Speakers to teachers: Raise awareness among students

F.P. Report

TIMERGARA: Speakers at a training workshop on Wednesday asked public schools’ teachers to raise awareness among students about mines and explosives risks’ education. The workshop for teachers was arranged by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in collaboration with the Unicef at a local hotel here at Timergara.

Over three dozen elected teachers from all parts of the district attended the workshop. The PDMA provincial head Ms Zainab Qaisar Khan, Unicef representative Suhail Ahmad, PDMA child protection coordinator Muhammad Saddique, admin officer Farhan and additional assistant commissioner Timergara Imran Ahmad spoke on the occasion. They said the PDMA had planned these trainings for teachers to produce a pool of trained teachers by imparting them relevant knowledge and skills in the use of risk education toolkits. The trainers said that children were the worst affected and the softest targets for outlawed.

They said it was the responsibility of parents, teachers and society to collectively play their role for safeguarding children. Giving examples of incidents of toy bomb blasts, they said that several children had lost lives in the near past. The trainers said that militancy hit areas had still serious threats and risks to children’ lives.

“Therefore the PDMA wants to train teachers in risks mitigation so that they further impart knowledge and skills to schools’ children,” Saddique said, adding that teachers’ role in that regard would highly be appreciated. The participants were trained through group works, multi-media presentation and were also provided with risk education tool kits. The participants pledged to conduct sessions not only their respective schools but in other schools in their surroundings in order to ensure child protection. The organizers also distributed certificates among the participants.