With the questions being raised over the security systems maintained at Delhi schools following Peshawar terror attack, city schools are now trying to hide the loopholes in their entry exit procedures. While several schools in the Capital claimed to be particular about who enters and exits their premises, in reality allowed anyone to enter after making writing in the logbook at the gate.
On visiting several such schools one finds that it is very easy for anyone to enter the premises on the pretext of picking up a child or falsely stating that they have an appointment with a teacher.
Schools in South Delhi specifically have a reputation that they boast about, but when it comes to security it seems that these schools have guards who barely ever get up from their chair at the gate or entry gates so short that one can jump over them. One reputed school in lodhi Estate has a low lying gate which is not difficult to trespass. Though there are two security guards who question every person entering the premises, at the time when children come to school in the morning and when they are leaving to go home in the afternoon, anyone can enter and exit as there is a lot of crowd and only two people man the entry.
Similarly at another school in Central Delhi there is a completely secure system of entry but if someone claims they have an appointment with a teacher, entry is immediately granted.
However, since this lapse in security of schools is under the scanner now, schools on Wednesday were denying entry to everyone including parents. “We are not letting anybody in unless they have a prior appointment with the principal. All queries and doubts will be cleared later. If too important, parents can talk over the phone,” said the personal assistant of the principal of Raghubir Singh Junior Modern School near Khan Market.
Other schools like Sardar Patel Vidyalaya and The Indian School were accepting slips by parents and visitors and noting down contact details. The guards at the gate of both the schools said that the concerned people would contact the visitor at a suited time. While The Indian School was even earlier difficult to enter, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya along with other schools in South Delhi had simply stopped entry.