Level of Awareness of Teachers in the Implementation of Child Protection Policy in Tayabas West Central School II

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

DepEd launched a child protection policy through D. O. No. 40, s. 2012 to promote zero tolerance policy for any form of child abuse, exploitation, violence, discrimination, bullying, and other related offenses. Building a protective net around children is the responsibility of all members of society whether directly charged with the care of children or not. A Child Protection Policy in schools is an attempt to extend child protection beyond the legislation pertaining to children and will go a long way in keeping children safe from many dangers. Thus it is necessary to explore conceptions of child protection among school staff and thereby proposed a review of policy and program approaches so that implementation of the policy will be best facilitated.

METHODS

This study utilized a quantitative-descriptive method of research focusing on evaluating the level of awareness of teachers in Tayabas West Central School II regarding the implementation of child protection policy. Seventeen (17) teachers were chosen purposively as respondents of the study. A questionnaire was used as the primary data gathering instrument. The formula for T-test, percentage and the weighted mean were used to treat data.

RESULTS

Pre-test showed that most of the teachers of Tayabas West Central School II were moderately aware in the Implementation of Child Protection Policy when it comes to identifying the different violence against children committed in the school and roles and responsibilities of teachers. Meanwhile, post-test revealed that teachers became fully aware of the implementation of child protection policy because of the used of Info-graphics Materials made by the researchers to enhance the level of awareness of teachers. There exists a significant difference between pre-test and the post-test result thus null hypothesis was rejected.

DISCUSSIONS

Keeping the above findings provide important details about ways to promote awareness of educators in the implementation of child protection policy in a particular institution. It recommends further research into policy and programmatic approaches to strengthen the implementation of this policy because every person in the education service plays a role in keeping children and young people safe. Building a safe learning environment, identifying pupils who are in distress or at risk of harm and then taking suitable action are vital to ensuring children are always safe at school.