Aiming to build a bridge between the police and a larger community through school students, the Student Police Cadet Programme was launched by School Education Department in association with the city police on Tuesday.
Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan said, “This programme is sponsored by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The programme focuses on students of class VIII and IX and will be implemented first in government schools and government-aided schools. Training will be imparted to students without increasing their workload.”
Under the programme, school students will be educated on topics such as road safety, fight against social evils, community policing, safety of women and children, fight against corruption and disaster management. In the first phase, the programme has been launched in 138 schools with over 6,000 students as its members and it will be extended to other schools later.
One class a month
Chennai Collector A. Shanmugasundaram said, “The programme does not have any prescribed textbook and nor any exam. Only one class is proposed in a month. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) with the support of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has prepared a handbook for imparting training to the students.”
He also added that State government would spend ₹1.37 crore on the programme in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts.