MUMBAI, June 21: Shaken by the spate of robberies in schools, specially during the admission season, principals and teachers of 45 schools gathered at St Louis Convent High School, Andheri, today to highlight the growing menace. The meeting was also attended by the North West zone police headed by the additional commissioner, Dr Satyapal Singh. Measures to tackle the problem were discussed at length.

Father Gregory Lobo, ex-principal of St Xavier's High School, Vile Parle, said convent schools had been targetted more often by the miscreants during the past one year. Staff rooms and the school office were their main hunting grounds, Father Lobo pointed out.

E M Shinde, Deputy Education Inspector of K-West ward covering Andheri (West), Vile Parle and Jogeshwari, said of the 68 schools in his area, ten had been robbed to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh last year.

It was felt that the high fees demanded by schools directed the miscreants' attention towards the school. The image of a convent school gave further impetus to their efforts.

Senior Police Inspector Subhash Salvi of D N Nagar police station observed that private guards should be posted at schools, at least during the admission season. A point, which Principal Ajay Kaul of Children Welfare Centre High School, did not entertain as it would be an added pressure on the school's exchequer.

``We are going to have a talk with the education departments of the BMC and the State Government to ensure our school's security'', maintained Kaul, who was the key organiser of this meet.

Salvi meanwhile assured that plain clothes policemen and police vans would be deployed in the areas where the schools are located.

In his speech, Singh asked Shinde why his department did not bother to intimate the police of this new trend. The communication gap between different departments -- the education department and the police in this case -- hindered the progress of stemming the rot, he observed.

The police force numbering, 35,000, was already burdened with other problems of the city and its population of over one crore, he added.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.