Some bad news came from Chikkamagaluru district, where four young children were able to run away from a residential Ashram school after an argument between children in the hostel room. The incident has caused a lot of concern regarding the supervision and safety of the institution, and the concerns are there regarding negligence of school authorities, wardens and staff.
The incident took place in Sri Maharshi Valmiki Ashram Residential School situated near Tudukuru village of Chikkamagaluru taluk. The school is part of the Social Welfare Department, and residential education facilities are available to students from different parts of Karnataka.
The quarrel broke out between children at the hostel last night. Some of the younger students are scared and worried, the report said. Four children were seen to leave the school and return to their home place, which was disturbed by the incident.
The children, who are from North Karnataka, left the residential school in the early hours of the morning. Unnoticed by school authorities, they walked nearly two kilometres from the campus and were on the way to Chikkamagaluru town when local villagers began to notice them.
Neighbours were concerned when they saw the young children walking alone on the roadside in the early morning hours. Villagers took a close look at them and asked them where they were and what they were doing.
According to villagers observing, children disclosed that they were students of the residential school and had left the campus after the hostel fight. Knowing the gravity of the situation, villagers intervened immediately and made sure the children were brought back to the Ashram school.
The school administration has been criticised for not taking action, and for how four minor children who left the campus were not noticed by wardens or security personnel, parents, and residents say.
Education and child welfare advocates take up the issue that residential schools have a greater responsibility to support students’ physical and mental health and well-being, especially younger children who may be challenged in conflicts or stressful situations. Such incidents are just the sort of things we need more counselling and better hostel management, and more frequent monitoring of the welfare of students, they say.
The episode has also brought into focus the difficulties children face living away from their families in residential institutions. These are emotionally supportive systems and trained staff, and conflict resolution that can prevent such incidents from erupting.
The school administration is to be asked to provide a report on the reasons for the children’s escape. Security arrangements, staff vigilance, and appropriate procedures are also likely to be questioned after the hostel dispute.
Fortunately, the timely intervention of the alert villagers ensured that the children were safe and returned before any harm could come to them. But the incident has exposed gaps in supervision and has led to a review of safety measures at the residential school.
Further investigations are expected as officials will be undertaken in the event to determine if negligence is believed to have been a cause of the incident, and what corrective actions can be taken to prevent this from happening again in the future.
