February 22, 2024.- The Subdelegate of the Government in Zamora, Ángel Blanco, presided on Thursday the annual coordination meeting of the Master Plan for Coexistence and Improvement of Security in Educational Centers and their Environments. After the meeting, the deputy delegate appeared before the media and highlighted the good functioning of this plan, in the academic year 2023/2024 it promotes a better coexistence and a safer environment for 3,148 children and young people of Zamora, who study in 70 educational centers in the province.
Ángel Blanco has highlighted the success of this plan to respond in a coordinated and effective way to issues related to the safety of children and young people in the school environment. For this reason, he has thanked the work and the involvement of both the Provincial Directorate of Education and the State Security Forces, the Municipal Police of Zamora, the local police of Benavente and Toro and other cooperating agencies.
This Thursday’s meeting was attended by the deputy delegate of the Government, Ángel Blanco; the coordinator of the plan in the province, Marisa Manso; the head of the Zamora Command, Lieutenant Colonel Héctor David Pulido; the provincial coordinator of the Civil Guard, Jesús J. González; the provincial coordinator of the National Police Corps, Vicente García; the chief inspector of Citizen Security, Gustavo García; the provincial head of Traffic, Alfonso Ibáñez; the provincial director of Education of the Junta de Castilla y León, Fernando Javier Prada; the councillor of Education of Zamora, Sara de la Higuera; the head of the Local Police of Zamora, Tomás Antón; the councillor of Citizen Security of Toro, Ana Castaño; Ramón Gómez Córdoba, agent of the Police, Benjara
Cyberbullying, sexual and gender violence and discrimination
From this course, the Master Plan reinforces the prevention of cyberbullying, sexual and gender violence and discrimination, in application of the decision taken by the Secretary of State for Security last June to adapt the project to the new digital reality.
Consequently, the Unit Against Violence against Women has intensified action in Zamoran centres, with activities aimed at responding to new attitudes towards gender violence, gender cyberviolence, access to pornography at an early age, as well as the increase in criminal typologies related to ICTs and new forms of recruitment for trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Among other objectives, the training activities contribute to the filing of complaints in cases of sexual violence against children, strengthening police collaboration and the exchange of information for the prosecution of these crimes.
The Master Plan addresses all kinds of problems in the school environment. Faced with the risks identified in the first years of the plan, such as situations arising from the consumption of drugs and alcohol or directly related to bullying, in recent times new collaboration mechanisms have been developed with the Secretary of State for Equality and against Gender Violence in the prevention of behaviors prone to discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual discrimination, or violence against women.
About 300 performances planned for this course
For the current academic year, the forecast of the Master Plan is to develop a total of 296 actions in a total of 70 centers, of which 27 are located in Zamora capital and 43, in other locations. By number of students, 2,898 of the beneficiaries live in rural areas and 250 in the provincial capital.
Most of these training and preventive talks requested by the centers are aimed at addressing bullying (49), internet risks (46), problems related to drugs, alcohol and other addictions (26), road safety (23) and environmental protection (22). Actions aimed at preventing gender violence are also highlighted, with talks on other types of violence and abuse in the family and school environment (15), prevention of sexual crimes (10), and violence against women (13).
In the academic year 2022/2023, the Civil Guard and the National Police carried out a total of 225 actions in the educational centers of the province, most related to situations of bullying, internet risks, drugs and alcohol; and racism, xenophobia, intolerance and hate crimes. In addition to the training activities, the Civil Guard carried out a total of 1,289 hours of surveillance in the environments of the centers of the province last year.
Action of the Ministries of the Interior, Education and Equality
The Master Plan for the Coexistence and Improvement of Security in Educational Centers and their Environments has 11 courses in progress and responds to the “Framework Agreement on Education for the Improvement of Security” signed in 2006 by the Ministries of the Interior and Education, to which the Ministry of Equality has subsequently been incorporated. The sub-delegate has highlighted the consolidation of this programme and its smooth functioning.
“Year after year, we are strengthening the ties between all of us to achieve a common goal, which is none other than to guarantee the protection and safety of the children and young people of Zamora,” said Ángel Blanco.
Through this plan, the Government promotes the right to physical and moral integrity of girls, boys and young people and their development in a safe environment. The deputy delegate also stressed that thanks to this initiative the young people of Zamora know the police forces better and trust them, which is a fundamental condition for the prevention and resolution of possible conflicts.