Telangana School Education Dept & TSLSA Sign MoU To Promote Legal Awareness, Child Rights In Schools

The MoU was signed by Sri E. Naveen Nicolas, IAS, Director of School Education, on behalf of the Education Department, and Sri Ch. Panchakshari, Member Secretary (District Judge), TSLSA, on behalf of the Legal Services Authority, Hyderabad.

The collaboration aims to inculcate legal literacy, constitutional values, and awareness of child rights among students and teachers. It also seeks to prevent social issues such as child labour, child marriage, and child abuse, while facilitating access to legal aid wherever required.

Key Initiatives

Under the MoU, legal literacy and awareness programmes will be conducted in all Government Schools, and Legal Literacy Clubs/Child Rights Clubs will be established. Workshops and sensitization programmes will be organized for teachers, including designated Child Protection Officers (CPOs). Students will be engaged through competitions, seminars, and interactive sessions on legal and social issues.

Child Protection Mechanism

Each school will designate a Child Protection Officer (a senior woman teacher) to address student grievances, identify cases of child abuse, child marriage, school dropouts and other vulnerabilities, and coordinate with District Legal Services Authorities for intervention and support. A structured referral mechanism will ensure coordination with Child Welfare Committees, Police, District Administration, and NGOs for immediate assistance.

TSLSA and District Legal Services Authorities will provide trained resource persons, panel lawyers and para-legal volunteers, conduct awareness programmes and legal aid camps, offer counselling and legal assistance, and organize training programmes for teachers.

Schools will observe important days such as National Girl Child Day (January 24), World Environment Day (June 5), Child Labour Prohibition Day (June 12), Children's Day (November 14), and Constitution Day (November 26), among others.

Implementation & Duration

A Joint Co-ordination Committee at State and District levels will prepare action plans, monitor implementation, and review progress periodically, supported by reporting and evaluation mechanisms. The MoU will remain in force for two years and may be extended with mutual consent.

The programme will be implemented across 5711 high schools in Telangana, including Model Schools, Government and Zilla Parishad Schools, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, TGREIS Schools, Urban Residential Schools, and Government Aided Schools.

Justice P. Sam Koshy, Judge, High Court for the State of Telangana and Executive Chairman of TSLSA, stated that the initiative is a significant step towards empowering students with legal knowledge, strengthening child protection systems, and ensuring access to justice at the grassroots level. He also indicated that there are plans to expand the programme to private schools in the future.

Sri Naveen Nicolas, IAS, Director of School Education, stated that the initiative will help create a safe, inclusive, and informed educational ecosystem by empowering students with legal knowledge, strengthening child protection systems, promoting responsible citizenship, and ensuring timely legal support for vulnerable children.