Ludhiana school suicide: 2 days on, DEO instructs all teachers to check classes before leaving

Two days after a 17-year-old girl was found hanging in the biology lab of her school in Gill village, the district education officer (DEO), elementary, Rajinder Kaur, has asked all school heads to take corrective measures to avoid such incidents in the future.

The girl had stayed back in the school after classes on Monday, and her body was discovered by her schoolmates the next morning when they entered the lab.

In a two-minute voice note sent to all school principals, headmasters, headmistresses and incharges of government schools, the DEO said that teachers taking the last period are to ensure that all students have left the room after class. The teachers can leave for the day only after thoroughly checking the classrooms.

The guards or other school staff responsible for locking the rooms, including laboratories, should also make sure that no student is left behind after school.

Further, it will be the responsibility of the teachers to open the classrooms in the morning and they can let the students in only after ensuring that the classrooms have been properly cleaned.

“All school heads and teachers have made extra efforts to increase enrollment in our schools. And now it is our responsibility to take care of the children coming to study here,” said the DEO.

She added that incidents such as the one that took place in the Gill village school can be avoided if school authorities and teachers are vigilant.