Private schools oppose installation of CCTVs

Following the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl on a school premises in the city, the Bangalore police had issued a slew of instructions to be followed by school managements, for the safety of the children.

The guidelines state that the school buses should fix GPS and CCTV cameras and drivers should be isolated and not allowed to mingle with the children after they have parked the vehicles. The Police department had also warned the managements of prosecution in the event of non compliance to the guidelines that have been issued.
However several private schools have opposed the mandatory guideline of installation of CCTVs.

Prof VRN Reddy, president, Karnataka Unaided School Management Association, said, "We categorically state that the question of installing CCTVs does not arise at this juncture because the Bangalore Police do not have the authority to impose any such rule as compulsory CCTVs. However, KUSMA requests private unaided schools that wish to install CCTVs irrespective of the police directive to not charge parents for the same and to spend from their built-up financial reserves. KUSMA is of the opinion that most schools should be able to conveniently spend from the reserves accumulated by them. A small number of schools that do not have any such reserve could however, charge from the parents. However, even then, schools are requested to give a minimum of three months' notice to parents and to not charge them immediately".