Elimination of Child Labour and Restoration of Lost Childhood by Running Residential School in Thiruvallur District, Tamilnadu

III Phase (Sept to Dec ’15) I Year Report

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Head office : 90A Nasarathpet Village, Little Kancheepuram- 631503, Tamil Nadu. Chennai Office : New No.33, Old No.14, 48th Street, 9th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai – 600083, Tamil Nadu. Website : hihindia.org Facebook : facebook.com/hihindia.org

Origin

Hoist Group and Hand in Hand India (HIH) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project to support elimination of child labour by running Residential Special Training Centre for child labourers and long-time dropouts and to implement Social Mobilization Programme (SMP) in R.K Pet, Thiruttani and Pallipet blocks of Thiruvallur District.

Project Objectives

Hoist Group project will focus to work on the following objectives:-

a. Enrolment out-of-school children into mainstream or alternate schools b. Improved awareness within community on child rights, children’s education and gender equity c. Empowerment community to participate in protection of child rights and child development through social mobilization, d. Strengthening Govt. school functioning with active participation of community stakeholders like Panchayat Presidents and elected representatives

The following activities were carried out in the reporting period September to December 2015:- A. Residential Special Training Centre One Residential Special Training Centre (RSTC) at Dhamanery panchayat of R.K Pet block is being run for dropout both boys and girls of Thiruvallur district, Tamilnadu. The strength as on December ’15 is given in the below table:-

S. Block Name Boys Girls Total No 1 R. K. Pet 8 5 13 2 Pallipet 10 5 15 3 Thiruttani 11 13 24 4 Puzhal 8 1 9 5 Cholavaram 15 11 26 Total 52 35 87

These children who are enrolled in the beginning of a new academic year will be mainstreamed in the month of June when they are ready according to their age appropriate

class. These children will either go to govt. schools near their homes or will be put in govt. run free hostels.

CLEP field staff follows and track all mainstreamed children in their schools or institutions where the student study and interacts with its teachers to know student’s performance. CLEP employees also visit student’s family to know their socio-economic status and also to understand the overall well-being of student. CLEP follows all its RSTC students until the child completes 18 years of age. Higher Studies support is also given to some deserving and economically weak students. All this is possible by the presence of committed Social Mobilization Programme team in Thiruvallur district.

We presently have 87 children studying in Dhamanery. Various capacity building programmes were conducted for the RSTC teachers, cooks, In-charges and Supervisors that included introduction to counselling and leadership skills, better delivery of services to children, etc. The following activities were carried out in this reporting period:-

a. Teachers Day

Teacher’s Day (birthday of Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan) is celebrated as Teacher’s Day in India. He was a renowned teacher and first Vice-President of Independent India and Second President of India). was celebrated in Dhamanery th RSTC on 5 September’15. Figure 2: Teachers involved in games RSTC teachers, In charge and Supervisors were honored for their untiring work and commitment towards the welfare of children. Children along with the Social mobilization team planned different programs like Games, Cultural and other activities. Handmade mementos by RSTC children Figure 1: Cake cutting celebration in Teachers Day were presented to teachers. A total of 8 teaching and non-teaching staff were honored in this program and children had good time through this same. Representatives from Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) like Supervisor, Block Resource Trainers (BRTE) were some of the govt. officials other than CLEP staff who had participated in this program.

b. Gandhi Jayanthi

2nd October was celebrated (birthday o Father of Indian Nation Mahatma Gandhi) as Gandhi Jayanthi in Dhamanery RSTC. RSTC children were sensitized on life of “The father of Nation “towards India’s freedom struggle and its development. His life philosophies were oriented to Figure 3: Gandhi Jayanthi celebration children. Various competitions like elocution, essay writing, in Dhamanery drawing and sports activities were organized for children. A total of 95 people including children were benefitted through the program

c. Youth Inspiration Day

Hand in Hand India Child Labour Elimination Program commemorated Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s birthday as “Youth Inspiration Day “on 15th October 2015 (he was a renowned aero scientist and former President of India) who believed that children and youth would turn around Indian nation and we lost him on 27th July.’15 and the entire nation mourned his death. The Govt. of India and State Govt. decided to celebrate his birthday as Youth Inspiration Day from then on to mark /commemorate respect to this Indian legend. Children were sensitized about Dr. Kalam’s history through cultural programs. Tree sapling planting were done to promote natural resources conservation and to inculcate this habit among children. A total of 100 people including children were involved in this program.

d. Child Rights Day:

Universal Child Rights Day was celebrated in all 8 Hand in Hand run RSTCs of Tamilnadu; Children were sensitized about their rights and were oriented on ill- effects of child labour. They were also introduced about Childline 1098 (toll free number for children in need, care and protection) through a short film called

Figure 4: SSA representatives in Dhamanery “Komal”(name of girl character in the short film) RSTC in Child rights day and Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. Various competitions like elocution, drawing and recitation were also conducted during the day.

e. Educational Cum Exposure Visit

As part of academic requirements to improve practical knowledge and exposure of children, 6th to 8th grade students of Dhamanery RSTC were taken to Birla Planetarium, Chennai. They were introduced to astronomical science and technology and solar system.

Other activities in RSTC included festival celebrations like, Christmas, Diwali and important National Days, exposure visits etc.

f. Medical check up

Regular medical Camps are conducted every month and health checkup is done to all children and teachers in RSTC. Special dental camp was organized in September 2015 and treatments like cleaning, root canal and filling were done for children and teachers.

Community Engagement Social Mobilization Programme (SMP) involves a process of bringing community together to address issues that affects them. This process involved creating awareness, enabling community with information and empowering them to bring changes. For this awareness campaigns were organized and community support structures were

developed to sustain outcomes. In this reporting period, Figure 5: Oath taking Pallipet Girls High the following programmes were conducted in project school locations namely R.K Pet, Pallipet and Thiruttani blocks:-

a. World Literacy Day

Hand in Hand India commemorated World Literacy Day 2015 in three project blocks i.e. R.K. Pet, Tiruttani and Pallipet on 8th and 9th Sept.’15. These programmes were designed in accordance with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) theme “Literacy and Sustainable Societies”. Different programs were organized that focused on the need and importance of education and literacy. Events included rallies by students of various government schools and oath taking ceremony. These awareness programs also insisted on child rights and child protection to children in government schools. Awareness sessions motivated Figure 6: School rally for World Literacy Day in students to build their confidence and sensitizing RK. Pet on child rights and child marriage. These sessions were used as a medium to nurture and encourage children to continue schooling, pursue higher studies and develop skills that will give them better livelihood. An oath taking with candle light was part of these events in

govt. schools to promote child literacy. A total of six programs covering 1620 participantse were conducted on the day

b. Child Rights Day

Hand in Hand, India commemorated the Universal Children’s Day as Indian Child Rights Day from 23rd to 30th Nov.’15. The seven day program focused on sensitizing the community on importance of education and need to propagate and protect our children with their rights. Continuous events were planned and conducted in this week by CLEP

Figure 7: Child rights rally in Thiruttani mobilization. Innovative awareness programs like Signature campaigns, Oath to protect child rights were done through specially designed Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials that were distribution in all working panchayats of Kancheepuram district. Hand in Hand India CLEP – staff strategized camps in vantage public places to reach maximum people in communities.

Programs started in Block Development Office and continued in different working locations. Railway stations, Trains, Bus stands, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) offices, Markets, Police Stations, Public Health Centre, Community Hall, Pilgrimage Places, Marriage halls and Schools were some places were this program was staged this year.

School children were given awareness on child protection and Childline 1098 (toll free number for children in need, care and protection) through a short film called “Komal”(name of girl character in the short film). IEC materials on Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RtE), Act and Childline 1098 were distributed among community participants to create Figure 8: child rights day in R.K district administration awareness on these social issues to protect office children.

The week long program was attended by MLA, Block Development Officers (BDOs), Police officers, Tahasildars, Doctors, School Students, Teachers and all others sector people in the community. A total of 20 programs benefiting 3040 people in community were conducted during the project, a symbol of sheer determination and dedication by Hand in Hand CLEP staff who conducted these programmes during torrential rains

c. Meetings: The following table provides details on various types of stakeholder meetings and community members participation in these meetings conducted between June’15 to Aug.’15. During the project period Child Labour Elimination Programme (CLEP) staff initiated 515 meetings benefitting 12711 stakeholders.

SOCIAL MOBILIZATION PROGRAM S.No Type of Program No. of Programs No. of Participants 1 Parents 3 82 2 Women’s 0 0 3 Youth; (19 to 35) 0 0 4 Children’s Club 0 0 5 Children’s (6 to18) 19 1050 6 CRPC 158 1828 7 Grama Sabha 11 1079 8 VEC/SMC 67 1370 9 PTA 1 20 10 Village 206 6330 11 Cultural 15 705 12 Group Motivation 33 147 13 Community Rally 0 0 14 School Children Rally 2 100 Total 515 12711

Hoist Group Representatives Visit, Dhamanery RSTC

Mr. Andreas Larsson and Mrs. Emelie Eriksson from Hoist Group visited the Dhamanery RSTC on 2nd Nov.’15. They spent a day with the children at Dhamanery, interacted with children and Teachers of Dhamanery Figure 9 Hoist Group Team with Children and Staff of Dhamanery RSTC RSTC to understand the centre activities & teaching methodology used to teach children. The visitors had lunch with children and spent quality time that made children happy. Our children welcomed them with a welcome dance, followed by reciting welcome note, Head office : 90A Nasarathpet Village, Little Kancheepuram- 631503, Tamil Nadu. Chennai Office : New No.33, Old No.14, 48th Street, 9th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai – 600083, Tamil Nadu. Website : hihindia.org Facebook : facebook.com/hihindia.org

interaction with children; assess children learning levels and going around to see facilities in the RSTC. Mr. Andreas Larsson and Mrs. Emelie Eriksson distributed gifts and learning materials to the children. The team also met the Child Rights Protection Committee (CRPC) volunteers in a nearby village to understand their work and contribution to children’s education in their villages.

Figure 10 Interaction with CRPC volunteers

RSTC Child Case Study K. Priyadarshini aged 13 years, Sholavaram Priyadarshini has never dreamt of school or classrooms in her life. Her life was confined to four walls of her house, where she used to do household chores and cooking to help her mother. Moreover she used to spend time to take care of her younger brother, while her mother worked as daily wage labour. Later HIH staff identified her and enrolled in Dhamanery RSTC, where she learnt to read letters and then read complete sentence in Tamil with ease. She is currently doing 8th grade in Dhamanery RSTC and aims to become a doctor.