The death of seven children and injuries to at least 27 others in a building collapse at a government school in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district is an unspeakable tragedy that was wholly avoidable. Safety is the cardinal principle that should guide schooling, beginning with the trip to school, the time spent in the institution, and the journey back home. Evidently, administrators in Rajasthan and elsewhere have not felt compelled to address glaring lacunae in the maintenance of buildings, which led to the structure in poor repair collapsing at the Piplodi Government School in Jhalawar, taking the lives of children, including a six-year-old. Two other school buildings also collapsed elsewhere, but students had a providential escape because one in Nagaur had been........

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