Cybersecurity in School Curriculum: Cybercrimes are on the rise in the country with thousands of cases being reported. Seeing the situation, the Himachal Pradesh police have urged the education department to include digital civics and cyber security in the school curriculum. Since mobile consumption is increasing day by day, cybercrime cases have also shot up. As per the police department, the case has risen from 923 in 2017 to 6,207 in 2021.
A letter was written to the principal concerning the issue. It says “the inclusion of chapters on cyber safety and digital civics in school curriculum will spread awareness on cybercrimes and enable younger generations to stay safe in the digital world”.
Nowadays, school-goers have started using mobile phones and computers. Thus, it has become essential to sensitise them about such computer-related crimes, it said. In contrast to usual crime, cybercrime has no limits and is characterised by fast technological changes happening in the world.
Police Dept. Holds Awareness Drive for School-goers
They further said that the cops are holding awareness drives in schools and colleges to make the students familiar with such crimes, but combating cybercrime is very challenging and campaigns are essential as a precaution is better than a cure. Common cyber crimes include phishing scams, identity theft, online harassment, cyberstalking, invasion of privacy, debit/credit card fraud, ATM fraud, and pornography, and a considerable rise has been witnessed in crime against women and children.
Police Superintendent (cybercrime) Rohit Malpani told that 10 to 15 percent of cyber complaints include children directly or indirectly and the number goes to over 30 percent in complaints pertaining to social media. A proposal has been sent to the education department for introducing chapters on digital civics and cyber security in the school curriculum.
CBSE and ICSE Embeds Cybersecurity Books in Curriculum
The letter further stated that the CBSE and ICSE boards have already taken steps in this direction. Reference to literature developed by CBSE, Reserve Bank of India, ICSE, and Ministry of Home Affairs with names of some books- cyber safety manual for children, cyber safety booklet for children, a booklet on modus operandi of financial fraudsters, a handbook for adolescents/students on cyber safety and children and cyber safety, were also made in the communiqué.
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