Ryan International School was sent a notice by CBSE for failing to take safety precautions for students
Highlights
- Pradyuman, a class 2 student, was found murdered inside school washroom
- CBSE notice said mandatory safety norms had been flouted by the school
- Probe report indicted Ryan school of negligence on multiple counts
Acting on an inquiry report into the murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur that indicted Ryan International School of negligence on multiple counts, the Central Board of Secondary Education, or CBSE, has sent notice to the school to explain why it should not be stripped of its affiliation to the country top education body.
The report concluded the murder that horrified the nation could have been averted.
"From the sequence of events, it appears that the school is guilty of gross negligence and failed to ensure safety and security of the students in the school'', the education board's notice to the school said.
Pradyuman, a class 2 student, was found with his throat slit after he visited the washroom near his classroom just moments after being dropped off by his father.
A school bus conductor, Ashok Kumar, was accused of killing the boy and has been arrested. He was present in the washroom when the boy went in, security footage that caught the child's last moments alive has revealed. Pradyuman is seen crawling out of the bathroom and collapsing next to a wall.
After meeting Pradyuman's father yesterday,
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced the government would take over the management of the school for the next three months. Mr Khattar also recommended a CBI probe into the murder.
The CBSE had also ordered a probe earlier to ascertain if the school had taken the necessary precautions mandated by the board for the safety of its students.
In its report, a two-member panel found that not only were there no separate washrooms for non-teaching staff such as drivers and conductors and, but the washroom windows also did not have any grills to prevent people from accessing it.
It has also taken a dim view of the police report that a gardener passing by was the first to spot a bleeding Pradyuman, his light blue shirt soaked in blood.
The panel said an
aayah, or an attendant, should have been present in or around the washroom to help young children.
The two-member CBSE team also has observed that the school had insufficient CCTV cameras. "Most of the CCTV cameras installed in the school building are not functioning," the notice said.