EuroSchool becomes the first in India to be certified as ‘Safe School’

~        Initiative now being extended to 800 EuroKids pre-schools across the country

~        EuroSchool to start two new schools in Pune

Pune,: Amid growing concerns on child safety in schools, there is need for schools to identify and address the gaps in safety standards. Setting a benchmark in school safety, EuroSchool has collaborated with Bureau Veritas, a global leader in conformity assessment and certification services, to provide a safe and conducive environment to its students.

Bureau Veritas has previously audited and certified Rashtrapati Bhavan for Environmental Management System as per ISO 14001 standard and the offices of the Chief Minister of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh for Quality Management System as per ISO 9001 standard.

Run by EuroKids International, EuroSchool is the first Indian school to receive a ‘Safe School’ certification for all its 10 schools in the country, including EuroSchool Undri and EuroSchool Wakad in Pune. EuroSchool also has presence in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Surat and Hyderabad. The Safe School project is a part of EuroKids’ larger vision of setting global standards in the Indian education system.

Speaking on their Safe School initiative, Mr. Vikas Phadnis, Executive Director and President, EuroKids International, said, “Child safety is of utmost importance when it comes to EuroSchool. We felt the need to further strengthen the safety standards and processes at all of our schools through globally renowned audit firm Bureau Veritas.”

He further added, “We are happy to have received the highest certification rating, which reiterates our commitment towards having a safe and secured learning environment at schools.”

The pioneering initiative is now being implemented across 800 EuroKids preschools in the country, of which 37 are in Pune. EuroKids International plans to increase its preschool centres to 50 in fiscal year 2016-17 and to 65 by 2017-18 in Pune.  In addition to EuroSchool Undri and EuroSchool Wakad, EuroSchool is actively considering starting two new schools in Pune.

Audit Process

For the audit process EuroSchool and Bureau Veritas developed a safety protocol in five key areas: Human Resource, Infrastructure, Transportation, Emergency Response and Process Management. A list of 300 safety check points in infrastructure, transportation, cafeteria, sick bay, furniture, emergency preparedness and human resource was drawn up for scrutiny during the audit at the schools. To ensure conformity to the set standards, a four-member ‘EuroSchool Safety Team’ has been formed for regular inspection. Additionally, each school has appointed a Safety Marshall from each grade to promote a safety culture to be followed at the school through regular communiqué and special programmes.

Mr. Ramesh Koregave, General Manager – Certification (India and South Asia), Bureau Veritas said, “It is first time in the history of Bureau Veritas that a chain of schools has been audited and certified as Safe Schools. There is need to standardize processes in education sector to offer a safe and secured environment for learning at schools.”

About EuroSchool

Owned by EuroKids International Private Ltd, EuroSchool is a venture comprising co-educational schools enrolling pupils from LKG to Grade XII. EuroSchool is run on the philosophy of ‘Balanced Schooling’ between academics and co-curriculum activities. The EuroSchool network spans 10 schools across India and is built on the motto of ‘Learn… Explore… Discover yourself’.