Minister pushes for violence awareness among students
TEACHERS have been urged to educate students on the problem of violence against children (VAC) for them to be able to protect themselves during difficult conditions both at school and home settings.
A study conducted by HakiElimu in 2020 recorded a huge number of VAC cases with 87.9 percent of children interviewed facing physical violence including canning punishments and 34.5 percent sustaining psychological violence among others.
The Minister of State-President’s Office responsible for Regional Administration and Local Governments (TAMISEMI), Ms Angellah Kairuki issued the call at the Teacher’s conference held in Dar es Salaam, on Thursday , citing the crucial role of teachers in the area of child protection.
“Teachers have a great responsibility to ensure that students are aware of the types of violence, methods which they can take to protect themselves against violence and steps to report such incidents when they occur,” said Ms Kairuki.
Aside from education, the Minister called upon them to collaborate with parents and guardians among other stakeholders on the various existing initiatives to combat violence against the important group in the society.
The conference, which was organized by the Founder and Director of Rightway Schools and Mine Foundation, a non-governmental organization, attracted about 500 teachers from different regions in the mainland and Zanzibar.
The Founder and Director of Rightway Schools, Ms Mercy Mchechu noted that teachers need to be very keen in ensuring that children placed in their care are protected bearing in mind that the group is the future generation.
“Another teacher with the name of social media has emerged…this teacher seems to be stronger than us. We can tackle the challenge of violence against children which is contributed by gaps in child upbringing, but we need concrete plans and strategies,” stated Ms Mercy stressing that teachers need to cooperate and work with parents and stakeholders in the noble course.
Commenting on the topic at hand a teacher from Kantui Primary School located in Kilosa district in Morogoro, Ms Jessica Kusikula expressed confidence that the conference is going to equip them with the right knowledge and skills which will help to deter violence against children in schools and other areas.
