The Hindu Business Line : Managing schools

QUICKLY learning lessons from the terrible tragedy at Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu last July when 90 young students of the Sri Krishna Primary School perished in a fire accident, both the Central and State Governments had acted with commendable promptitude in taking immediately needed measures to guard against a recurrence.

The Central Government had brought to the notice of the State Governments the guidelines for fire prevention contained in the National Building Code, as approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

The educational authorities, in cooperation with fire services of all State Governments, carried out a crash inspection of all the schools within their jurisdiction to carry out improvements in accordance with existing instructions for ensuring the safety of school premises.

Thanks to the strenuous efforts of the Education Department of Tamil Nadu, in particular, the 48,000 or so schools in the State have begun observing adequate precautions in the use of cooking facilities for mid-day meals. Thatched sheds for accommodating classes have been totally done away with.

Orders have been issued making it mandatory for school managements to obtain a `No objection' certificate from the fire service organisation so that it can verify and check the fire-fighting arrangements and have gaps and deficiencies attended to.

Young boys and girls studying in schools cannot take decisions for themselves in emergencies, and look up to the teachers and other elders for help and guidance. This places a far greater responsibility on those running these institutions.

Unfortunately, commercialisation and intense competition have led to schools being housed in ill-suited, and congested localities in dilapidated buildings with inadequate floor-space, cramped seating arrangements, poor ventilation and lighting, and narrow passages.

Fire hazards apart, this state of affairs also tells on the health of the children and the morale of the teachers. This is an aspect crying for the attention of authorities.

They can ask the inspectors of schools to review the existing safety norms and the suitability of the premises during their visits and insist on remedial action.

By way of strengthening supervision and enforcing compliance it is necessary to enact a law incorporating minimum essential standards of school management, with stringent penalties.

B. S. Raghavan