Compliance with SC order: Education department seeks stray dog-free campuses

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Following a Supreme Court order to check the menace of stray dogs in educational institutions, apart from other places with mass gatherings of people, the state Department of School Education has issued a directive on initiating immediate measures to safeguard students from stray dog attacks. In this regard, the department has issued a letter to the Mission Director of Samagra Shiksha Assam (SSA) and the Directors of Higher, Secondary, and Elementary Education, seeking compliance with the SC directive.

The Assam government's Department of School Education has issued a 'Most Urgent' directive to all educational authorities following the Supreme Court's order in the suo motu case (WP(C) No.5/2025) titled "City Hounded by Strays, Kids Pay Price". The case was taken up by the apex court following a news report with the same headline, reporting the death of a school student from a street dog attack. The order requires states across the country to take immediate measures to safeguard children from stray dog attacks.

The communication, issued by the Secretary to the Government of Assam, was addressed to the Mission Director of SSA and the Director of Higher Education (DHE), the Director of Secondary Education (DSE), and the Director of Elementary Education (DEE). The letter has included the Supreme Court order as an attachment and seeks compliance reports from nine states, including Assam.

The letter urges the directorates: To secure school and college campuses by ensuring that campus perimeters are made safe from stray dog intrusion and school-wise reports are prepared within the specified timeline; To appoint Nodal Officers: each educational directorate must immediately designate a Nodal Officer in reference to the Supreme Court directive and submit a list of Nodal Officers with details of their roles in safeguarding students; To conduct awareness sessions for students and staff: SSA has to coordinate with line departments to conduct awareness sessions on safe behaviour around animals and provide first-aid measures after dog bites; and to submit compliance reports.

All directorates need to submit compliance to the Urban Development Department as well as the School Education Department within the stipulated deadlines.

The deadlines prescribed by the Department are completion of awareness sessions by December 10, 2025, and submission of the compliance reports by December 20, 2025.

The Education Department has also instructed all Directorates to submit to the department a consolidated Action Taken Report by December 11, 2025.

The directive emphasizes immediate and coordinated action to ensure student safety, in compliance with the Supreme Court's instructions, and stresses that the matter should be treated as "Most Urgent".

According to the SC order, educational institutions, particularly schools and colleges with open campuses, have emerged as areas of recurring dog-bite incidents. Children, due to their small stature and uninformed interaction with animals, are extra vulnerable to stray dog attacks. Several reported incidents have emerged over the years where students have sustained grievous injuries within school/college premises or adjacent playgrounds as a result of dog bites. Such cases have, in several reconstruction instances, necessitated surgical and emergency prophylactic treatment for rabies. The frequency of such incidents reflects deficiencies in institutional responsibility and municipal oversight concerning the safety of educational environments.

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