Punishment at school

A group of boys was in the pool, when Suleman sank to the bottom; medical assistance arrived too late.

The private school where a 12-year-old boy, Suleman Manzoor Bhatti, died as a result of drowning on June 5 — apparently during a school competition — has been punished by having its registration cancelled by school authorities in Lahore. The incident is still shrouded in mystery, with very few details surfacing as to precisely how a child drowned during a competitive event. Some accounts that emerged on June 6 suggested that a group of boys was in the pool, totally unsupervised, when Suleman sank to the bottom. Medical assistance appears to have been provided too late.

According to a report in this publication, students and parents present at the time of the tragic incident are refusing to talk about the details. But regardless of this, the EDO and other staff, after conducting inquiries, have punished the school. They have noted that inadequate safety measures obviously appeared to be in place, with the competitors not given life jackets or other safety aid.

This, of course, is what happened at a single school. But the fact is that across the country there are many others which do not take enough precautions to keep children safe. This applies not only to swimming pools but also to other activities conducted at these institutions. Learning the lessons from Suleman’s tragic death, measures should be taken to put in place rules intended to safeguard children. These should include the presence of first aid trained staff at every institution and also proper instructors and life guards for swimming pools at these schools. If this does not happen, it is only a matter of time before some other accident such as the one we saw on June 5 takes place. Beyond penalising the school concerned, we need to do everything that is possible to make sure that this does not happen again and to make sure that children at private institutions, to which their parents often pay sizable sums as fees are safe. It is necessary to act now — to inspect all summer camps currently taking place, both at schools and at other centres and ensure that suitable precautions are in place to avoid any dangerous situation from arising.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2013.                                                                                          

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