The education department has planned to provide counselling to students of disaster-affected districts who are scared to visit their school after seeing the disaster.
The department will organise a training programme for block resource coordinators, cluster resource coordinators, school teachers and volunteers under the aegis of Department of Community Medicine, Vir Chandra Singh Garhwali Government Institute of Medical Science and Research, Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal. On condition of anonymity an education officer said that many students in the affected districts had lost their text books, school uniforms and stationary when their homes collapsed and they have been living in temporary shelters provided by the district administration. In order to counsel them to reach their schools, trained teachers will be deployed there.
Another department officer said that it was reported from the officials of affected district that after seeing the disaster, many students studying in Class I-VIII have not visited their school, located in areas which were adversely affected by incessant rains, cloud bursts and landslides. In this disaster, many students became homeless while many were shifted to safer places by the district administration. It may be possible that students would return to their home after six months or so. To counsel students and their parents, department has planned to deploy trained teachers, BRC, CRC and volunteers of NGOs. For this, a team of 30 members
comprising teachers, BRC, CRC, NGO volunteers will be formed and they will be trained on how to counsel the traumatised children with the help of doctors provided by Department of Community Medicine.
According to him, with the help of NGO or State Government, these students will be given text books, uniform or other necessary items. Interested persons or people representing different social organisations of disaster affected areas will be given training in phases by the deploying master trainers there. Pamphlets stating important messages will also be distributed among students of Government schools.