Fire officials blamed teachers for not allowing schoolchildren to take part in drill they run on how to tackle emergencies. Official figures show that about 2.65 crore
schoolchildren are exposed to high risk of fire accidents as their institutions have no fire-fighting system and they are not even aware of fire safety rules.
‘Authorities of most of the educational institutions avoid fire drills on the plea that the students are busy with academic activities,’ according to a letter sent to the education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid.
In the letter, the Fire Service and Civil Defence director general, Ali Ahmed Khan, said that it was not possible to tackle disasters such as fire and earthquake without the active participation of students.
‘The participation of students in fire drills the fire authorities run can play an important role in rescue operation and make people aware of fire and other disasters,’ the letter said.
He sought directives from the education minister so that the students could take part in drills.
The education minister received the letter and forwarded it to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education on July 18 asking for necessary action in line with the letter.
Sajal Kanti Mandal, director (secondary) of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, told to New Age that most of the teachers were reluctant about their students’ participation in fire drills.
The DSHE on July 28 directed heads of all schools and madrassahs to take necessary steps.
According to education ministry statistics, there are more than 75 lakh students and more than 2 lakh teachers in 19,070 secondary schools. There are also more than 21 lakh students in 9,330 dakhil and alim madrassahs.
The total number of primary schools is 78,685 with 1.69 crore students, according to the statistics.
-With New Age input
