Team Goemkarponn
PORVORIM: Following an incident on September 23 that left 47 pupils and five teachers trapped at the Charavane waterfall in Sattari taluka, the Directorate of Education has sent St. Francis Xavier Higher Secondary School in Siolim, Bardez, a show-cause notice.
Water levels rose rapidly as a result of heavy rains when the group was on a cleanliness campaign and environmental field trip.Locals, police, forest officials, firefighters, and emergency services people saved them.
In light of the incident’s media coverage, the directorate wrote to the school on September 26 to request an explanation of the safety precautions taken for the outing.
According to Director of Education Shailesh Zingde, the school did not specifically clarify whether previous permission was obtained from the authorities as mandated by official safety rules.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow weather advisory that day, warning of severe rains, but the school’s management decided to go forward with the excursion nevertheless, he added, according to the explanation.
According to Zingde, the manager acknowledged that, given the IMD forecast, the field trip could have been avoided. Additionally, he claimed that during the expedition, safety precautions were not sufficiently followed, so leaving the “safety of students to fate.”
According to the director, the institute disregarded safety guidelines for school outings and broke several other prohibitions of the Goa School Education Rules, 1986.
Zingde added, “The school’s explanation shifted the blame onto the authorities, which is highly unethical, instead of thanking them for their quick response.”
Due to these infractions, the school has been asked to provide a written justification within seven working days as to why it should not be subject to the Goa School Education Rules, 1986’s rules 43 (suspension or withdrawal of recognition) and 56 (stoppage, reduction for suspension of grant-in-aid).
