Girls kept waiting for buses, staggered leave times ineffective on day one

The plan to allow girl students to leave government schools five minutes before the scheduled closing time, in a bid to check overcrowding and resultant eve-teasing outside school premises, did not appear to serve the desired objective on Day One on Wednesday.

Following instructions from the UT education department, all government schools implemented the move today. The idea behind the move is to prevent overcrowding outside school gates at closing hours which, the authorities feel, results in eve-teasing.

These instructions came after Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Naunihal Singh held meeting with CTU officials, school and college principals on December 12.

The move, however, did little to change things since the girls students kept standing outside the school gates waiting for public transport to come even as the boys, allowed to leave five minutes after the girls, came out.

Some girls said they were waiting for their brothers to come and some were waiting for the CTU or school bus.

"How can I go? I have to wait for my brother. We both go together," said a girl student of class IX.

Another girl student said that five minutes is too less for the exercise. "Many boys and girls go together on the same bus so we have to keep waiting for each other. We are not threatened by boys with whom we are studying. Eve-teasing take place when some outsiders tease us," she added.

SSP Naunihal Singh said, "We gave this suggestion, it is the school authorities to ensure that girls are not troubled. If they feel five minutes are less, the schools can hold back the boys for more time."

Talking to Chandigarh Newline, principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School in Sector 35, Raviraj Kaur said: "We are implementing all instructions. But the fact is that eve-teasing usually take place away from the school, in parks and other such places."

A teacher at Government Model Senior Secondary School in Sector 21, Poonam said: "Usually eve-teasing takes place at the bus stops few meters away from the school premises. Inside schools, students are aware of punishments so they do not dare to do such things."

Many boys and girls go together on the same bus so we have to keep waiting for each other. We are not threatened by boys with whom we are studying. Eve-teasing take place when some outsiders approach us.

Girl student from a senior secondary school

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