THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Last year, a theft occurred at a government higher secondary school located on the outskirts of the capital city, in which the computers and other electronic equipment kept inside the school laboratory were looted. The journey of the police in search of the culprits ended in a very strange place - in front of two students of the school, who had barely stepped into their teens.The news was nothing short of a shock for the school authorities and society, who realised the fact that schools are no more safe for students. There awaits an army of anti-social elements outside the schools to entrap the students at a tender age. It seems our police do not want any more students to be locked up in juvenile homes. They have launched a new programme, called School Protection Groups (SPG), in city schools in a bid to protect the students from falling prey to illegal activities. The programme has been launched as part of the statewide scheme devised based on a directive of the Director General of Police, Jacob Punnoose, aimed at ensuring the safety of children as well as curbing the tendency of juvenile delinquency. City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham said that steps have already been taken to implement the programme in all the city schools. SPGs of each school will be chaired by either the head of the institution or the president of the Parent Teacher Association of the respective school. The Station House Officer of the local police station will be the convener of each group. The other members of the group will be the ward member/councillor, school student leader, two willing parents, two willing teachers, one respectable merchant of the locality, one autorickshaw driver in the locality, a representative of the Jana Jagratha Samithi, as well as residents of the locality. "The functions of the SPG are almost similar to the Student Police Cadets (SPC) scheme launched by the State police last year. However, the primary aim of both the programmes differs,’’ Manoj Abraham said. While the SPC was meant to groom socially committed and responsible citizens through proper training, SPG aims to ensure the safety of both the participating students and representatives of society. Unlike SPG, the selected students will not be offered any training in skills, the Commissioner said. The duties assigned to the SPGs include ensuring the traffic safety in the neighbourhood of the school, passing on information to the police regarding the supply of drugs and narcotic substances, pornographic materials, sale of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages and keeping a watch on persons who befriend the students in a view to exploit them for illegal or immoral activities. "The programme has just been launched and we have been getting a favourable response from students and schools, despite the participation in the programme being voluntary,’’ added the Commissioner.
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