The students of Mahadevi Birla Girls Higher Secondary School are learning an important lesson in life not in the classroom but on the streets of Park Circus.

On Wednesday morning, a gang of girls in uniform spread out along Darga Road, keeping an eye out for “any suspicious movement” — like idlers on two-wheelers — near the school.

“We must share the responsibility of keeping our campus safe. In the time of terror, we are learning how to be alert and identify potential danger signals,” said a student of Class IX.

Several schools in Calcutta, prodded by Lalbazar, are taking serious steps to ensure campus safety in the wake of the war on Mumbai.

Calcutta police authorities held a meeting with heads of nearly 50 city schools over the weekend and advised them to beef up surveillance.

“We have already increased the number of security personnel on campus and we will soon be installing CCTVs wherever necessary. We are not allowing guardians to enter the campus. At the same time we are motivating students not to panic,” said Hilda Peacock, the principal of La Martiniere for Girls.

That formula is working fine, feels Rolie Bajpayee of Class XII. “The new security measures make us feel safe at school,” she says.

Based on tips from the police, many schools are reducing the number of entry and exit points. “All our gates are manned by CCTVs and the dispersal system for students is being modified,” said Mukta Nain, the principal of Birla High School for Boys.

Layout is the new security byword and so schools have been advised to get it ready and be extra careful about security arrangements in assembly halls and playgrounds.

“A layout map of our school buildings and surroundings is almost ready. This will help us maintain a vigil on the premises and the periphery,” said Krishna Damani of South Point.

According to the police, these measures are a must to safeguard schools and to give parents the confidence that their children are secure.

Paromita Sengupta, whose son studies in Class III at DPS, Newtown, welcomes the beef-up but is still worried. “It is reassuring that schools are making an extra effort to make the campus safer. But the nagging doubt remains, what if there is an attack, are the security systems really capable of keeping our children safe?”