The rape of a six-year-old girl in her school premises, has raised an alarm on the lack of security measures in schools. Companies that are into background checking say that there are very few schools in the city that conduct professional background checks of their staff, be it teaching or non-teaching ones.
"I have approached many schools. After one or two meetings, most school authorities do not get back to us. I feel schools, colleges and day cares lack both, awareness and intent, to have in place a proper channel wherein background checks could be done," says Navin Chugh, senior vice president and managing director, First Advantage, a firm which conducts background checking of employees.
Its better to be safe than to be sorry. Many experts opine that one of the ways to reduce crimes is by having a background check done. "I am not saying that background checks will stop crime. But it will definitely act as a deterrent," says Chugh.
In India, post a crime, criminals can flee to some other city and find a job, as companies usually do not conduct a background check. If background checks are made compulsory in every organisation, a person's criminal history etc, can be traced. In the United States, there is a database to keep a track of the employees. It is also compulsory for day cares and schools, to get a person's background checked before hiring, be it a teaching or a non-teaching staff.
"The irony is, in India, colleges conduct a background of students checked on whether the information provided by them is correct or not. But they do not screen their own staff," added Chugh. Normally, the cost of screening of an individual could vary between Rs2000 and Rs3000.
"See, for schools it is a difficult proposition. They cannot be blamed as only 5per cent of the industry in India is aware of the importance of background checks. In fact, in many companies, no checks are done even on drivers who leave employees home," says G Viswanathan, executive director & president, Matrix.
Both Chugh and Viswanathan agree that awareness needs to be generated through social media and other means of communication.
According to Vasudeva Murthy, director, Child Rights Trust, "There is an absence of Child Protection Policy in most educational institutions. As per the policy, there has to be a preventive mechanism for incidents like assault and molestation. Schools do not engage into background checking of the employees and staff members. Schools should have a part time or full time consultant to check the background of the people who directly deal with children inside the school premises."
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