Karnataka govt 'floors' nursery schools

Over 400 nursery schools in Karnataka are in trouble.

On a recommendation by the Karnataka Lokayukta (a forum for addressing citizens' grievances), the state government has directed that all nursery schools in Bangalore, which are housed in the first/second floor of a building, to shift to the ground floor.

The recommendation came following a probe conducted by the Lokayukta into the recent death of five-year-old Sonia Singh after she fell from the second floor of her nursery school.

The Lokayukta, taking suo motu notice of the girl's death, conducted an inquiry into the matter and subsequently held the school guilty of negligence.

Statistics reveal that out of the 700 nursery schools in Bangalore city, 400 are not located on the ground floor.

Nursery school managements are naturally unhappy with this decision.

According to them, there is plenty of expenditure involved in the shift, and in most cases the buildings they are housed in are on rental basis.

Apart from a directive to the nursery schools, other schools too will have to abide a separate set of guidelines.

In case of schools being situated on the first floor or above, a safety mesh will have to be put up. Students of nursery schools will have to be escorted at all times during school hours and not allowed to loiter around in the campus by themselves.

The education minister will have to visit all schools in the state on a regular basis. Besides this, security personnel should be posted on all floors of the school.