Training of security specialists in the educational environment has begun in Lviv

Today, the second stage of the "Security Specialist in the Educational Environment" project has been launched at the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. It provides for the training of 25 specialists. This time, participants from 13 regions of Ukraine are going to participate in the training. These are representatives of territorial communities from Chernihiv region, Odesa region, Mykolaiv region, Poltava region, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kirovohrad region, Cherkasy region, Vinnytsia region, Rivne region, Ternopil region, Lviv region, Transcarpathia and Volyn.

Kateryna Pavlichenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has welcome the project participants. She emphasized that the formation of a safe educational environment is a priority area of activity of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the training of such specialists is carried out within the framework of the large-scale project "Safe Childhood".

"I would like to thank all those who has joined this initiative. There are four weeks of training ahead. I hope that after its completion, the participants will gain new knowledge and useful skills that will help improve the security situation in the educational environment," Kateryna Pavlichenko emphasized.

Roman Blahuta, LvSUIA Rector, also greeted the future security educators. "Our best specialists will be involved in the implementation of this interesting and very necessary project. The training will also be conducted by representatives of the National Police, the State Emergency Service, the State Migration Service and the Lviv Regional Military Administration. So, during the course, you will get a lot of practical experience that you can share in your communities," the Rector of the university said.

Vasyl Bohdan, Chief of the Juvenile Prevention department of the National Police of Ukraine, noted that safety educators will become a kind of "bridge" between the administrations of educational institutions, territorial communities, representatives of different services, as well as pupils and parents. He emphasized that most of the participants of this project have a higher pedagogical education and extensive experience working with children. Due to the second stage of the project, they plan to reach 68 educational institutions and about 26 thousand children.

Yuriy Kitsul, Chief of the Department for Protection of Children's Rights of the Human Rights Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, also addressed the audience. He noted that due to the full-scale invasion, educational institutions had to face serious challenges that directly affected the security situation. "That's why we need to look for and use any tools to create a safe educational environment. After completing the training, the project participants will return to their communities and educational institutions to change this situation," Yuriy Kitsul said.

Safety educators will become communicators between local self-government bodies, police, rescuers, teachers, students and parents. Their main tasks will be to identify and stop offenses in educational institutions, participate in preventive measures and provide suggestions for strengthening a safe educational environment free from bullying, violence and drugs.