The Tamil Nadu School Education Department has issued new guidelines to schools to help prevent children from becoming vulnerable to dog bites. The directive, circulated to all government and private schools, calls for the immediate implementation of the preventive measures to protect students.
Officials said that these directives have been issued amid growing concerns over stray dog attacks across the state.
Under the advisory, schools are urged to appoint a nodal officer responsible for supervising cleanliness and steps to keep stray dogs out of school premises. In addition, schools must publicise the officer’s contact details for parents and local bodies, DT Next reports.
The Department stated that schools must encourage students to report any dog-bite incidents, and teachers must promptly notify municipal officials about stray dog sightings near campuses.
The guidelines also call for the implementation of awareness efforts, such as displaying posters about dog-bite risks, and making announcements during morning assemblies.
Schools are also tasked with reminding parents at meetings to ensure pet dogs are regularly vaccinated, and preventing children from feeding or playing with street dogs. They must also educate students about rabies infections and the importance of vaccination.
The move comes against a backdrop of rising dog-bite cases in several parts of Tamil Nadu, where both children and adults have increasingly sought anti-rabies treatment at local health centres in recent months.
As of September 2025, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has administered rabies vaccinations to over 53,000 street dogs and aims to vaccinate at least one lakh stray dogs in total.
