New Delhi: As the Delhi government launched its pilot project to install CCTV cameras in schools and allow parents monitor their children, there is a mix of confusion and cynicism among parents and teachers even as students remain indifferent.
But to quell all the criticism coming his way, Delhi’s deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia said in a statement Friday that the decision was taken after careful planning and deliberation.
Citing court judgments, the minister persisted that there is “no privacy issue involved in installing CCTVs in classrooms”.
Read the full text of Manish Sisodia’s statement below:
I have been receiving numerous queries from the friends in the media about the Delhi government’s important project to install CCTVs in government schools.
At the outset I want to unambiguously state that I have been extremely pained at the motivated allegations and uninformed campaign in some sections about this project.
Education is one of the top priorities of our government and the world has seen the turnaround that our government has been able to achieve in this field ranging from infrastructure in schools to quality of education being imparted to students and encouragement for teachers in all forms.
Safety and security of students in schools and transparency in imparting education plays an extremely important role.
In September 2017, the CBSE had issued a circular to its affiliated schools directing that all necessary steps be taken to ensure safety and security of students. Schools were directed to install CCTV cameras at all vulnerable points of their premises and also to make sure that the cameras are up and running all the time.
This was following some unfortunate incidents, which included the murder of a seven year-old boy inside a school premises, and earlier a government school teacher was murdered inside a government school.
I am only making a mention of a few serious incidents here to remind everyone of the very reason why this project was conceived.
We have decided to install CCTV cameras in all Delhi government schools after careful planning and well thought out Standing Operating Procedures (SoPs) have been put in place.
It is beyond any reasonable understanding as to why cynics are creating a hue and cry about the installation of CCTVs in classrooms. In September last year, this project was challenged before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court.
The hon’ble Court while dismissing the petition had correctly observed that there was no privacy issue involved in installing CCTVs in classrooms. The Court had further stated that nothing private happens in classrooms and it will help in removing unnecessary misgivings and trashing wrong allegations.
Today, the highest Court of the country, the hon’ble Supreme Court allowed the government to go ahead with the project by refusing any stay.
My disappointment is with well meaning individuals, who aired their opinions with either half baked information or after having been influenced by motivated propaganda.
I am making it clear that the feed of classrooms will only be made available to parents, who will be able to access it after getting a secure password for a smart-phone for a limited period of time daily without any audio.
Teachers, parents and students are happy with this latest initiative and our government will prove the sceptics wrong once again like it has done repeatedly on its initiatives in the field of education.