The Essential Guide to Child Safety in Indian Preschools

Your child’s first day at preschool is a milestone moment in your parenting journey. Your child is stepping into their second home, and you want to be sure that they will be safe. But first, it’s important to define: what exactly does “safe” mean?

There are three ways in which you should measure your child’s safety at preschool (and beyond):

1. Physical safety: Is my child in an environment that protects them from physical harm?
2. Emotional safety: Is my child treated with love and respect? Do they feel empowered to express themselves?
3. Cognitive safety: Is my child taught in an age appropriate way?

Safety Issues

Physical safety

• Injuries — Young children do not understand the effects of playing rough. They often accidentally cause injuries to themselves or their friends. Lack of communication and classroom rules can increase such incidents
• Fire Safety —Preschools don’t always pay attention to fire safety guidelines. The consequences of overlooking fire proofing and fire drills can be severe
• Transportation — Conductors and drivers may not always be able to take care of children. Roads are dangerous and guidelines for school buses are not always followed

Emotional safety

• Corporal Punishment — A 2007 report on child abuse by the Ministry of Woman and Child Development found that 2 out of 3 children are subject to corporal punishment, which includes beatings and making children stand for hours. Preschools sometimes also have teachers trying to punish students in this manner
• Molestation and Abuse — As detailed in this Hindustan Times article and in this Times of India article, children are often at risk of assault from the staff responsible for their care, which can cause trauma and injury. While some cases come to light, a lot of others may stay in the shadows as young children hesitate to talk about the issue. This makes it all the more important to have preventive safeguards in place
• Learning/Emotional Problems — Problems at home, learning disabilities, social problems, and other psychological issues are often overlooked in young children. Not addressing these problems sensitively can hamper the child’s development

Cognitive safety

• Academic Pressure — Teachers put children’s mental safety at risk by putting academic pressure on young children. By assigning homework and testing children of preschool age, they risk not letting them reach developmental milestones in their own time

Source: Pixabay

Who is Responsible?

When issues arise, what steps should be taken to address them? The solutions and measures have to be a joint effort. The preschool’s management and teachers must take care of the children. However, the parents and even the children themselves can also play a role.

Role of the preschool

The first responsibility falls upon the preschool management. They should make sure classrooms are safe and proper hiring decisions are made. Teachers and staff, as well as third parties like drivers, need to be qualified and background-checked.

Physical safety:

1. Preschool premises: Premises for the preschool should be separate and have gates, walls and other obstacles to ensure security against exit (of the children) or entry (of those who may wish harm to the children)
2. Staff: All staff should undergo a background check, including legal and criminal records. Teaching and non-teaching staff must be trained to respond in any emergency
3. Identity: Identification cards should be given to all children, as well as parental authority cards to the parents
4. Classroom: Electrical cords should be kept out of reach of children. Electrical outlets should be covered with childproof materials. Cleaning supplies and medicines should be locked away
5. Toys: All materials (toys, mats, etc.) should meet regulatory standards. Suitable fall surfaces should be present around any play equipment
6. Observation: CCTV cameras should be installed in all classrooms
7. Consistency: Daily safety checks should be carried out to ensure that maintenance is up to date

Emotional Safety:

1. Individual attention: A suitable student to teacher ratio (1:20) should be maintained
2. Teacher quality: The staff must be qualified to teach the children

Cognitive Safety:

1. Teaching materials: All teaching materials including toys should be age appropriate. They should be made of child safe materials
2. Syllabus: The syllabus should be structured in a manner that doesn’t stress out the children

Role of the staff and teachers:

Teachers are akin to our children’s second parents and have responsibilities that span physical, emotional and cognitive safety issues.

Physical safety:

1. Physical presence: Teachers should maintain attendance records and do regular head counts to ensure students have not left the school
2. Supervision: Teachers should pay attention to the children at all times
3. Reporting: Teachers should maintain reports of accidents and incidents
4. Illness prevention: Teachers should be trained to identify illnesses and take measures to contain infection
5. Medical needs: Teachers should be aware of each child’s allergies and medical issues
6. Emergency contact: The staff should have the contact information of the parents or other emergency contacts for the child

Emotional safety:

1. Incident prevention: Children with a history of causing injury should be well supervised
2. Corrective measures: A child who has injured another should be corrected sensitively. Teachers should not hit or harm the students
3. Emotional support: Teachers should be capable of helping students with emotional problems, learning disabilities and social problems

Cognitive safety:

1. Teaching methods: Children should be taught in a manner that is age-appropriate. They should not be burdened with rules and homework

Role of third parties

Third parties are just as important as measures taken in the preschool and at home.

The school bus is an area where it is important to have rules to maintain children’s physical safety. The government has put forward rules for school buses including:

1. Having a clear label indicating it is a ‘School Bus’
2. Having grills on the windows
3. Having a first aid box
4. Having a fire extinguisher on hand
5. Having the school name and telephone number clearly visible

Now while the school bus may be safe, what about the people in it? Your childs’ safety depends on the adults in the bus. What about the fact that children spend a great deal of time outdoors and could try to leave the grounds? Guards, drivers, and caregivers are an important part of a preschool and need to keep your kids safe too!

1. Staff quality: The school bus should have a qualified driver and conductor
2. Accountability: The bus conductor should do headcounts of all the children at pickup and drop offs. Parents must be contacted in case the child is not present at the stop or in case of any emergency
3. Familiarity: Security guards should be well trained and familiar with the surrounding area
4. Emergency contact: All support staff should know the emergency numbers of teachers, parents and management

Role of the parent

We’ve looked at the role of the preschool, teachers and third parties— but about the parents? The government has come out with new preschool guidelines in 2017 that every parent should be aware of. Additionally, parents can do the following:

At the preschool:

1. Familiarity: Meet with with staff and teachers at the school beforehand
2. Emergency contact: Keep contact information of the child’s teacher and other staff
3. Mindful packing: Do not send anything harmful with the child to school
4. Medical information: Information about medical issues/allergies should be proactively given to the teachers and staff
5. Identification: Visible IDs should be pinned to your child’s clothes

In transit:

1. Familiarity: Know the bus drivers, conductors or any other staff accompanying your child
2. Punctuality: Check timings to pick up and drop off your child from the bus stop/preschool

In the home:

A child’s behaviour is based on what they learn at home. Once they start school, it becomes even more important to assess what children see at home. To keep them, as well as the other children safe, make sure to:

1. Respect: Teach your child to respect and pay attention to their teachers
2. Socializing: Familiarize your child with other children. Teach them to share
3. Discipline: Avoid play hitting or wrestling at home so such behaviour is not copied in the classroom
4. Corrective behavior: Explain things gently to your child in case they do something wrong
5. Expression: Teach children to express themselves by talking
6. Comfort: Make sure your child knows they can talk to you about anything, and that you will pay attention to and help them

Ensuring your child’s preschool is safe

In conclusion, we have summarized a quick checklist of do’s and don’ts so that you can pick the safest preschool for your child.

Do

✓ Look around the school and make sure it has a safe layout (well-guarded, well gated, preferably on the ground floor)

✓ Make sure the school is well maintained and clean

✓ Ask if the school is licensed and the teachers qualified

✓ Meet with the teachers and other staff beforehand and introduce yourself

✓ Check if an adequate student-teacher ratio is maintained

✓ Make sure the school is not too strict and does not engage in physical discipline

✓ Ensure the school does not have long hours, and has timings that go along with your work hours (especially if both parents have jobs)

✓ Take a look at the school buses and meet the bus drivers

Don’t

✗ Go by word of mouth or sentiment

✗ Neglect complaints from your child

✗ Let accidents or untoward incidents go unreported

✗ Bypass teaching your child how to behave at school while they’re at home

✗ Forget to follow up on complaints made

Concluding thoughts

These pointers can serve as a blueprint for preschools, parents and teachers. As your child eases their way into their first years of school, you should be rest assured that you have done everything for your child’s safety.

Request: If you appreciated the article, please like and share.

You can also join the movement by raising your voice and sharing your opinions/experiences on social media platforms and blogs such as Medium.