EXTENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF CHILD

PROTECTION POLICY AND OCCURRENCE OF CHILD

ABUSE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SAMAR
DIVISION: BASIS FOR INTERVENTION PROGRAM

Lauro R. Gacusana
(District –in- Charge)
Sta. Rita I District, Division of Samar
09356441463/lauro.gacusana001@deped.gov.ph
Background and Rationale

Children’s right is human right. It is indivisible; there is no hierarchy

among different kinds of rights: civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights are all equally necessary for a life of dignity.

(Save the Children Alliance, 2002)

Deped Order No. 40, Series 2012

“POLICY AND GUIDELINES ON PROTECTING CHILDREN IN

SCHOOL FROM ABUSE, VIOLENCE, EXPLOITATION,
DISCRIMINATION, BULLYING AND OTHER FORMS OF
ABUSE”.
In the Philippines, EDCOM cited that between 500 - 800 child abuse
cases are committed by teachers each year, an estimate according to
the Child Adolescent Psychiatrists of the Philippines (CAPPI).

(Convention of the Rights of the Child, March 8,

2009)
Plan International Philippines, revealed that significant number
school children from elementary to secondary school are victims
of different forms of child abuse in schools and committed by
both teachers and among their peers.

(Plan Philippines. (2009) Toward a Child-Friendly

Education Environment A Baseline Study on Violence
Against Children in Public Schools)
The Department of Social Welfare and Development Region VIII
has recorded significant number of different kinds cases of child
abuses in the region.

(DSWD Region VIII, Children in Need of Special Protection

Report, 2016)
Theoretical Support

• The systems approach advanced by the UNICEF (2012),

provided a theoretical framework that helped build and
strengthen the purpose of this study that deals on child
protection system implementation.
• CIPP evaluation model (Stufflebeam & Coryn, 2007) to
evaluate the impact of the Child Protection Policy
implementation.
Research Question

The general objective of the study was to investigate the extent of

the implementation of Child Protection Policy as perceived by the
Child Protection Committee members, teachers and among
students and the occurrence of child abuse as perceived by
teachers and students in the public secondary schools in the
Division of Samar.
Summary of Results

 Teachers have moderate level of awareness of their duties

and responsibilities on the prevention of child abuse, while
the Child Protection Committee members have very high
level of awareness on this.
Summary of Results

 Extent of implementation of Child Protection Policy in all

measures it is ‘Not In Place’ as perceived by the students and
teachers. Therefore, the extent of implementation of DepEd
No. 40, s. 2012 along its measures is weak.
 All forms of child abuse either inflicted by teachers and
other school personnel or those inflicted by their own peers
were perceived to have not happened at all except for child
exploitation and bullying.

 The occurrence of child abuse does not depend either on the

size of school nor its location.
 The extent of occurrence of child abuse will decrease if the
Child Protection Policy will be well-implemented.

 Whether the school personnel or Child Protection Committee

members are aware or not of their duties and responsibilities
in the prevention of violence against children, it does not
affect the level of occurrence of child abuse in schools.
Intervention Program Based on the Finding
The result suggest that the researcher or the school
administrators must conceptualize a training design for teachers,
other school personnel, parents, students and other stakeholders
relative to the Child Protection Policy or DepEd No. 40, S. 2012,
in order to capacitate and help develop their skills and
competencies on child protection to zero out cases occurrence of
child abuse in schools.
Reflections

Keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility. Schools and

teachers who basically work with children are required to ensure
their policies and practices reflects this responsibility. Thus, Child
Protection Policy implementation is more than just a responsibility.
It is a strong commitment of the school and its entire academic
community towards the welfare and protection its learners. Further,
all children have equal rights to protection from abuse and
exploitation. Therefor, situation of all children in school must be
improved through protecting their rights enumerated in DepEd
Order No. 40, s. 2012 and child abuse is never acceptable and
should be stopped.
Conclusions

o Interestingly, significant number from student respondents

identified themselves as gays and lesbians. This shows that
today’s generation of secondary students are bold enough to
identify themselves of their sexual preferences and express
their personalities.
o The extent of the implementation of the Child Protection in the
Division of Samar is not in place or weak. It is sad to note that
despite of the departments’ reiteration on the implementation of
this policy to be followed by all schools, still students and
teachers were not fully aware on this.
o All forms of child abuse seems not to be happening in schools,
except for child exploitation and bullying. The result suggest
that cases of child exploitation and bullying needs to be
addressed so that learners will learn in schools without fear.
o Child abuse cases can happen no matter how big or small and or
the location of the school maybe. This indicates that children in
all schools are vulnerable and could be possibly exposed to child
abuse.
o The extent of occurrence of child abuse in all forms
inflected by teachers and peers and the level of awareness
on the duties and responsibilities in the prevention of
violence against children in school are not related at all.
o The extent of violence against children in school will
decrease when the implementation of the child protection
policy will be strengthened.
o Whether the school personnel or Child Protection
Committee members are aware or not of their duties and
responsibilities in the prevention of violence against
children, it does not affect the level of occurrence of child
abuse in schools.
Recommendations

 A need for training for teachers, students, parents, other school

personnel and stakeholders on their duties and responsibilities
relative to Child Protection Policy of DepEd.
 Schools should provide orientation program for students on their
rights, duties and responsibilities.
 Schools should craft their own Child Protection Mechanism
anchored on DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012.
 Schools should strengthen data collection systems on
cases of all forms of child abuse in school.
 Schools Division Office should design a monitoring tool on the
implementation of the Child Protection Policy.
 Schools should ensure access to violence free learning
environments, where the rights of all children are respected and
promoted.
 References
Jupp, Victor and Sapsford, Roger (2006) Data Collection Analysis. Second Edition. SAGE Publication. California, USA.
 
Padua, Roberto and Santos, Rosita (1998) Fundamental of Education Research and Analysis. Katha Publishing Co. Inc. Manila,
Philippines.
 
Plan Philippines. (2009) Toward a Child-Friendly Education Environment A Baseline Study on Violence Against Children in
Public
Schools. Manila: Plan. http://plan- international.org/learnwithoutfear/files/philippines-toward-a- child-
friendly-education-environment-english.
 
Save the Children. (2011). Child Protection in the Philippines: A Situational Analysis. Save the Children Child Protection Initiative in
Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Stuffblebeam, Daniel L. and Coryn, Chris L.S.(2007). Evaluation Theory, Models and Applications. Jossey-Bass: A WILEY Publishing.
San Franciso, California, USA.
 
UNICEF. (2012). Child Protection in Educational Settings: Findings from Six Countries in East Asia and the Pacific Strengthening
Child Protection Systems. Series: No 2 .UNICEF EAPRO, Bangkok, Thailand.
 
UN. 1989. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York: UN. www2.ohchr.org/English/law/crc.htm.
 
Wulczyn, Fred et. al. (2010). Adapting A Systems Approach To Child Protection:Key Concepts And Considerations. United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN Plaza, New York, NY.
 
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