Lagos sensitises residents on child safety, protection policy

To ensure safety and overall well-being of children in schools, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (LSDSVA), in conjunction with Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA), has organised a sensitisation programme to engage heads and administrators of schools on implementing the state safeguarding and child protection policy.

The two-day sensitisation programme, attended by over 700 principals, school administrators and heads of schools, drawn from Alimosho, Ifako Ijaiye and Agege zones, was aimed at educating principals and heads of schools located in Education District 1.

Executive Secretary of LSDSVA, Mrs. Titilola Vivour- Adeniyi reassured Lagosians of the agency’s commitment towards safety and protection of all children in Lagos State, stressing that the initiative would take place in all education districts in the state.

She reiterated the need to ensure that structures are in place to ensure the safety and overall well-being of children in schools. According to her, since enlightenment is important to prevent abuses, it has become pertinent to educate teachers and heads of schools on their roles in ensuring that the policy is implemented.

A child protection expert, Mr. Taiwo Akinlami, who spoke on the rights of a child and the cultural perceptions of child abuse, noted that children also enjoy rights such as right to life, to develop, have a decent standard of living and to be protected from abuse.

These rights, he said, are inalienable and should be protected in order to prevent a mismanaged childhood, as a ‘mismanaged childhood leads to a dysfunctional adulthood’.

Mrs. Modupeola Adebambo, who provided an overview of the executive order on child protection policy, examined the roles and responsibilities of principals of schools in ensuring full compliance of the policy and safety of their students in terms of having a safer recruitment procedure, adopting a safety policy and a designated safeguarding officer.

The representative of the Director General of Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs. Bimpe Savage highlighted the types of abuse and the need for schools to put precautionary measures in place to ensure safety of children.

She further urged the participants to take advantage of the free online course on ‘Safeguarding and child protection policy’ available on the website www.safeguardingchildren.org.ng.