued, to distinguish from them and outsiders.
Sr Fatima, Principal of Maria Bambina Convent Primary School, Cuncolim says more than a year has passed since the government inspected the school. They got tired of waiting and went ahead and installed the cameras themselves. “The security of our children is more important. How long can we wait?” The school also employed security guards to man the school 24×7,” she says.
A staff from St Joseph Primary School Aquem says they take immense care of the students but chose not to have security guards manning the entrance. “Ours is a co-ed school and sometimes security guards get involved with the students and this leads to more complications for us. We are very vigilant and do our best to protect them.”
A teacher from a school in Curtorim says the Vasco incident came as a shock and the school had a number of meetings to ensure the safety of the students. They tried to urge their non teaching staff to monitor the entry and exit of people at the school gate but internal politics ensured that they didn’t succeed. “They were reluctant to do it for no extra pay and the management fearing a backlash for giving them extra work was careful not to get on their bad side.” The gate today is unmanned.
The same teacher relates an incident not too long ago where in a parent of the school complained that a peon was molesting her child. The management kept the matter under wraps fearing the issue would bring bad publicity to the school and the peon today continues to work in the school today
For a rural unaided school Bhumika Primary School in Parye, Sattari has taken the initiative to secure their students. Six years ago the school with over 800 students installed CCTV cameras and prevents entry of relatives of students and staff during school hours.
Educationist Prabhakar Timble doesn’t necessarily favour compound walls and believes children shouldn’t grow up in bondage in buildings akin to prisons. “Stone walls and iron bars don’t secure children, they don’t even secure adults. We may build them because they are the easiest things to do.”
With regard to the government’s intention to install CCTV cameras in every school he says this shouldn’t be encouraged as it encroaches upon the privacy of growing children. “This is not the age for children to be watched. This is the age for them to be free. Security is nothing but parents, teachers and students working together to maintain a safe environment. The education system most importantly should teach love, harmony and tolerance and teach gender education and gender sensitization. It is when this doesn’t happen that problems arise.”
Sabina Martins, activist and teacher for almost three decades, too believes freedom of school children shouldn’t be curbed in the name of safety. Steps should be taken to ensure perpetrators don’t commit the crimes they do. Our strategy may have the right intention but it is flawed she says. “We continue to focus all our attention on the victims and curb their freedom. Forget about addressing the aggressors, we haven’t even begun to think about addressing our patriarchal society. It is easy for men to find solutions elsewhere- in high walls and cameras but they will not pin down men.”
There are no TV ads or jingles or anybody educating boys to respect women in society. Nobody is telling juveniles that they can land in jail if they have sexual relations with a minor, even if it is with her consent as it amounts to rape. Instead girls are instructed not to dress in a certain way, not to go out and not to study in co-ed schools, she says.
The United Nations in March launched the ‘He for She’ campaign pointing out that gender equality wasn’t just the prerogative of women. The campaign asks men to stand up for the rights of their mothers, sisters and daughters and highlights the fact that human rights for girls are not a dream but a duty of all.
Martins stresses on the need to change mindsets that infringe on the human rights of women and take advantage of vulnerable sections. “The issue of gender equality needs to be inculcated right from young. Gender equality and respect for women can be taught through various activities in schools. It can be the subject of debates, poster competitions, quizzes, mock courts among others. The campaign for respect for women needs to be an ongoing process. If this is instilled in boys in school it will at least register in some of them when they grow up.”
Review Bureau
