Child Protection Policies and Programs in Basic Education: An Analysis of Implementation In the Philippine Context

Children are one of the most valuable assets of the state; every effort should be exerted to promote their welfare and enhance children’s opportunities for a useful life. By this, it is also essential for the different schools to formulate and implement the policies for child protection to enhance the child’s capability in the different learning institutions. This study has examined the following thematic areas: the extent of implementation of child protection policies and programs in the selected schools of the First District of Camarines Sur; the status of child abuse in the selected schools of the First District of Camarines Sur, Philippines, including a. sexual harassment and b. discrimination c. exploitation d. bullying and physical violence; the activities/ intervention programs initiated by the school on child protection, and problems encountered in the implementation of child protection. The descriptive-evaluative-comparative research method was used to determine the programs for the prevention of violence against children in selected schools. Results revealed that there were reported cases of child abuse both in grade school and secondary school. Cases of bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment, and exploitation are the forms of child abuse reported in the most common reported case of child abuse among basic education schools. Also, among all aspects of child protection policies, such as physical violence, sexual violence, and psychological violence, only bullying has not been rated as highly implemented. Furthermore, financial incapacity to support the policies and programs is the main problem that is being encountered in the implementation of the child protection policy.Further research on the impact of bullying on a student and the common causes of bullying is also recommended to address the root cause of child abuse.