The Ernakulam Rural police are reviewing student safety in schools, covering infrastructure, personal, emotional, and cyber aspects. The structural integrity of compound walls and gates, police clearance certificates of school vehicle drivers, and vehicle fitness are being reviewed.

The police have collected data on safety features in around 120 of the 140 schools in the Munambam subdivision using a 12-point questionnaire. Special attention will be given to schools that report shortcomings in the survey, officers said.

Schools have also been asked whether complaint boxes have been installed and whether students have been sensitised on how to use them. The questionnaire also seeks to ascertain whether school authorities have taken steps to prevent the sale of drugs and tobacco products on their premises and to regulate the use of mobile phones by students during school hours.

The questionnaire was provided to teachers appointed as school safety officers during a workshop conducted by the police on Saturday (June 20). “We have received the filled-in forms, and they will be analysed shortly. Based on the responses, steps will be taken to address the shortcomings in each school. A score below eight will be considered as indicating compromised safety,” an officer involved in the project said.

District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K.S. Sudarshan said the programme was initiated as a follow-up to the safety awareness measures undertaken ahead of the reopening of schools.

S. Jayakrishnan, DySP, Munambam, who initiated the safety analysis programme, said student safety had to be ensured on multiple fronts. The Fire and Rescue Services, North Paravur, also joined the programme, conducting practical sessions on first aid for injuries resulting from falls, electric shocks, snakebites, and attacks by stray animals.