Woman attendant must for PT classes in girls' schools'

Kolkata: The West Bengal government will ask schools to ensure that women attendants are around when male physical training teachers conduct sessions with girls in co-educational institutions or girls’ schools.

The instruction comes days after the GD Birla school incident in the city where a four-year-old nursery student was allegedly sexually assaulted by two physical training (PT) teachers within the school premises.

State education minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters on Monday that the government has to devise a way to address the issue.

“Can we terminate the services of male PT teachers in other schools for one incident in G.D. Birla Centre of Education? Other male PT techers do not face such accusations. So, we have to find a way. We are recommending that to ensure security for girls, at least one female attendant should be around when male PT teachers take classes,” he said.

The minister also said his department has asked for increasing the number of female attendants in campuses of girls’ and co-ed schools at the earliest.

The G.D. Birla school incident on November 30 had triggered nationwide outrage with the guardians of the institution holding protests before the school building for days. The state education department had issued guidelines on October 26 following the death of a Class 2 student at Ryan School in Gurgaon near Delhi.

The guidelines had called for constituting students’ safety and security monitoring committee to act on complaints of assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO).

The guidelines had also stipulated “wherever possible” schools will install CCTV cameras that will work all the time and called for setting up separate toilets for boys and girls, school employees and visitors.