Anti-sexual abuse panels in schools: PMC asks for report

All ward-level education officials have been asked to collect data on the over 300 primary schools and 30 secondary schools run by the PMC

The education commissioner is set to review sexual harassment committees in city schools and circulars have been issued to education officers across the district to ensure that relevant data is collected within a stipulated time frame.

Ramchandra Jadhav, deputy director of education, Pune, said that the issue had been overlooked for too long. “We do not have data on whether schools actually formed committees or not. The committee is mandatory. So this time, we have asked the education officers to collect information about such committees, including names of members, how many times it meets, what steps have been taken to ensure safety of students and so on,” he added.

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All ward-level education officials have been asked to collect data on the over 300 primary schools and 30 secondary schools run by the PMC, said Shivaji Daundkar, education officer, PMC.

According to officials, the data on the anti-sexual abuse panels is yet to be collected, but a known statistics is that of the 30 PMC run secondary schools, only 23 have installed complaint boxes for girl students to anonymously report cases. “Seven of the schools did not introduce complaint boxes because they did not receive grant under a scheme, Kishori Utkarsh Manch, which funds initiatives to empower the girl child,” said Meenakshi Raut, education officer.

“It doesn’t stop at installing these complaint boxes, but how regularly they are opened, how seriously these complaints are taken and whether these schools have the committees to deal with such cases. A complete review needs to be done,” said an official.

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