Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), Berhampur, has installed 22 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on its campus.
The surveillance cameras have been put up at some strategic locations, including the main entrance and corridors. With this, the KV became the first government-run school in Ganjam to have such security cameras. Out of six KVs in Bhubaneswar, two KVs have such cameras.
"The CCTV cameras are installed for proper surveillance on the campus and to record the persons visiting the school. The KV has spent Rs 3 lakh for the installation," said principal A K Mishra.
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghathan (KVS), the apex controlling body of the KVs across the country, has asked the schools to install CCTV cameras from security point of view, KVS sources said.
After terrorists attacked a school at Peshawar in Pakistan in December 2014, which claimed over 140 lives, mostly schoolchildren, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) asked its schools to install the CCTV cameras on the campus to maintain a standard operating procedure (SPO) in schools. The KVS followed suit.
"With the installation of CCTVs, we hope effective supervision will be made on the school campus," said Mishra. The school management committee had approved installation of surveillance cameras on the premises to maintain SOP, he said.
The surveillance cameras, however, are not installed inside classrooms. "We did not install cameras inside the classrooms as it may violate privacy of students and teachers. Moreover, classrooms are the most secure places in schools," said a senior teacher of the school.
