One of the students of Delhi Government School was assaulted with an iron rod because he rebuked the student on the basis of low attendance in school. With this incident, the fellow teachers have raised their voices questioning the security protocol within the school premises and demanded more security from the school authorities.
Teachers of the government school have been demanding more security for their safety after a teacher (government) school was stabbed to death by two class XII students after he rusticated one of them for low attendance. Earlier this year, a teacher in Delhi was assaulted by the parents of a student.
The teacher assaulted was 53-year old and has sustained injuries on head, above his ear and on his cheek. “He is currently feeble and requires time to recover. We can’t say when he will be in a condition to resume his duties. He has been working as a teacher all his life and is just seven years away from his retirement,” said his son.
Ajay Veer Yadav, general secretary of the Government School Teachersʼ Association (GSTA), said that a meeting of the teachers will be held at the schools and the next step will be decided based on the inputs from the teachers.
“Every teacher is in fear because of periodic cases of assault. There has to be an increase in security at the schools, with the number of guards deployed in ratio with the students — one guard per 100 students. There are only three guards in each school, which might have 5,000 students. Further the guards recruited from the agencies are completely untrained,” he said.
However, Director of Education Sanjay Goel, said: “Even if the number of guards are increased, unfortunate incidents like this can still occur. In any case, the government is soon going to be increasing the number of guards in each school, but this is for the safety of the students, especially girls. These guards will be placed at the gates to protect students from outsiders.”
Yadav further added that another major demand from the teachers is to stop the entry of the outsiders into the schools. He further claimed that the vulnerability of the teachers has increased due to the powers vested in the School Management Committee.
“The SMCs, of which parents are members, have completely captured power over the principals and teachers, and humiliate us in front of students, which erodes their respect for us. Where is our dignity?” he said.