By J Ranga Rao | Project Leader
ASSIST is execting "Combating the problem of Child Labour and promoting education to all the Children" project in the Piduguralla Region of Andhra Pradesh, South India. Since, Piduguralla is having hundrends of lime industries, children are being sent to these industries intead of school. Eventually, more number of children are becoming to Child Labourers. At this juncture, ASSIST is providing free educaiton, free clothing and teaching and learning material to the children who are engaged in these lime industries. ASSIST is providing education through the following methods.
1. Residential Study Complex
A Residential Study Complex was already established to cater the needs of 200 children coming from difficult situations, the most prone to be sent to work in the lime industry, to assure them the possibility to grow up in a safe and green environment with all the facilities. Regarding this task, ASSIST intends to keep running this Residential Study Complex with the same number of children. In addition, non-residential centres for 200 children more will be run in the villages where the centres have already been established.
2. Transitional Education Centres:
Promoting the children’s enrolment and their regular attendance to school is fundamental to prevent child labour and to assure their proper development. Five Transitional Education Centres (TECs) have been started for the rehabilitation of 200 non-school going children between the age group from 5 to 14. Once parents and their children are convinced, these children are withdrawn from the work and are admitted into these centres, which are acting as bridge schools for the working children and schools dropouts. These ones can develop their skills and abilities through non formal methods and subsequently, in a quite short period of time, they are ready to be mainstreamed. These centres are often started and managed by the members in the villages, to better cater children’s need, and they will raise funds from People’s Organizations.
3. Supportive Assistance to School Children:
Once children are ready to be mainstreamed, the inadequacies of the basic infrastructures in the public institutions often represent a great obstacle to them to continue their studies. Schools are child/parent friendly. For this reason, ASSIST identified strengthening school infrastructures as one of the main activities to promote the children’s enrolment and to reduce the percentage of drop-outs. Around 1,000 children studying in Government schools will be also provided with school bag and note books in addition to the support being extended by the local Government as these are the identified gaps. In addition, the next step is to concentrate on teachers’ training and to improve the quality of education to compete with the corporate schooling overriding the Government schools. Since the cream layer of the qualified teachers are in the Government schools, it is not that difficult but there is need to motivate and encourage the teachers to utilise their skills, knowledge and talents to the optimum level for the betterment of their children.
By J Ranga Rao | Project Leader
By J Ranga Rao | Project Leader
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