DepEd's child protection campaign challenged by difficulty of reporting cases
Published Aug 24, 2018 02:00 pm
By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
The Department of Education (DepEd) divulged, one of the major challenges in addressing abuse and violence against children, particularly in schools, is the “reporting” of these cases to the proper authorities for action.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
“Isa sa mga malaking balakid sa pagtugon sa mga abuso sa ating kabataan ay yung mismong pagre-report o yung paglabas ng bata para sabihin na may abuso na nangyayari sa kanya (One of the biggest challenges in addressing child abuse is the reporting itself or the child coming out to report the abuse that he or she experiences),” said DepEd Undersecretary Officer-in-Charge Atty. Josephine Maribojoc in an interview on the sidelines of the 2018 National Child Protection Summit held from August 23-24 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
The two-day summit that culminates today is the first of its kind to strengthen DepEd’s Child Protection Policy (CPP), stated in DepEd Order No 40 series of 2012. The CPP was developed by the DepEd as a guide “on what constitutes child abuse and how children can be protected from violence and exploitation.”
“It’s very important that our children are empowered and that they are aware of their rights and they can learn about their rights so they can claim these rights,” Maribojoc said. “That is one thing that we are strengthening in DepEd, the rights education of our children,” she added.
Strengthening the CPP
Undersecretary for Planning and Field Operations Jesus Mateo said there is a need to constantly review the policies of the department particularly those that directly involve children’s rights and safety.
“It’s been six years since we initiated the CPP. It’s important to review from time to time all the policies to update their implementation,” Mateo said. “We need this event to identify the gaps in the implementation of the CPP and to highlight the best practices and call for stronger participation of the community and other agencies on how best to ensure the protection of children,” he added.
The CPP is a landmark move of DepEd that is focused on child protection. It was developed in partnership with members of civil society groups, teachers' groups, private and public school representatives, international agencies, and other child protection advocates.
Issued by former Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro, the CPP is formally known as DepEd’s “Policies and Guidelines on Protecting Children in School from Abuse, Violence, Exploitation, Discrimination, Bullying and Other Forms of Abuse.”
Recognizing that every child is protected by the Constitution from unfair and adverse treatment whether physical or emotional, DepEd said that the objective of the policy is to “observe and promote zero tolerance on any act of child abuse, exploitation, violence, discrimination, bullying and other forms of abuse in school.”
In the CPP, DepEd noted that the “Constitution is very clear when it declares that the State shall defend the right of children to assistance, including proper care, and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development.”
DepEd’s policy guidelines have listed down the specific acts that constitute child abuse and violence which public and private schools can use in addressing this silent but very real social problem. The guidelines aim to protect the child from all forms of violence that may be inflicted by adults, persons of authority as well as their fellow students, including bullying.
One of the duties of DepEd is to develop information, education, reporting system, exercise of disciplinary action and recommendation to address and prevent all forms of child abuse.
The guidelines also call for the establishment of Child Protection Committee (CPC) in all public and private elementary and secondary schools composed of school officials, teachers, parents, students, and a community representative. Its duty is to draft a school child protection policy with a code of conduct and a plan to ensure child protection and safety which shall be reviewed every three years.
Ideally, all public and private schools should have their own CPC based on the guidelines issued by DepEd. However, Maribojoc noted that not all schools can establish a “functioning” CPCs.
“We need to identify also the meaning of ‘functioning’ and this summit will help us do that,” Maribojoc said. Six years since the CPP was issued, she noted that DepEd has yet to collect the data on how many CPCs have already been established in both private and public schools.
Likewise, DepEd has yet to provide the latest data on abuse cases against children and administrative cases that have been filed against teaching and non-teaching personnel who are involved in child abuse cases in schools.
Under the CPP, all public and private elementary and secondary schools shall also “build the capabilities of school personnel, students and parents to understand and deal with child abuse by conducting trainings and seminars on positive peer relationship and enhancement of social and emotional competence.”
To achieve this, teachers are encouraged the “use of training modules which include positive and non-violent discipline in the classroom, anger and stress management and gender sensitivity” while schools are expected to likewise “employ means which will enhance the skills and pedagogy in integrating and teaching children’s rights in the classroom.”
(MANILA BULLETIN)
“Isa sa mga malaking balakid sa pagtugon sa mga abuso sa ating kabataan ay yung mismong pagre-report o yung paglabas ng bata para sabihin na may abuso na nangyayari sa kanya (One of the biggest challenges in addressing child abuse is the reporting itself or the child coming out to report the abuse that he or she experiences),” said DepEd Undersecretary Officer-in-Charge Atty. Josephine Maribojoc in an interview on the sidelines of the 2018 National Child Protection Summit held from August 23-24 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
The two-day summit that culminates today is the first of its kind to strengthen DepEd’s Child Protection Policy (CPP), stated in DepEd Order No 40 series of 2012. The CPP was developed by the DepEd as a guide “on what constitutes child abuse and how children can be protected from violence and exploitation.”
“It’s very important that our children are empowered and that they are aware of their rights and they can learn about their rights so they can claim these rights,” Maribojoc said. “That is one thing that we are strengthening in DepEd, the rights education of our children,” she added.
Strengthening the CPP
Undersecretary for Planning and Field Operations Jesus Mateo said there is a need to constantly review the policies of the department particularly those that directly involve children’s rights and safety.
“It’s been six years since we initiated the CPP. It’s important to review from time to time all the policies to update their implementation,” Mateo said. “We need this event to identify the gaps in the implementation of the CPP and to highlight the best practices and call for stronger participation of the community and other agencies on how best to ensure the protection of children,” he added.
The CPP is a landmark move of DepEd that is focused on child protection. It was developed in partnership with members of civil society groups, teachers' groups, private and public school representatives, international agencies, and other child protection advocates.
Issued by former Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro, the CPP is formally known as DepEd’s “Policies and Guidelines on Protecting Children in School from Abuse, Violence, Exploitation, Discrimination, Bullying and Other Forms of Abuse.”
Recognizing that every child is protected by the Constitution from unfair and adverse treatment whether physical or emotional, DepEd said that the objective of the policy is to “observe and promote zero tolerance on any act of child abuse, exploitation, violence, discrimination, bullying and other forms of abuse in school.”
In the CPP, DepEd noted that the “Constitution is very clear when it declares that the State shall defend the right of children to assistance, including proper care, and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development.”
DepEd’s policy guidelines have listed down the specific acts that constitute child abuse and violence which public and private schools can use in addressing this silent but very real social problem. The guidelines aim to protect the child from all forms of violence that may be inflicted by adults, persons of authority as well as their fellow students, including bullying.
One of the duties of DepEd is to develop information, education, reporting system, exercise of disciplinary action and recommendation to address and prevent all forms of child abuse.
The guidelines also call for the establishment of Child Protection Committee (CPC) in all public and private elementary and secondary schools composed of school officials, teachers, parents, students, and a community representative. Its duty is to draft a school child protection policy with a code of conduct and a plan to ensure child protection and safety which shall be reviewed every three years.
Ideally, all public and private schools should have their own CPC based on the guidelines issued by DepEd. However, Maribojoc noted that not all schools can establish a “functioning” CPCs.
“We need to identify also the meaning of ‘functioning’ and this summit will help us do that,” Maribojoc said. Six years since the CPP was issued, she noted that DepEd has yet to collect the data on how many CPCs have already been established in both private and public schools.
Likewise, DepEd has yet to provide the latest data on abuse cases against children and administrative cases that have been filed against teaching and non-teaching personnel who are involved in child abuse cases in schools.
Under the CPP, all public and private elementary and secondary schools shall also “build the capabilities of school personnel, students and parents to understand and deal with child abuse by conducting trainings and seminars on positive peer relationship and enhancement of social and emotional competence.”
To achieve this, teachers are encouraged the “use of training modules which include positive and non-violent discipline in the classroom, anger and stress management and gender sensitivity” while schools are expected to likewise “employ means which will enhance the skills and pedagogy in integrating and teaching children’s rights in the classroom.”