New Delhi: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) organized a one-day National Review and Orientation Workshop on “Accountability Framework: Responsibility of stakeholders on the implementation of School Safety guidelines with reference to Psycho-Social aspects,” on the occasion of celebrating “World Mental Health Week, 2022”.
The main objective of the national workshop was to give orientation on the matter of school safety and security and to review the accountability fixed of the concerned authorities and stakeholders in this regard. This is first of its kind workshop being organized by the Commission at the National level. Further, as a follow-up in the next quarter of the year and next year, NCPCR will conduct regional-level meetings to address the safety and security of children in schools with the major stakeholders.
The Commission invited participants from SCERT, State Education Boards, Regional Institutes of Education, Regional officers of CBSE, and the Management board of a group of schools. Approximately. 100 participants participated in the workshop.
In his inaugural address, Shri Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director, NCERT emphasized on the need to adopt ‘Panch Kosh Siksha’ for the holistic development of children. Mental well-being is of paramount importance for productivity and growth. He said that the Prime Minister‘s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ too focuses on the mental well-being of children. He further explained the indispensable role of mental health & well-being by re-quoting “No Health without Mental Health”. He also mentioned that result of a recent survey report published by the Ministry of Education in 2022, reflecting that the happiness quotient of school children was found to be comparatively high.
Shri Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson of NCPCR, emphasized the current situation of children and stated that the issue of school safety is a major concern at all levels of government from local to federal. He mentioned that to counter the increasing number of reports regarding physical and psychological harm and harassment caused to students, NCPCR along with NCERT and other experts created a comprehensive manual and checklist for accountability of child safety by schools. He opined that a framework laying equal responsibility on parents and schools for child safety needs to be developed.
Shri Kanoongo further explained that the new education policy of 2020 provides guidelines to private schools for accountability for the safety of children. He stated that Prime Minister gives importance to children’s mental well-being and his Pariksha Pe Charcha program is conducted annually to eliminate child suicide.
The workshop was divided into two technical sessions. The first technical session started with a presentation by NCPCR on an overview of School Safety and Security. It was followed by the session taken by Dr. Jitendra Nagpal Programme Director-Expressions India & Sr. Consultant & Incharge of the Institute of Mental Health and Life Skills Promotion, Moolchand Medcity.
In the second half, group discussions were undertaken with a presentation on four different topics i.e. Psychosocial aspects of school Safety-Integrating with the whole school approach, the teacher as a First Aid Counselor for the Psychosocial safety of students, Monitoring Roles and Responsibilities of multiple stakeholders and Effective Family school partnership in Psychosocial safety.