By Rennie Tembo

Lilongwe, June 3, Mana; Lilongwe Police is to implement 'Safe School' programme to sensitize students on school related Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other human rights issues.

Speaking on Saturday during an orientation organized by Lilongwe Police, Community Policing Coordinator, Frank Kaila said the aim of the programme was to create a safe environment for child education and to help teachers on how to handle cases related to GBV.

The programme has come as a preventative measure after receiving a lot of cases from the month of January to May.

"In the past, we have been training schools based on structure including community policing structures on the programme but now we would like to orient teachers since they are the ones who receive the cases first hand and this will help them in dealing with such cases in a way that it will not affect the learners’ performance in class," he said.

As a way of encouraging the learners to express themselves, complaint boxes have been introduced in schools.

"We have decided to introduce complaint boxes in schools for students to easily lodge their complains through these boxes, as a way of making sure that there is no one threatening them or shutting them from expressing themselves," Kaila said.

He urged teachers to pay attention to learners conduct in class both physically and psychologically for them to easily notice changes and act accordingly.

Principal Education Advisor for Boma Zone, Caroline Chiwayula expressed satisfaction as she described the meeting as a good development as it has equiped them with information and skills that teachers were missing in handling abuse cases.

"There are alot of abuses that learners face in the hands of teachers and their fellow learners and some of the cases are very hard to handle but this orientation has enlightened us on how to handle our learners who are passing through different forms of abuse," she said.

Chiwayula complained that abuse was not only faced by learners but teachers are abused by some learners.

"Let it be known that we face different forms of abuse from learners more especially those under the influence of drug and substance abuse. We face abuse from other parents who use their position in the society, which affects our work negatively," she concluded.

The programme will be implemented in 11 primary schools in Lilongwe district.