Child protection committees for 9,700 public schools

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) will set up Child Protection Committees (CPC) in all 9,700 public schools in the country.

The aim of setting up such committees is to create an awareness among parents and teachers on the student rights and responsibilities.

They will also be educated on abuses from extraneous elements. NCPA Chairperson Anoma Dissanayake told the Sunday Observer

that these committees will educate young children both boys and girls on how to confront domestic violence, as it has an adverse effect on their education.

"Children are the leaders of tomorrow's society.

Therefore, it is the duty of all elders to take steps to protect children from any form of violence, in or outside their homes,".

She said that it was a pity that we hear about various forms of violence daily against children, especially that females due to the unruly behaviour of certain elders.

The NCPA chairperson said that all children have an inalienable right to school education and therefore it is the responsibility of all to inform the NCPA about children not attending school but employed as domestic workers in houses, hotels and restaurants.

Mrs. Dissanayake also focused attention on child abuse cases being reported often and added that over 1000 such cases were reported in 2010 along and stern action would be taken against the offenders.

She said these Child Protection Committees would be an ideal platform for children to seek solutions to their day-to-day problems. A senior NCPA official said that a child protection committee was set up at Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Kotte recently.

Mrs. Dissanayake said such committees will also be set up in private schools too.