Veteran educationist RC SHEKHAR, Director of Gyan Bharti School, Saket, speaks to MEENAKSHI RAO about the reasons behind the growing violence on campuses and around children. Excerpts from the interview:
What do we attribute this growing violence against children toIJ
It’s the bad side of change, the entire gamut around modern society. It all starts from parenting, goes on to the complete negation of our traditional value systems, pans on to easy access to triggers of such violence and sex abuse. It’s time to look within and come up with a sustained overhaul of our urban living mores. Until we do that, such incidents are always round the corner.
Are you suggesting school systems are not to blameIJ
Of course a security breach has happened in the Ryan incident, something that should not have happened. But think about it. How did Ryan get to function from that premises without adequate security systemsIJ Who allowed itIJ Where did it procure the land fromIJ Why did the monitoring authority look the other wayIJ Obviously, there is an unholy nexus at several levels which needs to be broken and sanitised from the root.
Why soIJ Is it because of the gross commercialisation of the education systemIJ
Commercialisation of education is the biggest monster eating up our schooling systems. Education has gone into wrong hands. When I was a student, there were merely eight to 10 established private schools in Delhi. Today, there is one in every nook and cranny. Any moneybag can open a school and make more money. There is no mission or committed educationists in the arena anymore.
What is the way outIJ
let the Government upgrade its schools. Make the Government schools, the Kendriya Vidyalayas, the MCD schools etc the top-notch campuses in town where parents would want to send their children. let the private entities compete with them. let’s see then how many of these so-called neo educational institutions being run by commercial profiteers withstand the competition. It is simple really – make the Government schools the first option for the urban population. Commercialisation will die a natural death.
Do you think society can change courseIJ
It’s a long haul but something we need to start on a war footing. For one, the Government needs to do something about these porn clips that can reach every cellphone without any cost. We must understand that we as a society are not yet mature enough to deal with such accessibility of sexual triggers. To regulate or ban them strictly is something that can be one of the initial steps in cleaning up the growing kink and violence of the mind. Also, insert the fear of law through strict implementation and a committed enforcement system.
Still, what about the safety norms that schools need to followIJ
Gyan Bharti has a very strict security system which has the added muscle of regular counselling that we give to our children and parents too. All washrooms are guarded by an ayah who knows she has to check out in case a child has taken more than three-four minutes in the loo. We have separate restrooms for junior and senior sections as also for the staff and the faculty. Our gates are guarded and all transport staff verified. We do our best but sometimes even that falls short. Our buses always have a teacher escort on board. That’s why I say the aggression and abuse will go down only if we return to our moral values.
You said parents are also to blame. Can you elaborateIJ
let’s take one example. You see these vans transporting the schoolchildren to their homes as packed sardines. These are not hired by the school. The parents make a private arrangement with these vans drivers. We keep insisting that their children should take the school bus but they prefer the vans. None of these drivers is police verified. Over and above that, accidents, suffocation and other kinds of casualties co-exist in these risky vans.
What measures are educationists like you planning to take to make campuses safer for our childrenIJ
Our association is going to meet on September 29 and safety is on the agenda even though we all have the basic set-ups in action.