Today, On 24th September, The Supreme Court ordered the implementation of safety and security guidelines for children in schools across all states and Union Territories in response to the Badlapur incident. The directive aims to ensure that schools follow necessary safety protocols to protect students, highlighting the Court’s concern over rising cases of violence and negligence affecting children.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, ordered the enforcement of the Centre’s guidelines concerning the safety and security of children in schools across all states and union territories. It also instructed the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to work closely with these regions to ensure proper implementation and monitoring of the guidelines.
A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh acknowledged the Centre’s notification of these guidelines and instructed the Union government to distribute copies to chief secretaries or their equivalents in each state and territory.
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Additionally, the NCPCR directed to coordinate with state governments and union territories to oversee the implementation process and to request regular status reports.
This directive came in response to a plea by an NGO, following recent incidents of child sexual abuse in schools, including a case in Badlapur, Maharashtra, advocating for the urgent application of these safety guidelines across the country’s educational institutions.
Representing the NGO ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan‘, senior advocate HS Phoolka informed the Supreme Court that only five states have implemented the Centre’s guidelines on children’s safety. The ongoing petition, originally filed on May 6, 2019, led to the top court issuing notices to the relevant respondents. The NGO argued that children’s safety is being compromised, leaving them vulnerable to “sexual abuse and assault” because several state and union territory governments have yet to adopt the guidelines established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in collaboration with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
The NGO stated,
“These guidelines have been created to hold school management accountable for the safety and security of children in government, government-aided, and private schools,”
The plea highlighted a recent tragic case in Badlapur, Maharashtra, where two schoolgirls were allegedly raped by a staff member. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the failure of school management to ensure the protection of children. The plea emphasized that had the guidelines been implemented by the state and union territory governments, many such incidents could have been prevented.
The petition requested the court to instruct the respondents to notify and enforce the ‘Fixing the Accountability of School Management towards the Safety and Security of Children in School Guidelines,’ which were issued on August 20, 2018, by the HRD in collaboration with the NCPCR.
While the writ petition was pending, the Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy introduced the ‘Guidelines on School Safety and Security 2021’ on October 1, 2021, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives. These new guidelines explicitly state that it is the responsibility of state and union territory governments to notify and implement them, according to the NGO.
Subsequently, the petitioner submitted an amendment application on December 20, 2022, seeking urgent directions for all states and union territories to immediately and mandatorily notify these guidelines.
The application noted,
“It is respectfully submitted that numerous recent incidents have highlighted the failure of school management to protect and secure the lives of children, the most vulnerable members of society,”
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