A Tweet-Chat with the Coalition

The objective of the social media engagement was to bring the South-South netizens together to talk about the how violence against children manifests in schools and how actors throughout the Global South are preventing violence in and through school environments. 

Video bytes by Dipak Naker, Co-Founder, Raising Voices and Sohini Bhattacharya, CEO, Breakthrough Trust were posted prior to the event to share information about the Coalition. Both the videos have received over 200 views and counting.

It has been understood through this Tweetchat that if we really care about quality of education for children, we need to create a conducive learning environment in schools, free from all form of violence and discrimination based on any social norms. A child safeguarding policy in place with proper child centric response mechanisms are necessary for a good school. Students should be given equal opportunities to participate in the decision making process related to them.

Schools should not be seen as educational institutions only, they should be seen as the institutions of creating future leaders, critical thinkers. Teachers should embed social, political and democratic values, the values of diversity, tolerance, fraternity, justice among students in their early age. This cannot be done by the teachers alone; everyone has a role to play in it including school administration, parents, community, CSO’s, faith leaders, and the government authorities. 

Governments have to include preventing VAC in schools in their agenda on priority basis and to launch an advocacy campaign  at a national level. A capacity building program for all teachers and non-teaching staff on VAC and GBV should be mandatory. A consistent school audit process to check if the schools are safe for children or not will go a long way in creating good schools for a just world.