New school picnic guidelines: According to the new system, before any school trip, the concerned school principal will have to contact the nearest police station. Along with this, the presence of two police personnel will have to be ensured during the trip.
If girl students are also included in the trip, the presence of a woman police officer will also be necessary.
The Gujarat government has taken a major step to make school educational tours, picnics and Bharat Darshan programmes even safer. Now the presence of two uniformed police personnel has been made mandatory in any tour organised by every primary, secondary and higher secondary school in the state. This order has been sent to all schools by the state’s Director General of Police Vikas Sahay.
The decision, taken on the suggestion of the Prime Minister , comes as part of the implementation of the sixth of the 108 suggestions made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the recently held DGP-IGP conference. The main objective of this step is to make school trips safe and prioritize the safety of children.
Police station to be informed before travel
As per the new system, before any school trip, the concerned school principal will have to contact the nearest police station. Along with this, the presence of two police personnel will have to be ensured during the trip. If girl students are also included in the trip, the presence of a woman police officer will also be necessary.
Every trip report will have to be sent to the government.
Each school will have to prepare a detailed report of its trip and send it to the official email ID adapprm@gujarat.gov.in . This report will have to include details of the trip, date, destination and number of children participating, as well as information about the police personnel.
Safety concerns have increased after the Harni Lake accident.
The decision comes at a time when several tragic accidents have come to light during school trips in the state. The biggest example of this is the incident at Harni Lake in Vadodara in 2023, in which several children lost their lives due to lack of safety measures.
Schools in various districts of Gujarat often arrange trips for children to museums, historical places, scientific centers, lakes and religious places in the city. But till now there was no concrete arrangement for the safety of children during these trips. Now the security system will be strengthened with the mandatory presence of the police.
Police presence will boost confidence
State Police Chief Vikas Sahay said that this new system will boost the confidence of both children and teachers. He said that it is necessary to have a woman police officer for the safety of girl students. Schools will get police support according to the number of children.
