The Health department has issued comprehensive guidelines directing all schools to implement stringent safety and preparedness measures to protect children from snakebites and manage snakebite emergencies.
This is in compliance with the interim orders issued by the High Court in this regard, following petitions filed by Kulathoor Jaisingh and others about how the State needed to do more to protect children from snakebites. Following this, the Chief Secretary had convened a meeting of the departments of General Education, Forest & Wildlife, Local Self Governments; Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Bio-technology, and National Institute of Virology, Kerala Unit, Alappuzha for their inputs on drafting the safety guidelines.
The new directives make it mandatory for schools to undertake detailed safety audits and maintain full emergency readiness.
According to the circular, every school must carry out a thorough safety audit of its infrastructure, including classrooms, electrical systems, sanitation facilities, playgrounds, and boundary walls, to ensure there are no hazards such as open pits, broken floors, exposed wires, or overgrown vegetation that could attract snakes or pose health risks.
First-aid room
