Education dept asked to probe if school violated safety rules

Gurgaon: The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) has asked the district education department to check whether there was any laxity on the school’s part in the 4-year-old’s rape. This comes a day after the SDM had instructed the regional transport authority (RTA) to conduct a fresh audit of the school buses.
On Friday, a meeting was held between SDM Sushil Sarwan and district education officer (DEO) Neelam Bhandari.The SDM instructed the education department to see if the school had overlooked any of the safety norms, which, if followed, could have prevented the incident. The DEO has been asked to take strict action against the school, if it is found to be at fault.
“There can be no compromise on safety of the children and they have to be digitally supervised,” said Sarwan. “We have asked to education department to ensure that all schools comply with the safety norms, and that there is proper monitoring through CCTV cameras and footages are kept. Any school found not complying with safety norms will face penalty,” the SDM added.
Sources told TOI that administration is annoyed at the education department’s lack of action in the case despite the matter being reported to the police on Monday. “The SDM has asked the DEO to investigate the details of the incident. This report will look into the minute details and will check if the school ignored any of the safety protocols,” a source said.