KATHMANDU, Sept 7 - To minimize corporal punishment in schools, the government, with the support of Save the Children Norway (SCN), has prepared a special training package for government school teachers. Speaking at an interaction on 'Corporal punishment: violation of child's rights in school,' organized by Sancharika Samuha and SCN, Indra Bahadur Shrestha, director of Education and Human Resource Development Center (EHRDC) said, "We'll start the training from September 11." He said no teachers' training had focused on the consequences of corporal punishment in the past. "However, the new package will not only train teachers about the negative impacts of such punishment, but will also train them about alternative punishments that can guide students," Shrestha added. According to him 25 to 30 representatives from nine EHRDC branch offices throughout the country will be trained as master trainers in the beginning. The same trainers will later provide training to 800 other trainers, who will gradually train all other government school teachers. He also said EHRDC was ready to provide training package to private schools free of cost since the issue of corporal punishment is not just limited to government schools. "We hope the new training package will give alternatives to corporal punishment," said Nupur Bhattacharya of SCN adding, "This will finally help in children's development, besides ensuring their rights."