Over 785 teachers from 405 schools in 2 districts and 12 education blocks of Goa have benefitted from the initiative that the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Goa State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and Goa Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan organised to train teachers on personal safety education (PSE) for the prevention of child sexual abuse in association with Mumbai-based NGO Arpan.
Arpan is an award-winning NGO and the largest non-profit providing child sexual abuse prevention and intervention services to both children and adults. This training has empowered teachers with the knowledge of children and child rights, types of child abuse and child sexual abuse, statistics, short-term and long-term consequences of child sexual abuse, the POCSO Act and its underlying provisions.
It has also helped them to acquire skills and techniques that need to be demonstrated while handling various types of disclosures and cases of child sexual abuse. This initiative has furthermore enabled teachers to conduct sessions with children within their respective setups and contribute toward creating a safe environment for children.
Arpan’s resource persons Rehea Quadros, Suvidha Gaikwad, Anushka Bhat and Melissa Alva facilitated the training session and ensured the smooth implementation of the programme. The programme was jointly coordinated with support from the Director of Goa State Council of Educational Research and Training Nagaraj G Honnekeri, the respective authorities of Goa Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and the Block Resource Centre Heads of each district.
“Personal safety education (PSE) is important, and it strengthens the ability of those morally, socially and professionally responsible for the protection of children,” said Peter F Borges, Chairperson of Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.