Tamil Nadu school textbooks to carry student helpline numbers

In a bid to further enhance the security for girl school students from sexual harassment, the Tamil Nadu government is planning the availability of helpline numbers on the front page of all the school student textbooks, which would be shortly distributed for the third term.

As the number of sexual harassment cases has recently increased in institutions, the School Education Department has initiated several measures, including setting up students' safety advisory committees in each school for creating confidence and security among the girl students.

Of the total 1.31 crore, 50% of students studying from elementary level to higher secondary standards were female students.

A senior official from the School Education Department said that textbooks for two terms for all the standards were released and it was distributed as free of cost for students studying in government and government-aided schools.

"Though the helpline numbers were displayed in the notice board of the schools, it was reported that many of the students were not aware of it," he said adding that the authorities have suggested that student's helpline numbers such as 14417 and 1098 could be printed in the textbooks so that students, who use it regularly, would not miss it.

Pointing out the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation and the nodal agency in printing all the school textbooks, the official said that the students of all the standards were yet to receive the third term textbooks.

Adding to that, the official also said though the printing of third-term textbooks was almost over, the authorities also suggested a label containing the student's helpline number could be tightly pasted in each textbook for all the subjects.

"While distributing the third term textbooks to the students, the school management and the teachers would ensure the availability of the two student's helpline numbers on page one of each textbook," he said adding that the authorities were also planning to print the helpline telephone numbers in the notebooks, which were freely distributed for the students in the State-run schools.

He said from the new academic year, all the school textbooks from term one to term three, will carry printed helpline numbers.