Implementation of School Safety Policy

Approach to Implementation

School safety efforts need to consider all kinds of hazards that may affect the well-being of all children. Hazards include structural and non-structural factors. Structural factors include dilapidated buildings, poorly designed structures, faulty constructions, poorly maintained infrastructure, loose building elements etc.

While non-structural factor include loosely placed heavy objects:

• Almirahs
• Infestation of the campus by snakes and other pests.
• Broken or no boundary walls
• Uneven flooring, blocked evacuation routes, poorly designed and placed furniture that  may cause accidents and injuries, inadequate sanitation facility etc.

Safety of children, their teachers and parents needs to be approached holistically to include visible as well as invisible risks that may be sudden or have built-up slowly over a period of time.

Policy provisions to make school safer

Unsafe structures can increase the vulnerability of children who are the primary target group of such efforts. Thus it is important to ensure that all development actions taken even in non-emergency times are designed with a view to ensuring their performance during emergencies. So, it is imperative that the existing institutions at the National, State level and District level are strengthened and capacitated to take responsibility of school safety planning and action school safety as an indicator of quality for planning, execution and monitoring.

Safety principles need to be incorporated in day to day functioning of the educational institutions in the country

Thus institutions involved in providing education need to evolve a mythology and an approach of their own that looks at safety as a continuously monitored indicator of quality.

Implementation of District School Safety Plan

Planning for safety

Action : Prepare design of child friendly spaces for emergency in advance.

Monitoring Indicators : No. of Child- Friendly spaces created in each block

Department Responsible : District Education Officer (DEO) or zonal inspecting officer.

Frequency and Time: Once a year and On or before 31 May each year

Remarks : Shall be carried out along with hazard hunt exercise.

Action : Ensure all new school include safety features.

Department Responsible : District Education Officer (DEO) or zonal inspecting officer.

Frequency and Time : By the end of 31^st Dec  2018.

Action : Prepare block-wise inventory of schools to be made safer (including physical condition of schools assessed through rapid visual screening or any other methodology for all hazards relevant to the area, hazardous industries in the vicinity etc)

Sub-task against board action :

• Provision of building safety codes to dept. concern on construction of schools
• Indicators related to School Safety concern integrated in existing school and it checklist and rolled out for implementation
• Regular update and systematic maintenance of database on disaster impact on schools

Monitoring Indicators : No. of school safety audits conducted

Department Responsible :Director  of  School  Education  in  consultation  with DDMA

Frequency and Time : By the end of 31^st Dec  2018.

 

Implementation of Safety Action

Action : Ensure that all existing as well as new schools conform to safety standards as per the National Building Code. In addition, any other norms prescribed by the state government need to be adhered to.

Sub-task against board action : Adherence to norms and regulations by the district administration

Monitoring Indicators : No. of schools where retrofitting done as per norms

Department Responsible : Director of School Education in consultation with Town and Country Planning Puducherry , PWD, Fire service.

Frequency and Time : Ongoing, Initial round inspection shall be completed before 31 Dec 2018 and carried out annually before 31 Dec every year

Action : Issue ‘Recognition Certificate’ under sub-rule (4) 15 of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010 to only those schools that comply with safety norms prescribed by the state.

Sub-task against board action :

Monitoring Indicators : No. of certificates issued by the competent authority

Department Responsible : District Education Officer

Frequency and Time : Ongoing, By 31 Dec every year.

Remarks : Initial round inspection shall be completed before 31 Dec 2018 and carried out annually

Action : Review progress on non-structural safety measures in schools.

Sub-task against board action :

Verification of all staff

Verification of drivers and conductors

Ensuring safe waste disposal facility

Monitoring Indicators : No. of review meetings conducted in steps taken on non-structural safety measures and meeting proceedings issued

Department Responsible : District Education Officer / zonal inspecting officer.

Frequency and Time : Ongoing, By 31 Dec every year

Remarks : Head of the concerned institution shall carry out inspection on non-structural safety measures in schools during hazard hunt exercise.

Capacity Building for School Safety

Action : Training of  all teachers / designates of the school

Sub-task against board action : Training done at district, block and cluster level

Monitoring Indicators : Number of Training completion certificate issued

Department Responsible : DDMA/ DIET

Frequency and Time : Quarterly, By 31^stMar, 30 June, 31^st August

Remarks : By DIET by following a distributed time table on school safety concepts and processes of various disasters to be completed. DDMA will conduct familiarisation programs to the focal point teachers

Action : DIETs should also directly train teachers on safety aspects as part of their pre-service and in-service training programmes.

Department Responsible : District Education Officer / DIET

Frequency and Time : Quarterly, By 31^stMar, 30 June, 31^st August & 31^st Dec of every year.

Remarks : By DIET by following a distributed time table on school safety concepts and processes of various disasters to be completed

Action : Train school safety focal point teachers on school safety concept and various activities related to execution of their responsibilities as the school safety focal point teachers.

Sub-task against board action :

Monitoring Indicators : Database and its updation at district and sub-district levels on focal points assigned to schools

Department Responsible : DDMA / DIET

Frequency and Time : Quarterly, By 31^stMar, 30 June, 31^st August & 31^st Dec of every year.

Remarks : By DIET by following a distributed time table on school safety concepts and processes of various disasters to be completed DDMA will arrange for resource persons to conduct orientation programs to the focal points teachers as per the training plan prepared by DIET

Action : Training of teachers on psycho-social support for children affected by disasters

Sub-task against board action : Training done at district, block and cluster level

Monitoring Indicators : Number of Training completion certificate issued

Department Responsible : DDMA / DIET

Frequency and Time : Half yearly, By 31^stMar& 31^st Sep of every year.

Remarks : By DDMA / DIET by following a distributed time table on psycho-social support for the children affected by disasters to be completed. Directorate of school education in coordination with Health Department and Department of Women and Child Development.

Action : Capacity building of SMC on different aspects of school safety in case of an imminent disaster, e.g. Sanitation and hygiene needs of boys, girls and teachers; first aid; handling fires, handling chemicals/hazardous materials in Labs etc.

Sub-task against board action :

• • • Orientation of SMC members on various activities of school
    • Community reading activities- a) Gram Shaba, b) Information Display through Community Board.
    • Organizing regular SMC meetings.
    • Community Based Monitoring of all school based activities, capacity building of      PRI/Local Body
    • Exposure cum training of SMC and PRI/Local Body members on successful implementation of school education and intervention convention of the SMC at          Block/GP/Cluster level.
    • Recognition and reward to best community action.
    • Social Audit of school activities.
    • Convergence with Shakshar Bharat Programme.

Monitoring Indicators : No. of Training completion certificate issued by different agencies

Department Responsible : DDMA / DIET

Frequency and Time : By 31^stMar, 30 June, 31^st August & 31^st  Dec of  every year.

Remarks : Directorate of school education in coordination with Health Department and Department of Fire department, Department of science, technology and environment.

 Monitoring School Safety

Action : Evolve a mechanism for monitoring safety parameters in all schools on a regular basis. Any existing monitoring formats being used by the authorities shall essentially include parameters on school safety

Sub-task against board action :

• • GPS tracking of vehicles
  • Regular report collection on key indicators
  • Review of child harassment cases immediately after reporting
  • Regular safety audit by all visiting staff of different stakeholder departments on key indicators
  • Random visits to schools conducting safety audit for validation

Monitoring Indicators :

• • Study report on different issues concerned with DRR, CP, safe school
  • Robust MIS systems developed
  • Indicators on CP, DRR monitored at sub-district and school levels and at different intervals
  • Road safety norms followed by schools
  • of schools where mock drills conducted by local authority for fire, red cross, health dept., etc.
  • Drinking water testing done

Department Responsible : District Education Officer / zonal inspecting officer

Frequency and Time : Quarterly, by 31^stMay, 31^st September & 31^st Jan of each year

Action : Issue instructions to Block Education Officer or any other official as appropriate, for overseeing and facilitating school safety at the block level

Department Responsible : Director of School Education

Frequency and Time : One time

Remarks : By 30^thJune  2018.