The length colleges take to ensure students' safety

“Each day we are compelled to line up and are frisked from head to toe by our discipline in charges. They not only check whether we have cut out nails or maintained our hair but they dig into our bags for gadgets including pen drives and CDs to chocolates and biscuits,” shares Sara Singh, a 12th grader of United College, Kumaripati .

Although, Sara and her friends do not indulge in wrong doings, they don’t understand what the college administration is trying to dig out from the students bags. “We’ve accept it as a rule set by the institution,” says Singh.

Rajesh Adhikari, Member, Board of Directors at Chelsea International Academy, Baneshwor asserts, “Many adolescents seek to establish their own image among their peers and in order to prove their superiority, they tend to indulge in physical fights that at times involve weapons or expensive gadgets to show off to their friends. That creates an environment of disparity in social status.”

He is of the thought that such gadgets including cell phone, are not for educational purpose and should not be brought to school.

“We are responsible for the security of our students within the college premises. Since our college has been established we have set certain rules and regulations that our students ought to follow. If electronic gadgets are found, we take them and return them with a warning when the student leaves the college premise.” adds Adhikari.

It is not out of the ordinary for  organizations to have specific security mechanism and likewise, various schools and colleges in the Valley have upgraded their security systems using surveillance cameras, metal detectors and security guards.

The main factor that calls for tightening the security is to maintain discipline among students and also because young pupils have a lot of aggression related issues that can be easily triggered; often causing conflict and harm.

“I feel that invigilation is good security method but surveillance cameras are present not only in the passages but our classes as well. It makes us conscious all the time rather than worrying about our studies,” complains Nirvan, 4th year BBA student of College of Applied Business.

Ramesh Pandey, Principal of College of Applied Business, Tangal, informs, “We encountered many cases of stolen purses and cell phones from classes and computer labs.

Each of our classrooms has a projector and a notebook and in the past few students damaged three of our projectors. Also one of the major issues at our college is the nasty conflict at managerial level that often resulted in theft of official papers and locks of administration offices being broken into. Lastly, we host various national level examinations at our college and the primary requirement for such accommodations is surveillance cameras.”

He concludes, “Therefore, in order to safeguard our own and student’s property as well as to avoid and identify culprits, we upgraded our security mechanism is such a manner.”
By large, students accept these decisions and follow security screening. Bishal Rayamajhi, a student of Chelsea International Academy opines, “Checking is necessary since it instills a sense of fear from the authority but at times I feel irritated by being held and inspected despite fully submitting to the college rules and regulations. “ adding, “I wish there was a method to check only those people who seem to have improper background or seem like a suspect.”

Another student from Chelsea International Academy , Samar Timilsina adds, “Our generation youth does have ego clashes and group formations so it’s unpredictable how a small dispute may turn nasty. I feel secured when all of us are checked each day. However, I wonder why there is a need of surveillance camera in the canteen area because we are often playful and would want to have our own space with friends.” Timilsina is of the opinion that this is an intrusion of their privacy and often than not may even be misunderstood by those  monitoring the students. But he is quick to add, “Nevertheless, it is not about how I personally feel but about the safety of all, so I think it is a good advancement to safeguard students and the college as a whole.”

In some schools the security measures have proved fruitful as Adhikari clarifies, “We have even found drugs possessed by few students so we decided to keep a check on them. Students might feel awkward to be screened but we don’t think that there is a need to argue on these issues as all of them have to go through the same procedures for their own safety.”

The arguments are continual; however both management and students have their own perspectives regarding security issues. Perhaps these mechanisms have helped improve the security system to a large extent. On the other side, it raises eyebrow as the management of some colleges conspicuously avoid talking about their security measures.

*Names of a few students have been changed for privacy and protection.

(Source: Republica National Daily)