The Kerala state government has informed the High Court that steps are being taken to introduce the curriculum on preventive programmes on sexual abuse in schools to the extent possible before the commencement of the next academic year. Giving more details in this regard, the director general of education who appeared online in response to a court directive submitted that the eight-member expert committee had chalked out long-term and short-term programmes at its meeting held on February 23, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
The long-term plan includes preparing a curriculum and giving counselling and guidance. It would take time as the process of preparing the curriculum is underway. In fact, the textbooks would start coming either in 2023-24 or 2024-25.
However, the main programme which includes giving training to students of high schools, higher secondary, and vocational higher secondary schools based on a revived module, prepared before the Covid pandemic, would be implemented immediately. In the case of lower primary students, parents would be given training.
The court also directed advocate Parvathy Menon, project coordinator of the Victims Rights Centre under the KeLSA, to be made a member of the expert committee, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
