The incident of alleged rape of a class X student of GRD World School, one of the prominent boarding schools based in Dehradun, has once again revealed the dark underbelly of such schools. Things look particularly grim when viewed against the high esteem such schools are held by the people from across India and even abroad. “Things look frightfully gloomy when we think of the confidence the parents repose in such schools while they leave their children in the hostels, hoping that they would be perfectly looked after. The incident of rape of the class X student by the boys of the same school within the school campus is bound to shatter their confidence and the image of Dehradun must take a severe beating,” said an observer.

Notably, in a similar incident which happened earlier this year, a student of a reputed girls’ school located in Mussoorie had allegedly been sexually exploited by other girls in the name of ragging. The police team deployed to inquire the incident had found many objectionable things in the school.

These nearly back-to- back incidents have now made it clear that all is not well within the high, gaudy walls of these famed boarding schools. The team sent by the education department which inspected the GRD World School on Tuesday has found that the school has no CCTV cameras installed in the hostel and other areas.

This is despite the fact that these highly esteemed schools charge hefty amounts from the parents. 

On Tuesday, an emergency meeting of the All Uttarakhand Parents Association (AUPA) was convened during which serious concern was expressed on the unfortunate incident in GRD World School. The president of the association, Neeraj Singhal demanded the administration to immediately cancel the recognition of the school. He, further, said that the Government should ensure that these schools are regularly checked. “The parents would be forced to launch an agitation if the Government fails to take stern action against such schools which are defying the security norms with impunity, leaving the students vulnerable to heinous crimes,” he added.