THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The department of general education is mulling over introducing a compulsory training module on handling snakebite cases in the annual training programme for schoolteachers.
The move is in the backdrop of the death of Shahala Sherin’s death in Wayanad on Wednesday.
The department introduced training in disaster management for teachers a year ago after the savage floods of 2018.
Incidentally, schoolteachers are aware of the standard operating procedures to be followed in case of a snakebite or other life-threatening emergencies. Such lessons are part of the teacher training course and they teach students similar procedures as part of school curriculum.
“But if such knowledge doesn’t prove to the useful during emergencies, it’s better to put them through special training so they would act appropriately and provide help during emergencies. The training module would also list out things to be done by teachers on a priority basis and fix responsibilities,” general education department secretary A Shajahan said.
Currently, the state education department sends quarterly report to the National Disaster Management Authority on the disaster resilience of schools. According to the Kerala Education Rules, fitness certificate of school buildings is one of the major criteria that government considers while approving teacher strength (number of teachers) every year. The education department gives approval to schools based on the fitness certificates provided by local bodies.
“To ensure that fitness and security of school building is maintained without fail, the department would soon ask all government and aided school authorities to convene PTI meetings before November 30, discuss the safety aspects and take steps to address the shortcomings, if any,” Shajahan said.
A high-level meeting held here on Friday discussed proactive steps to be initiated by the government and asked director of general education (DGE) K Jeevan Babu for a detailed report on the snakebite incident and take further steps to improve the safety and security of school buildings and premises in the state.