07/10/2026
A to***co-free school cannot be created by a school alone.
What happens around a school matters too.
What happens across departments matters.
And what happens when teachers, parents, students and communities work together matters most.
Recently, a State-Level Multi-Sectoral Roundtable convened by Salaam Bombay Foundation on Strengthening Tobacco-Free Educational Institutions (ToFEI) brought together stakeholders from Education, Health, Food & Drug Administration, Social Welfare & Justice, BMC Public Health, civil society and schools at the Office of the Collector & District Magistrate, Mumbai City.
The discussion went beyond awareness to ask a more important question: How do we make to***co-free educational institutions work in practice?
Three priorities emerged strongly:
- Interdepartmental coordination: Clearly define the role of each department, strengthen coordination across government stakeholders and ensure that schools have the support they need to act.
- Monitoring: Move beyond self-reporting towards periodic verification, evidence and accountability.
- Capacity building: Equip every teacher, not just a few, with the knowledge and confidence to support prevention, alongside parents and communities.
The conversation also reinforced an important principle: prevention needs to begin before to***co use becomes established. Students can be part of that prevention effort too, through peer leadership and participation.
The next step is to take these recommendations forward through the relevant government departments and continue the dialogue towards stronger implementation.
Because creating to***co-free educational environments is not only about putting guidelines in place. It is about interdepartmental coordination, turning guidelines into practice and making prevention a shared responsibility.
