Piraeus Bank and the Eliza Society Against Child Abuse present the Kindergarten Teachers' Programme Recognize - Protect for the prevention of child neglect and abuse

On Monday 20 November, the Recognize - Protect Programme, implemented by the Eliza Society Against Child Abuse, with Piraeus Bank as strategic partner, was presented before the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the CEO of Piraeus Bank, Mr. Christos Megalou, and the two founders of the Eliza Society, Prince Michael and Miss Marina Karella, President of the Board of Directors. 

During its first pilot phase, the Kindergarten Teachers’ Programme for the Prevention of Child Neglect and Abuse is expected to benefit 1,650 kindergarten teachers and then all pre-school teachers in the country (about 16,500). 

In the European Union it is estimated that 18 million children are sexually abused before they reach adulthood, 44 million have been physically abused and 55 million have been victims of psychological violence (WHO, 2020), while almost 3 in 4 children (300 million children) aged 2-4 years regularly suffer physical punishment and/or psychological violence at the hands of their parents and caregivers (WHO, 2022). 

At the international level, in relation to incidents of abuse/neglect, early intervention is seen as the most important and effective way to reduce the adverse effects of child maltreatment, as it provides the opportunity to prevent serious, irreversible effects (Conroy & Brown, 2004). 

In view of the need for early identification and intervention, the compulsory nature of pre-school education (pre-primary and kindergarten), but also the legal obligation of teachers of each school level to officially report incidents of suspected abuse/neglect (Art.23 of Law 3500/16), the Eliza Society, under the scientific guidance of Dr Lida Anagnostaki, Assistant Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Dr George Nikolaidis, Director of the Institute of Child Health, assisted by the legal expert and Dr in Children’s Rights  Miss Elektra Koutsoukou, designed an innovative training programme for pre-school teachers (kindergarten teachers) on the identification and management of cases of alleged child abuse. 

The innovation of the programme lies in the fact that the educational material will be developed following relevant research, from which the specific needs of teachers - kindergarten teachers will emerge. 

The Recognize - Protect programme is implemented with Piraeus Bank’s strategic partnership as part of its multifaceted Corporate Responsibility Programme EQUALL. 

PHASES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME

Phase 1 - Extended Pilot - Research Phase 

• Needs assessment of 10% of all kindergarten teachers in the country working in public kindergartens
• Digitisation of the educational material to ensure the programme’s sustainability 
• 15-hour training of the kindergarten teachers who participated in the survey
• Evaluation of the knowledge acquired 

Phase 2 - Training of all interested kindergarten teachers in the country through 12-hour asynchronous and 3-hour synchronous training 

Welcoming the event, the CEO of Piraeus Bank, Mr Christos Megalou, noted, among other things: “The protection of vulnerable social groups, such as children, is one of the pillars of the EQUALL programme for human equality. As a large banking organisation, we must have a positive social presence and build creative relationships with the society in which we live and work. That is why we strive to ensure that our actions respond to real social needs and promote social development, progress, solidarity and well-being as foundations for a better tomorrow. And our children are the real bridge to this better tomorrow and our greatest responsibility for today.” Mr Megalou also referred to the importance of the support of the Ministry of Education for the implementation of the programme, about which he said: “strengthens the cooperation with the educational community through which the objectives of the programme can be achieved. It is also a practical demonstration of the value that partnerships between the public and private sectors can have when common objectives are set, particularly on issues that seek to respond to important social needs that affect us all equally.” 

For his part, the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis stressed: “Our tolerance to the abuse of children must be zero. This is what should unite us, this is what we should all be committed to, this is our goal. Children are the future, there is no continuity without our children, and we have an obligation to safeguard their physical and mental health. To achieve this purpose, teachers, who are the backbone of education, assume, among other things, a crucial role, that of message multiplier. The Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports will support any initiative that contributes to the eradication of child abuse, such as the Eliza programme, put under the auspices of the Ministry. Joining forces is imperative in order to deal as quickly as possible with phenomena that endanger the healthy development of children.” 

Eliza’s Managing Director, Miss Vanna Marketaki, during her speech at the presentation of the programme, said, among other things: “the prevention of the phenomenon of neglect and abuse of children protects both them and their families, since we intervene early, in a consultative manner, before the child is separated from his/her family environment. It is extremely important for us at Eliza that this need is understood by companies who, as strategic partners, help to ensure that what we plan is implemented. Piraeus Bank has taken on this important role of being our strategic partner and for this we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Equally important is the sponsorship of the Ministry of Education, which has embraced the programme with confidence, thus encouraging kindergarten teachers to participate.” 

The scientific responsible Director of the Institute of Child Health, Psychiatrist Dr George Nikolaides, stated that “child abuse and/or neglect is a serious social problem - a challenge for modern societies. Given the extent of the phenomenon and the frequent inability of child victims to seek help, its treatment must be a fixed feature of the mechanisms in which the general child population is included, and more specifically primary health care and education. It is therefore essential that educational establishments of all levels be shielded, both through the introduction of the necessary institutional procedures and, above all, through the universal training of education officials, to successfully implement effective child protection and child victimisation prevention policies. In this sense, the programme that is now being launched is the best investment in the most important component of the social capital of our country's future: the protection of its children.” 

The scientific responsible Assistant Professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Dr Lida Anagnostaki, in her turn, stated: “It is a great pleasure to ‘put forward’ this programme that applies the principles of early and timely intervention. Kindergarten teachers are very often the first professionals to come into contact with young children and their families and can make a decisive contribution to preventing and addressing behaviours and situations that traumatise and harm young children now, tomorrow’s adults and society in the future.” 

Athens, 20 November 2023