New Indian Express: Chennai: Saturday, June 16, 2018.
Holding all types of schools -- private, government-aided and government -- as public institutions, the State Information Commission (SIC), established under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, has directed the managements of all the schools in the State to furnish full details about the institutions and their administration, right down to the level of the bus driver, on their websites. This includes information ‘pertaining to criminal cases pending’ against persons involved in running of the institutions.
State Information Commissioner S Muthuraj said all schools receiving grants, finance and benefits from govt, either directly or indirectly, are to be construed as Public Authority as per Sec. 2(h) of the RTI Act. The Public Authorities are bound to disclose all information of public impo-rtance under Sec. 4 of the Act.In the present scenario, child abuse is on the rise.
There are crimes against children in institutions. In the interest of the public at large, parents have a legitimate right to know about the credentials of persons who manage the institutions. Hence, the commission is bound to issue a directive to schools to furnish the steps/measures taken by management for safety and security of the children, and further to inform parents about steps taken to protect their welfare and ensure conducive atmosphere, under the RT Act.
SIC directs PIOs to submit action report by July 16
Parents have a right to know about the management, correspondents and all other teaching and non-teaching staff of the school, including drivers of the vehicles and attenders in schools in which their children are being admitted.
Muthuraj directed all educational institutions/schools to disclose all information pertaining to criminal cases pending against the person or persons who are part of the management board, advisory committee, chairman, trustees, principals, correspondents, teaching staff, non-teaching staff including drivers and attendants of the vehicles used by schools or any other person involved in discharging the functions of the schools. The Director of School Education shall send a communication to all Chief Education Officers to ensure that all information pertaining to criminal cases is disclosed on their respective websites.
Muthuraj gave the directive recently while passing orders on an application from one J Mohammed Ali Siddiq, who had applied to the Public Information Officer/Inspector of Matriculation Schools in Tiruvannamalai, to furnish certain details about St Joseph Matriculation HS Schools.
In his application to the PIC and Chief Education Officer, Vellore, Siddiq sought information regarding the safety precautions taken to ensure security of students of the school and the inspection report pertaining to the inspection of the school campus, the environment and its bus. By an order dated June 7, 2017, the PIC was directed to furnish the information sought for by the petitioner. As it was not done, the petitioner preferred the first appeal.
Granting the prayer, SIC Muthuraj directed the PIC to furnish the details asked for by the petitioner within 15 days. The Director, State Crime Records Bureau, should co-ordinate and also instruct all District Crime Records Bureau to provide necessary information to all Chief Education officers of all districts for its compliance, the SIC said and directed PIOs to submit the action taken report on July 16.
Amnesty for edu institutions
The TN govt has given its approval to accord amnesty to educational institution buildings, including those of schools, constructed prior to Jan 1, 2011 in non-plan areas that come under the Directorate of Town and Country Planning.
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