The Delhi government has recommended immediate suspension of four school officials following a report submitted by the Education department last Friday on the stampede that killed five students at a government school in Khajuri Khaas, East Delhi.

The report is quiet whether the girls were molested by male students — the stampede, according to some witnesses, followed a melee caused by the alleged molestation while the boys were headed for the first floor to take their examination.

The report has blamed the school administration’s mismanagement for the stampede. Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta said there was a fault in the school administration managing the situation and has recommended suspension of four school officials for ‘administrative’ failure. These include the deputy director in charge of the zone, the principal of the girls’ school, and vice-principals of both schools.

“The principal and the vice-principals should have decided on whether they wanted to call off the examination,” Mehta said. “The school is their responsibility — they were simply waiting for the teachers and students to sort out the mess, which is why the incident occurred.”

The report, which recorded statements of about 70 teachers and 35 students, was submitted on Friday by deputy director T C Nath. The divisional commissioner later forwarded it to Mehta and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

On menu: disaster management classes
Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta has also asked the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to organise training sessions for students and teachers. “This is a typical case of not being equipped enough to be able deal with a crisis,” he said. “The DDMA has been asked to design training sessions for such incidents, natural disasters, fires etc.”