From Street to School

Summary

The total child population of Bahraich out of school is currently 18%, (ASER, 2010 and Pratham estimates) and approximately 60% of these children are engaged in some form of labour, whether working on their family farm or employed elsewhere.Pratham's PCVC programme contributes to breaking such cycles of child poverty by mitigating against rising levels of child exploitation and forced migration in the region.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

We started working in the slums of Mumbai in 1994 with the mission of "Every Child in School and Learning well" focusing on making quality education accessible to all children. While working on this mission, Pratham came across many children who were found to be in different kinds of difficult circumstances. Many of the children in the city worked as child labourers in industries like zari, leather, gold polishing, hotels, rag pickers and some of them were street children.

How will this project solve this problem?

Strengthen child protection laws in India by working closely with the Government and with the local authorities and civil society groups. To raise awareness on protection of child rights by working at a grassroots level and bringing issues of child protection into focus by participating at a community level; thereby creating a cadre for child protection using existing community/village mechanisms. To mainstream primary aged children into formal education & prevent children from dropping-out.

Potential Long Term Impact

The primary goal of the project is to successfully implement the project across the selected areas, and share our learning, findings, data, etc. with key public and private institution concerned. The purpose is to encourage the Government to replicate the model across all districts of Uttar Pradesh and the project to become part of national education policy.

Project Message

Thanks to PCVC for taking me out of work and giving me my childhood back.
- Sainath, Grade 3 student

Resources