In the wake of the recent gang-rape in Delhi, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has decided to reach out to the nearly 10.5 lakh students studying in its 1,090 schools across the country with the right kind of studies and modules on the issue in order to sensitise, inform and prepare them better to deal with any situation.
Deputy Commissioner of the Sangathan S. K. Verma said the organisation was “devastated and grieved at the brutal and fatal onslaught” on the victim, which ultimately led to her death.
Since the much-publicised incident had also impacted the mind of numerous children, the organisation has decided to reach out to them like never before.
Though it had been running various awareness and sensitisation programmes in the past, “in the wake of the recent heart rending situation”, KVS decided to organise a three-tier educational intervention for “proper gender sensitivity, dissemination of moral education among children and capacity building”.
Since it wanted to be better equipped, it has got renowned educationists and psychologists on board to provide the right inputs for the material which would be circulated to the students.
To begin with, KVS would organise a workshop of 52 principals and 10 master trainers at Kendriya Vidyalaya, JNU Campus, on January 11. “Renowned educationists and psychologists have been invited for this meet and the discussion would evolve certain strategies and models for further dissemination of information.”
Thereafter, KVS has also planned a two-day Teachers’ Workshop from January 18 to “foster and carry forward the message, spirit and skills of self-defence and self-management through a plethora of activities”.
It would finally “sensitise” students on the issue and thereby enable them to develop suitable capabilities, “in order to stand up against odds or similar such situations in future”.
Mr. Verma said the idea behind the whole exercise is to take the awareness about issues of safety to the next level. “We will be dealing with sexual abuse and other forms of abuse through this. The idea is to evolve a very serious methodology to deal with the situation in an effective manner.”
The KVS, he said, has already been organising multifarious activities as part of its Adolescent Education programme. The activities include role play, value clarification, counselling sessions, gender sensitisation programmes by expert panel of psychologists and doctors and interaction of children with crisis managers and problem solvers to help them combat difficult and stressful times and situations.
