Student Police Cadet programme to be launched tomorrow

A special initiative called Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme, which aims to build a bridge between the police and the school students by inculcating values and ethics in them through classes in school and outside, will be launched tomorrow.

The Home Ministry sponsored programme focuses on students of class VIII and IX and special care has been taken to ensure that it does not lead to increase in the workload of the students, an official statement said.

The programme neither have any prescribed textbook nor any exam envisaged and only one class in a month is proposed, it said.

The initiative seeks to cover broadly two kinds of topics: crime prevention and control, and values and ethics.

Under the first part, the topics covered are - community policing, road safety, fight against social evils, safety of women and children, fight against corruption and disaster management, the statement said.

The topics covered under the second part are - values and ethics, respect for elders, empathy and sympathy, tolerance, patience, attitude, team spirit and discipline.

The programme will be launched Home Minister Rajnath Singh in presence of Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar and Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal besides others.

A Handbook has been prepared by Bureau of Police Research and Development for imparting instructions with the support of NCERT.

There is greater emphasis on field demonstrations and hands on learning of the functioning of the police through visits to women police stations, child protection homes including NGOs, traffic police and fire brigade stations, the statement said.

The programme will be steered by a state level committee to be headed by the State Principal Secretary, Home Department, with the Principal Secretary, Education and Director General of Police as members.

There shall be a similar committee at the district level headed by the District Magistrate with the District Inspector of Schools and Superintendent of Police as members.

An amount of Rs 67 crore has been released to the States for implementation of the programme. An amount of Rs 50,000 shall be earmarked for each school to be spent on educational aids, training and contingency.

The programme shall be at first implemented in Government schools in both urban and rural areas, the statement said.