The Chennai Corporation is considering appointing more counsellors in its schools to support students in primary classes.
At present, eight counsellors visit the higher secondary students of Corporation-run schools once a week.
With the need to create awareness of child sexual abuse becoming significant, the civic body has decided to recruit more counsellors, said Mayor Saidai Duraisamy.
This month, a training meeting will be conducted for kindergarten heads of 65 Corporation schools, on various aspects of prevention and tackling issues of child sexual abuse.
Officials of the Corporation said the programme, to be conducted along with Tulir-Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, will also help teachers and school heads respond to situations of child protection.
As part of the eight-year-long joint initiative of the Corporation and Tulir, boards with messages on personal safety were put up at 284 Corporation schools on Monday.
The initiative was formally launched at Chennai Higher Secondary School in Kolathur.
Vidya Reddy of Tulir said awareness is being created among children through several initiatives such as distribution of pamphlets, reaching out to parents and training teachers.
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