Cyber security courses in schools for increased safety
The ministry of home affairs has readied a cyber security education programme for the schools students from class VI and above .Under this programme , the first wednesday of every month is to be observed as ‘cyber jagrookta diwas’ . In addition to this , the ministry has also launched cyber awareness handles on social media platforms like Twitter , youtube , Instagram and facebook . Speaking to education times , Renuka Dutta , principal , euro school , pune , says , “ The need of hour is to educate the students of all ages about the problems associated with the usage of online platforms. Children are susceptible to frauds which can be in the form of financial frauds and leaking of their personal data. Over the last few years , students of all age groups have been exposed to an increased usage of mobile, laptops , computers for their online classes . Hence , it becomes pertinent to provide them training in cyber security measures . In my school , we have initiated ‘ Being a cyber smart child’.We have WNS care foundation which empowers children with digital initiatives through which students would become cyber smart and a gamified cyber safety portal would be created for them. It is a holistic cyber safety learning ecosystem for children which will be designed by WNS care foundation and its purpose is to create awareness , educate the students and parents about cyber safe behaviour on the internet .
Anshu Mittal, Principle MRG school , Delhi says , “It is important for parents to be open with their children about online safety , but it would also be helpful if teachers get involved in the process . It is true that cyber crimes have become more of a threat than traditional types of crimes. Hence, it is important to make children aware about cyber safety. Teaching them about cyber security involves making them aware about the contemporary laws related to the cyber security domains . They have to be educated about precautions that are needed to be taken while chatting or accepting friend requests and also not to share their personal information with anybody on the internet . Cyber security is already a part of the ICT curriculum in primary as well as middle classes . We teach them about Cyber Ethics, Crimes and how to be safe online.”
Source: timesofindia
