CBSE to adopt safety norms to tackle terror

Observing the recent terror attack at a school in Peshawar, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on December 19 issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for schools, which lays down the drill schools need to follow in case of an armed intrusion inside the school premises.

The CBSE on Saturday, on its official site, uploaded a copy of the SOP along with a letter asking schools to be alert against the kind of massacre that killed 132 children in an army-run school in Peshawar on December 16.

Joseph Emmanuel, secretary, CBSE, stated in the letter that, “The recent terror attack was an eye-opener for all of us and demands for the need to implement an effective mechanism to prevent such incidents in our institutions,”.

According to the SOP, the students, teachers and other staff members will be imposed to the mock drills to make them prepared as how to escape out of such drastic situation.

“Following the SOP activities has not been made compulsory in all the schools, but they will be secure if they do,” said a senior CBSE official.

Some of the CBSE affiliated schools in the city expressed relief after receiving the SOP as they feel a need to create awareness among students and other school authorities.

Whereas some schools are not willing to discuss the SOP with their staff and students, as they do not want to spread panic. Girija Singh, principal, Navy Children’s School, Colaba said, “We already have an evacuation programme in the school and students are very clear about it. We do not want to create panic among students by imposing such mock drills on them.”