The federal Human Resource Development Ministry has issued a circular containing guidelines on the matter.
The circular is addressed to state governments as school education is a state subject in India.
First the schools shall take the students only to "non-dangerous" places.
Secondly the teachers accompanying the students should ensure that the children did not venture out dangerously. For instance, going very close to the coast is not to be permitted.
"We have issued the circular to all state governments asking them to tell the schools to follow the guidelines," Subash Kuntia, the ministry's joint secretary, said. "We've received representations that schools don't observe safety norms for such tours."
Schools should seek written permission from parents or guardians on such occasions, says the circular.
There have been several incidents in which schoolchildren died or were injured during picnics or study tours.
Recently, a group of children from a government school in Himachal Pradesh in northern India died in an accident in Tamil Nadu in south. They were travelling in an over-crowded bus with very few school staff to supervise them, a ministry official recalled.
Source: Medindia
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