As its widely appreciated Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme enters the ninth year of its existence, the police are aiming to groom the cadets to be inducted as leaders of change and a potent force to safeguard youth from the deep tentacles of drug menace.
Making SPC cadets leaders of change has been chosen as the theme of the programme for the coming academic year with a slew of theory and practical sessions being planned towards achieving that goal.
Classes for cadets
“Classes will be held on topics ranging from qualities of a leader of change and media as a change agent to positive thinking. The sessions will be led by faculty members drawn from various departments, including Excise, to create awareness about the many dangers of drug abuse,” said A.T. Shajimon, assistant district nodal officer, SPC.
Confidence building
As part of the training, SPC cadets will be stripped of their fear when it comes to reporting drug-related activities. They will be encouraged to report such activities to their class teachers, headmaster, or drill inspectors drawn from various police stations to train them. On gaining confidence they could even contact senior officials up to the level of Superintendent of Police.
Mr. Shajimon said inspections would be conducted with the participation of SPCs to ensure that shops near educational institutions did not sell drugs and tobacco products. The drives, which fizzled out during the last academic year owing to the mid-August floods, will be revived this year.
Emergencies
Classes will also be held to gauge lessons learnt from the floods and on ways to deal with such emergencies in the future.
As many as 44 students from Standard 8 are enrolled as SPCs in schools chosen for the programme every year, and their passing-out is held once they complete Standard 9. The SPC programme is implemented in 34 schools in the rural limits and 19 schools in the city limits, which means that at any time the district will be having 2,992 and 1,672 SPCs in rural and city limits respectively.
Meanwhile, summer camps for SPCs are under way in the district. They will culminate with the passing-out parade of students leaving the programme on completion of Standard 9 on Monday.
