Schools asked to ensure online safeguards

Dimapur, June 18 (EMN): All the heads of schools functioning in Nagaland, both private and government, have been directed to take necessary steps to make children as well as parents aware about the safe use of internet.

In a notification issued on Thursday, the directorate of School Education stated that with the introduction of online teaching by different institutions in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, children spend more time on the internet, “often unsupervised and are vulnerable to being targeted online by unwanted elements”.

There are reports about possibility of online exploitation of children and increase in activity related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), it stated.

Against this backdrop, it directed the schools to introduce and follow the safety measures.

“IEC materials on safe online learning are made available in the official website of the department of School Education, Nagaland https://education.nagaland.gov.in for necessary action. Further, it has been reported that few schools are sharing personal information of students such as Aadhaar number in school WhatsApp groups, which is against the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Therefore, all concerned are advised to be cautious in this regard so that the interests of students are not jeopardised,” read the order.