Kollam student death: Opposition leader VD Satheesan demands audit across schools in Kerala
"The govt and the public education department must be prepared to audit the physical conditions in the state's schools and face an investigation," Satheesan said.
"The electricity line has been running over the playground at the Thevalakkara school for years. The bicycle shed is constructed underneath it. Mithun climbed onto the roof of the bicycle shed through the classroom window to retrieve footwear. There are allegations of a delay in turning off the electricity line.
How did the school receive a fitness certificate with such a dangerous electricity line passing through? Was the fitness certificate given because it is a CPM-run school? Or has the school been operating all this time without a fitness certificate? The govt, the public education department and the minister have the responsibility to answer these questions," the opposition leader said.
The govt should be ready for a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances that led to the student's death at the school, Satheesan said, adding that legal action should be taken against those responsible.
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"It must also be ensured that such negligence does not occur in any school in the state," he said.
Satheesan said that the opposition had raised a similar demand for an audit of schools when a 10-year-old girl died from a snakebite in the classroom in Wayanad five years ago. However, the govt and the public education department were not ready to take action, he alleged.
"A child lost his life due to your negligence. If children's safety cannot be ensured in schools, what is the point of having such a govt and education department?" Satheesan asked.
There is severe negligence in the public education sector, in addition to the health and higher education sectors. This is the situation everywhere. There is no government here to ask or speak up, Satheesan said.
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