CHENNAI: In a bid to ensure on and off campus safety of students, University Grants Commission (UGC) has instructed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country to set up police stations on campus to keep away anti-social elements.
UGC Secretary Dr Jaspal S Sandhu, in a letter to vice Chancellors of all universities, has made it clear that ensuring students’ safety from attacks, threats and accidents should be prime concern of educational administrators. “Safe, secure and cohesive learning climate is an ineluctable precondition to quality education and research in HEIs,” it said.
Prime among the safety guidelines the UGC has formulated, is a suggestion to set up police stations on campus to allay security concerns besides commissioning of a student body of Community Service Officers. “With students stud ying late night, these officers can provide short distance escort service to the nearest taxi or bus stand besides helping with night patrol,” says the guideline document.
Installing emergency notification system on the lines of the successful University of California’s ‘WarnMe’ model was another suggestion. “HEIs can take all necessary steps to install an emergency notification system which will send an emergency message via email, telephone, cell phone and text messaging within minutes of occurrence of an incident that poses immediate threat to health and safety of campus community members,” the guideline document said.
Self-defence training for women studying and working on campus should be made a mandatory component of extra-curricular activities undertaken in HEIs, the document noted. Calling on institutions to set up support and education mechanisms to educate students on sexual violence, colleges were instructed to confront oppressive stereotypes which cause interpersonal violence.
UGC also mandated institutions to set up ‘Students Counselling system’ for managing problems and challenges faced by them. “It should be a unique, interactive and target-oriented system involving teachers and parents, resolving to address concerns ranging from anxiety, stress, fear of change and failure, to homesickness and a slew of academic worries.” Teacher-counsellors trained to act as guardians of students are to submit growth report and feedback to parents and help in initiating corrective action upon discovering anomaly in behaviour patterns.
UGC Secretary Dr Jaspal S Sandhu, in a letter to vice Chancellors of all universities, has made it clear that ensuring students’ safety from attacks, threats and accidents should be prime concern of educational administrators. “Safe, secure and cohesive learning climate is an ineluctable precondition to quality education and research in HEIs,” it said.
Prime among the safety guidelines the UGC has formulated, is a suggestion to set up police stations on campus to allay security concerns besides commissioning of a student body of Community Service Officers. “With students stud ying late night, these officers can provide short distance escort service to the nearest taxi or bus stand besides helping with night patrol,” says the guideline document.
Installing emergency notification system on the lines of the successful University of California’s ‘WarnMe’ model was another suggestion. “HEIs can take all necessary steps to install an emergency notification system which will send an emergency message via email, telephone, cell phone and text messaging within minutes of occurrence of an incident that poses immediate threat to health and safety of campus community members,” the guideline document said.
Self-defence training for women studying and working on campus should be made a mandatory component of extra-curricular activities undertaken in HEIs, the document noted. Calling on institutions to set up support and education mechanisms to educate students on sexual violence, colleges were instructed to confront oppressive stereotypes which cause interpersonal violence.
UGC also mandated institutions to set up ‘Students Counselling system’ for managing problems and challenges faced by them. “It should be a unique, interactive and target-oriented system involving teachers and parents, resolving to address concerns ranging from anxiety, stress, fear of change and failure, to homesickness and a slew of academic worries.” Teacher-counsellors trained to act as guardians of students are to submit growth report and feedback to parents and help in initiating corrective action upon discovering anomaly in behaviour patterns.
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