(1) The educational agency of a private school shall ensure that the following norms pertaining to the safety and security of the pupils are carried out in the school:- A. Safety of the pupils inside the school.-
(i) construction work in the school should be carried out during holidays or after school working hours;
(ii) the school should be properly fenced;
(iii) the terraces and balconies should be properly fenced with a reasonably high wall of atleast 4 feet;
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(iv) the water storage tanks, septic tanks and open wells should be properly covered with bold indication marks;
(v) all rooms, laboratories and toilets should be checked after school hours, before the building is locked for the day;
(vi) the school should ensure that all electrical fittings and appliances are as per safety norms. All electric wires must be insulated and joints covered. Periodical inspection of all the electric points must be conducted.
B. Safety of the pupils outside the school.-
(i) all the pupils studying in the school should be made aware of the traffic rules;
(ii) no liquor or tobacco shops should be allowed close to or just outside the school;
(iii) while hiring school buses, the school should ensure that the bus is in good condition as per the norms in force and duly registered with the Transport Department. It should also be ensured that the driver has valid licence;
(iv) the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the pupils taken for an out-of-school activity should be made available with the school authority and with the accompanying staff.
C. Pupils Safety and Protection from Sexual abuse and violence.- Every private school shall constitute a Student Safeguarding Advisory Committee that will continually review, monitor and recommend measures at the institutional level on all aspects of the safety of the pupils.The school shall follow the guidelines as prescribed by the Government, from time to time, in this regard.
D. Physical, Emotional and Mental Safety.-
(i) no pupil should be subjected to physical punishment, threats or mental harassment on any account;
(ii) the teachers should not use derogatory remarks, verbal or written, which may have negative impact on the selfesteem of a child;
(iii) the teachers should not humiliate or disgrace the child in private or in the presence of others, especially in the presence of his fellow students.
E. Health Safety.-
(i) health details of all the pupils should be made available with the respective class teacher;
(ii) the school should ensure that safe drinking water is made available to the pupils. It should be stored in clean utensils, and shall be kept covered always;
(iii) cleaning of underground/overhead tanks and water-coolers must be done periodically. The date of cleaning and the next due date of cleaning should be conspicuously displayed on the tank;
(iv) the school must have proper outlets for waste-water and should ensure that there is no stagnation of water inside the school premises in order to prevent mosquito breeding;
(v) the pupils should be made aware of the harmful impact on the health of the pupils in using narcotic drugs and other harmful alcoholic substances.
F. Fire safety.-
(i) fire fighting training should be given to all the teachers and the pupils of standards X to XII;
(ii) First Aid training should be given to all teachers;
(iii) mock drills should be conducted regularly;
(iv) fire alarms should be provided in each floor of the building. Separate long bell arrangement should be made for use in case of emergency.
G. Furniture.-
(i) the furniture in the class rooms should be properly designed and free from protruding nails, sharp metal pieces, sharp edges and abrasive surfaces;
(ii) condemned furniture should not be stacked inside the class rooms or in the lofts and should be disposed off immediately;
(iii) it should be ensured that all laboratory furnitures should be protected from corrosion by chemicals or other dangerous materials;
(iv) the LPG cylinder should be placed outside the laboratory within a ventilated chamber;
(v) the exhaust fans should be provided in the laboratory.
H. Electrical Safety.-
(i) the main boxes, switch boards and meters must be away from the reach of the pupils;
(ii) the switch boards should be covered safely with wooden boxes;
(iii) periodical inspection by the officials of the Electricity Department should be made mandatory;
(iv) it should be ensured that there are no High Tension lines and transformers inside or close to the school.
20 TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY I. Play Space Safety.-
(i) bushes likely to harbour dangerous and poisonous creatures should be removed from the play space;
(ii) water bodies, like ponds, pits, stagnant water puddles etc., should be safely and properly fenced;
(iii) open gutters, garbage pits, etc., should also be covered safely;
(iv) play space should be properly fenced and should not be hired to the outsiders for any public function, carnival and the like, in order to mobilize money.
J. Amenities.-
(i) clean potable drinking water should be provided to the pupils studying in the school. Drinking water supply near the toilets should be avoided;
(ii) storage tank should be cleaned regularly. Pipelines should be maintained so as to prevent leakage and wastage of water;
(iii) toilets should be cleaned frequently and the date of cleaning and the next due date of cleaning should be entered separately in a register maintained for this purpose.
K. Kitchen.-
(i) it should be ensured that no pupil is allowed inside or near the kitchen;
(ii) fire extinguisher should be placed near the kitchen.
L. Transportation.-
(i) Emergency exit.- every school bus shall be fitted with an emergency exit door at the rear right side or at the rear wind screen with quick release latches mechanism which can be operated from inside and outside of the bus;
(ii) First Aid Box.- a first aid box containing articles as specified in sub-rule (5) of rule 172 of the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 shall be provided and replaced periodically in the school bus;
(iii) Fire Extinguisher.- in every school bus, atleast two fire extinguishers of ABC type having a capacity of 2kg each, bearing ISI mark should be properly mounted.
M. Buildings.-
(i) only non-combustible, fire-proof, heat resistant materials should be used in the construction work;
(ii) each class room should have two doors for easy evacuation and adequate openings for ventilation and lighting;
(iii) all types of furnitures such as almirahs, shelves, black boards, ceiling fan etc., that may likely to fall and cause injury to the pupils and the teachers need to be secured to the walls or floors;
(iv) any derelict or unused building materials, rubbles, waste materials etc., should be removed immediately;
(v) emergency equipments such as fire extinguishers, First Aid kits, ropes etc., should be procured and maintained properly by the school authorities;
(vi) the existing schools located in a vulnerable location should either be relocated to a safer site or should be provided with adequate support to mitigate the effect of any natural hazards that may affect the area.
(2) Every educational agency shall in addition to the norms specified in sub-rule (1) above ensure that the safety and security norms issued under the following Acts or Rules or Code or guidelines are followed by every private school or the teacher training institute scrupulously:-
(a) the safety standards as per the National Building Code, 2005;
(b) the Manual on ‘Safety and Security of the children in schools’ developed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights;
(c) the child safety policy evolved by the National Centre of Early Childhood Education (NCECE);
(d) the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority to protect the children from the natural and man-made hazards like flood, fire, stampede etc;
(e) the safety measures enumerated in the Model Education Code prepared by the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration;
(f) the guidelines issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India;
(g) the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Central Act 59 of 1988 ) and the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Special Rules, 2012;
(h) the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (Regulation and Monitoring of Swimming Pools) Rules, 2015;
(i) the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019;
(j) the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (Central Act 32 of 2012);
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(k) the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997 (Tamil Nadu Act 7 of 1997) and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Rules, 1999; and
(l) the guidelines issued by the Government from time to time.