In Dwarka, DPS gets detectors to frisk parents

Days after the terror attack in Mumbai shook the whole country, while most schools in the Capital have barred entry of parents and visitors without prior appointment...

Days after the terror attack in Mumbai shook the whole country, while most schools in the Capital have barred entry of parents and visitors without prior appointment, Delhi Public School in Dwarka has gone a step further and deployed hand-held metal detectors at the school’s gates.

Parents who went to pick up their wards from the school’s primary wing today were met at the gate by guards and frisked with metal detectors before being let in.

Aside from the increased security, the school has also sought parents’ consent to postpone a planned annual picnic. A circular was sent to parents today requesting their consent to cancel the event (see box).

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“There was an announcement from the administrative staff to the assembled parents requesting them to go directly to their child’s classroom and not loiter in the corridors,” a parent, who did not want to be named, said. “There was no such security check till two days ago but it started today.”

The school authorities could not be contacted for comments.

The policy of frisking parents and cancelling school outings has not been implemented at all DPS branches, though. “We have not made any such plans so far but have disallowed people (outsiders) from entering the school,” a teacher at another branch of DPS said.

Last week, Newsline had reported how schools in the Capital have heightened vigilance after the September 13 Delhi blasts and tightened it further following last week’s attacks in Mumbai.