PERCEPTION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HEADS AND TEACHERS ON CHILD PROTECTION POLICY IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN TANAUAN CITY DIVISION

Child-friendly schools dramatically minimize or remove frequent physical threats and other types of violence occurring in and around schools and learning spaces, such as teachers' corporal punishment, student-on-student abuse, gang wars, bullying, sexual assaults, other forms of gender-based abuse and external group school assaults. Schools that are child-friendly need to collaborate with parents and local groups to avoid abuse. To protect children from physical damage and mental, physical, emotional and sexual violence, simple, transparently implemented policies and procedures and firm measures must be in place. The study's main objective was to evaluate the awareness rates of principals and educators' engagement on the Child Protection Program at Tanauan City Division's Private Schools, Batangas. The argument is that officials in child-friendly schools should be vigilant in recognizing child violence and neglect, and should be prepared to act in compliance with national laws and policies on child safety, including compulsory reporting to police or other legal authorities. The school's position in serious child protection matters is not to investigate them but to identify cases that need attention and refer them to appropriate child care agencies. The descriptive method of research was used in this study using a survey questionnaire as the main instrument to gather data. The respondents of the study were 15 principals and 185 educators in the said Private Schools in Tanauan City Division. Statistical tools like weighted mean were used in determining the extent of implementation of Child Protection Program and level of perceptiveness of principals and educators. The non-significant differences between their perceptions were established using the t-test formula. Meanwhile, the Pearson r product-moment correlation and r-test were used to resolve the non-significant relationship between the extent of implementation of Child Protection Program and level of participation of principals and educators. The result indicated that the views of the two groups of respondents were not substantially different, although both stated that there was intense observance of involvement in the execution of the school manager's duties and responsibilities. It further revealed that there was no shared agreement between the heads of school and teachers about the school manager's roles and responsibilities in enforcing child protection policy. Child-friendly schools should be prepared to recognize, refer and evaluate vulnerable children, especially those who have suffered, suffered or are at risk of serious harm. Keywords: Child Protection Program, Mistreatment, Perception, Participation