Impact assessment in school network to reduce violence

In 2017, the CIPAVE(internal committees for prevention of school accidents and violence) network was selected as one of the 6 winners of the call for proposals launched by CAF-development bank of Latin America- for impact assessments for #BetterManagement. The Department of Education (SEDUC) and the Department of Planning, Governance and Management (SPGG) of Rio Grande do Sul currently receive free advice from CAF’s impact assessment staff to develop strategies that will help improve the program’s management. Results are expected by 1Q19.

CIPAVEs were created in the city of Caxias do Sul, Brazil, with the purpose of bringing together all members of the municipal school community to discuss problems that may affect the development of children and young people, such as violence, indiscipline, and bullying.

Based on the issues identified by these committees, members saw the need to set up a “support network among schools” to partner with other entities of the region to work on the prevention of violence in schools. These entities include the municipal guard, the civilian police, the military brigade, the fire department, the school board, the Federal Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office.  

In 2015, the Education Department of Rio Grande do Sul proposed training and creation of internal commissions for prevention of accidents and violence in state schools as a priority action; thus CIPAVEs became a state project.

The members of CIPAVEs guide the school community on the different situations of violence and accidents that may occur and how to address them to reduce their rates. These initiatives include systematic monitoring of the records on indiscipline, physical violence among students, verbal assault to teachers or other staff, bullying, racism, vandalism, violence on or outside school premises, trafficking, drug possession or use, theft, assault on teachers and traffic accidents around schools. The goal is for each school to report the frequency and severity of these cases, in order to investigate the circumstances in which they occur and plan actions throughout the year based on these data, and partner with public and private entities to strengthen preventive work based on the needs of the schools.