Panaji, Mar 5 (IANS): The Goa government should foot the bill for setting up expensive CCTV installations in schools, headmasters have demanded Tuesday, even as the police is yet to nab the rapist of a seven-year-old school girl.
Sanjeev Sawant of Goa Headmasters Association (GHA) said that mere issuing a circular by the education department that all schools should have CCTV (close circuit TV) systems installed was not enough.
"Installing CCTV cameras is an expensive affair. We request the state government to make the necessary financial arrangements for setting them up," Sawant told reporters, adding that a provision should be made to enable schools to be more electronically vigilant.
The CCTVs and mobile jammers, were some of the suggestions made by the police to the school managements after the seven-year-old girl was brutally raped in the toilet of a school operated by a central government run public sector undertaking.
An 18-member crack police team which has been pressed into action to arrest the rape accused, who is still unidentified has failed to arrest him, even as the school headmistress Sharlet Furtado was arrested for negligence.
Sawant said that safety of students on campus was of paramount importance but several schools may not be in position to install hi-tech gadgetry as requested for by the state government.
"The state government should come up with a comprehensive policy for safety of students on campus, which scope for includes financial assistance," he said.