Palampur: 90% schools lack fire safety arrangements

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, May 28

Most private schools in the region lack proper fire safety arrangements on their premises. A Tribune team visited several schools today and found that 90 per cent of these had no fire safety arrangements and only one staircase. Even with a strength of over 500 students, most schools did not have an emergency exit.

According to fire safety rules, staircases in schools must be at least eight metres wide, and also must have emergency exits. But in many schools, staircases were only three to four feet wide. Most school owners were unaware of the fire safety norms, and said they had not received any safety guidelines from the state government.

Some schools that are located in narrow lanes are confronted with the very real danger of a stampede in case a fire breaks out on the premises.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that following a Supreme Court order in 2017, the Ministry of Education had framed guidelines for holding the school management accountable for the safety of students. The Ministry of Education again issued guidelines in 2021 on school safety and security, fixing the accountability of the school management.

Exercising its power under Section 35(2) of the RTE Act, 2009, and as per its mandate under Rule 93 of the Juvenile Justice Model Rules, 2016, the state government notified the guidelines on school safety and security, which were sent to the relevant authorities in all districts of the state for speedy implementation. These guidelines were also shared with the managements of schools registered with the HP Education Department.

In view of these guidelines, the Education Department announced the decision to withdraw the no-objection certificates (NOCs) of several non-compliant schools that were identified as vulnerable to fires and other hazards. Hundreds of government and private schools still lack fire safety and other basic safety arrangements. However, the authorities have not taken steps to streamline the system or cancel the NOCs of the erring schools.

A senior officer of the Education Department said the safety of children at schools is a serious matter. Despite reminders, most private and government institutions had failed to follow the guidelines and still lack fire safety infrastructure. These schools were reportedly doing nothing to plug the loopholes.