Specialized training for pedagogical counselors and school psychologists took place in Pleven
On May 20th, 2019 in Pleven, a full-day training of pedagogical counselors and school psychologists from the Pleven region was held on the topic "Internet - a safe space for children and young people in the context of the risk of getting into trafficking in human beings", organized by the Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (LCCTHB) within the implementation of the Local Programme for 2019, with the support of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
It was held in a conference room in the building of the Regional Library "Hristo Smirnenski" granted by the Pleven municipality free of charge.
Speakers were Antoaneta Vassileva and Ralitsa Mihaylova - experts at the National Center for Safer Internet.
The training was attended by 35 people, including the members of the LCCTHB - Pleven Svetoslava Ilieva, expert at the Regional Department of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science and Elitsa Spasova, Head of the Child Protection Department of the Social Assistance Directorate - Pleven. The training was opened by the Secretary of the Municipality of Pleven, Paulina Kirova, who is Deputy Chairman of the LCCTHB - Pleven. Among the participants were pedagogical counselors and psychologists from almost all vocational high schools and secondary schools in Pleven, as well as their colleagues from Dolna Mitropoliya, Dolni Dabnik, Trastenik, Educational boarding school in the village of Podem, from the schools in the villages of Yasen and Opanets.
In the one-day training, they learned about the aspects of trafficking in human beings and the risks for children and young people to get involved in such trafficking. The speakers emphasized the risks of involving young people in trafficking over the Internet. For the pedagogues, the short films and videos that were shown to them were particularly interesting. Many of them, especially those with more professional experience, turned out to be very familiar with the subject of "trafficking in human beings", shared interesting cases from their practice, asked questions. The topic of partnership with parents was also discussed.
The work in teams created original "scripts" for educational lessons on topics such as “Online bullying”, "What is sexting" and "How to recognize fake job ads”.
The training was useful for completing competencies, creating sensitivity and motivating educators to do preventive work, to identify potential victims of human trafficking, and to partner effectively in the future with the Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings - Pleven, which is the youngest in the country.