PANJIM: In a first of its kind initiative in the country,
the Fire & Emergency Services has prepared an animated module explaining
the dos and don’ts of fire for primary students as it entered into an agreement
with Education Department on Monday.
To begin with, 27 schools in Tiswadi taluka have been
covered. The awareness programs ‘Safer School Safer India’ will later be
extended to other talukas.
“Since theoretical sessions may not interest them, we have
prepared an animated module with voiceover to attract the attention of the
students. The modules comprise of all the dos and don’ts of fire, preventive
measures and how to keep one safe,” Fire & Emergency Services Director
Ashok Menon told Herald.
The 45-minute-long interactive session will be carried out
by 46 teachers of the respective 27 schools, who had undergone training
programmes in two batches in October-November 2015. The training was imparted
by senior fire officers at its training institute, St Inez. Menon said their
officials will now conduct an audit by attending these schools where the
interactive sessions are scheduled.
“The schools have submitted us the day and the time about
when they will hold the interactive sessions. Accordingly, our officers will be
deputed there for auditing to ensure there are no gaps,” he explained.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the
two departments and Vice President of Public Safety Mission, Underwriter
Laboratories (India) R A Venkitachalam in the presence of Chief Secretary R K
Srivastava at Secretariat on Monday. The memorandum is a part of Fire Safety
Awareness in Primary School in the State – Safer School Safer India program
unveiled by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar recently.
The module, presently in English will soon be translated in
Konkani and Marathi to cater to students in urban and rural areas. With Goa
being the first State to come up with such an initiative, the module on fire
safety, Menon said, can be shared with other states.
The department will adopt another method of teaching for
students of Class III and Class IV, as they are also a part of the
campaign.
“The concept envisages building a safer India to safeguard
children and teach them how to stay safe. The objective of this campaign is to
enhance the awareness level of primary school children and through them the
families on the safety culture,” a senior education official said.
