THE DEPARTMENT of Education urged schools to protect students from all forms of violence following the report of The Philippine Online Student Tambayan that students have been selling lewd photos and videos on Twitter to raise money for their online classes.

In a statement on Monday, the DEPED sounded the alarm on the rise of cases of online sexual abuse and exploitation of students during the pandemic.

It vowed to cooperate with government agencies that will investigate the report.

The Department of Justice ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation and file appropriate charges against persons involved in the sexual exploitation of children.

“We enjoin all public and private elementary and secondary schools to establish and strengthen their respective Child Protection Committees. These CPCs must proactively initiate information dissemination programs and organize activities for the protection of children, as mandated by DepEd Order No. 40, s. 2012 or the Child Protection Policy,” DepEd said.

“We have initiated efforts to strengthen CPCs in schools by creating a Child Protection Unit/Office in the Central Office with counterparts in the regional offices and schools division offices that will support these school CPCs. This initiative is already under review by the Office of the Secretary,” it added.

The Education department said it has developed and distributed materials related to child online protection. It also conducted cybersafety training programs in schools to protect students from online abuse, violence, exploration, discrimination, and bullying.

“Even before the pandemic, the DepEd has launched several initiatives for the protection of children,” it said.

The department also called for better collaboration and cooperation among national agencies and local communities, citing that children must not be “exposed to such corrupt acts under any circumstances.”

The DepEd stressed that it implemented flexible distance learning and academic ease measures to ensure that education will not be costly for parents and students.

“We are continuously reminding our direct stakeholders that gadgets or internet connections are not requirements for distance learning. Depending on the available resources, public schools are also implementing other alternative distance learning modalities such as modular, radio, and TV-based instruction,” it said.