Page 24 - EW November 2025.pdf Final

Education News

Typically, instead of addressing ing unease among school
the basic problems of K-12 educa- communities about the
tion — non-existent if not decrepit profile of perpetrators.
infrastructure, chronic teacher Police say most bomb
absenteeism in government schools, hoax warnings are sent
obsolete syllabuses, ill-trained teach- by students themselves,
ers — mandarins of the education often as pranks or at-
ministry are drawing up plans to tempts to delay exams.
teach children to run before they are “It’s disturbing that chil-
readied to walk. dren are using such grave
Kaveree Bamzai (Delhi) and illegal means for
mischief on a scale that
Bomb hoax menace is becoming a epidemic,”
says a teacher. The psy-
chological toll has also
wave of hoax bomb-threat Bomb squad inspection: forced holiday been heavy.
emails during the past three Srinivasan Sriram,
A months has rattled schools in Annual Status of Education Report Principal of The Mann School, Delhi,
the Delhi-NCR (national capital re- (ASER) of the Pratham Education and a National Awardee for ICT In-
gion) reviving memories of the panic Foundation routinely highlights learn- novation in Education, says this is-
and disruption experienced last year. ing outcomes in India’s rural primary sue is serious and needs attention.
In 2024, more than 300 schools re- schools in particular, are abysmal. In He suggests it must be tackled with
ceived threatening bomb hoax emails rural India where school shutdowns determination. “There must be de-
in August-September which necessi- are decreed at the drop of a turban, terrence — strict punishment and
tated institutional closure for several over 50 percent of class VII children financial liability for perpetrators.
hours — often a full day as official can’t read class III texts in any lan- Parents of those involved should bear
bomb disposal squads were called in guage or solve simple math sums. the costs of public resources wasted,
to search buildings and grounds as fire Therefore the last thing that schools of school days lost, evacuations and
brigade and police personnel stood by. — urban or rural — need is forced clo- bomb squad operations. The law has
Investigations by Delhi Police’s sure because of faux bomb threats. to be strict and rigorously applied,”
cyber units indicate that most perpe- Recurring hoax threats to schools says Sriram.
trators use VPNs, proxy servers, Tor also come at a time when the educa- Faux bomb threats, a rising tide of
networks, and foreign-hosted email tion sector is being subjected to a wave cyberattacks and data breaches under-
services, making it difficult even for of cyberattacks. A September report line a stark reality: cybersecurity is no
trained cyber security personnel to from Check Point Research (CPR), longer an optional subject in educa-
trace them. a leading cyber intelligence software tion. All children need to learn about
Closure of schools in India is a provider, reveals that education and school networks, protecting ICT com-
special problem because unlike in the research organisations in India faced munication systems and about cyber-
US and China where schools are shut an average of 8,487 cyberattacks per crimes, law and security.
down for ‘other holidays’ (apart from week over the past six months — al- Autar Nehru (Delhi)
summer, winter and autumn) for 10- most twice the global average.
15 days, in India they are closed for Responding to this menace the MAHARASHTRA
15-22 days because of the country’s Delhi government issued a Standard
multi-religious and ethnic composi- Operating Procedure (SOP) last year Hasty decree
tion. And although the Union educa- outlining preventive and response
tion ministry and department of edu- measures for schools, including mock n october 7 gr (government
cation of the Delhi state government drills, CCTV monitoring, evacuation resolution) issued by the
mandate 220 school days per year, plans, and periodic safety audits. Aeducation ministry’s School
the national average is 180-190 days, Moreover the Delhi Police’s Cyber Education and Sports Department
other holidays included. Yet if school Prevention, Awareness & Detection mandating all education institu-
closures because of rain, floods, public (CyPAD) unit has been conducting tions running separate boys’ and
disorder, poor air quality are added, drills and forensic investigations as girls’ schools on the same campus to
the national average is estimated at part of its ongoing campaign to im- transform into unitary co-ed schools,
170-175 days. prove preparedness. has generated a storm in a tea cup.
Not entirely coincidentally as the Despite these efforts, there is grow- Unsurprisingly some academics

24 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2025