How To Assess The Safety Standards Of A School

Incidences of child abuse within school premises are always shocking. They stir something inside you. We as parents feel confused and doubtful when it comes to our child’s environment- but how much importance do we attribute to this factor while choosing a school?

We struggle a lot for our child’s admission.. choosing the right school and the right environment is not easy these days. I have seen people asking on what should be the criteria for choosing the school… well, Curriculum… Methodology… Board…Pedagogy… Past Results.. all are important but, above everything else, keep your child’s safety as the topmost priority or criteria for your choice.

Ask: Ask the school representatives about their Child Protection Policies. They should be able to share some documents or if not so, then at least tell you the detail around the measures taken. As per POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offense) act 2012, every school is required to establish its Child Protection Policy. The policy must apply to all employees of the school, who come in direct or indirect contact with children.

Check: Now cross check with the parents you bump into while at the school if those safety measures are in place. Ask them if they are happy with the safety practices of the school? If yes why…if no, why not so? This will give you some clarity. Try to understand how active is the complaint redressal mechanism and how sensitive and supportive is the school towards the children.

Get a feel: Last and most important is to get a feel because here you are not depending on any secondary source of information. While inside the school or around, observe how the kids are managed. See if the younger ones are attended to at all times. Check for the responsibilities of the male staff and how safe otherwise is the school premise. Check how small kids are being handled.. bus safety..etc. This will give you some more clarity around the environment of the school!

Learning, methodology, pedagogy, results, grooming, development, fee..all are important factors no doubt about it, but MOST important is the safety of our kids.. if the environment is not safe for them, everything else becomes irrelevant! So choose wisely!

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