Get them back to school

There are many reasons, including a concern about their safety, which makes children drop out of the education system in India. Anjela Taneja and Seema Rajput elaborate

India ranks 92 among 145 countries when it comes to education according to the Global Report of 2015. A large share of out-of-school children in the age group of six-18 years is from India. Merely 12 per cent schools fulfill India’s Right to Education (RTE) norms. Lack of safe access to school and insensitive school environment are among the key factors contributing to children dropping out especially for children from Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim communities. Children in residential schools and observation homes face multiple forms of violence.

The Government of India has undertaken several initiatives to address these and other challenges. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 recognises the right of a child (6-14 years) to receive protection from physical punishment or mental harassment and foresees disciplinary action for those who may contravene such provisions at various levels. It prescribes the institutionalisation of the grievance redress mechanism where children can register their complaints and expect resolution. To monitor the implementation of the Act, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is the apex body mandated to examine and review the safeguards of children’s rights provided by the Act. It mandates basic infrastructure and facility norms and specifies that all schools have a ‘all weather building’, separate toilets for girls, safe drinking water, prohibition of corporal punishment, special provisions for children with disabilities, and sensitised teachers.

To convert this vision into reality  concrete steps must be taken to ensure that existing laws, policies and guidelines are implemented. This entails three simple but critical steps: strengthen planning mechanisms (backed by necessary and adequate resources) to make all schools and educational institutions safe. These include sensitising policy implementors and frontline providers, providing them with the tools for implementation and putting in place a robust monitoring and grievance redress mechanisms for students. Children should be sensitised to safety and security.

A comprehensive disaster preparedness should be incorporated in the government’s planning and budgeting processes. According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, over 7.7 per cent of classrooms in India currently require major repairs. 2,66,996 schools with an enrollment of 41,323,646 children are in highly risk prone earthquake zones IV and V. A sizable belt across northern India faces floods every year and studies are disrupted as is happening in Kerala. The Ministry of Human Resource Development should have a mechanism to ensure all schools in flood prone areas are identified, steps taken to prevent their flooding, all unsafe buildings are retrofitted and other hazards addressed.

There are other concerns about safety. Four in 10 girls in India currently state that the journey to school is unsafe. Instances of harassment are regularly reported from within school premises. Concrete plans for ensuring the safety of girls within and on the way to school must be planned. This is especially critical in residential schools. Governments must back this commitment to safety with adequate resources.

At the same time, implementation of policies is dependent on the extent to which teachers and other frontline education personnel are aware of appropriate provisions and their capacity to act is ensured. It is, therefore, essential to build a comprehensive understanding amongst teachers on the different domains of safety and security and existing policy and programmatic provisions. Teachers should be equipped to deal with disasters and emergencies. Gender, equity and building leadership skills in children should be integral components of pre and in-service teacher training programmes.

Teachers who are trained and sensitised will ensure that schools are built as safe spaces for children, especially girls, where they can come without hesitation, express their thoughts freely, share their issues and identify solutions through reflective discussions, get opportunities to exercise leadership skills and gradually become empowered individuals.

A sensitive teacher who is aware of the needs of her students and is conscious of the risks and hazards they face would be able to address these barriers. The curricula and textbooks must explicitly provide information on various aspects related to children’s safety and security like physical, social discrimination, emotional, infrastructural, sexual harassment, health and hygiene, neglect of their education and disaster and emergency situations.

Sensitisation of children through education should not be seen in isolation. Schools should have a separate time allotted in the time table for discussion on these issues along with exposure to some videos on special occasions. This aspect should be intertwined in the pedagogy, assessment practices and day to day behaviour of school teachers and staff. School libraries should also be equipped with books and other resource materials that address issues of safety and security, which would help teachers and children to enhance and refresh their knowledge. Other school personnel like helpers, cleaners, secretarial staff and security personnel must also be made sensitive to these issues. Ensuring safety is, furthermore, not a single time activity. The extent of safety in the school environment must be accompanied by efforts to strengthen monitoring mechanisms to ensure that all schools are safe. Education department functionaries and parents must be vigilant in identifying risk factors and report any threats. Monitoring must be accompanied by institutionalising grievance redress mechanisms to ensure that harassment is reported, complaints are satisfactorily addressed and preventive measures taken.  Parents should be made aware of child rights and diverse safety and security issues that children face.

Children themselves have the agency and ability to raise their own issues and this must be strengthened. A focus on safety and security must also be included in school-based leadership platforms. At the same time, their own capacities in disaster risk reduction, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence must be built. Children should also be part of School Management Committees so that their voices are heard.

In the end, all concerned stakeholders like government functionaries, policy makers, education officials, teacher trainers, teachers, school management committees, parents and panchayat/ward members must come together to put in place appropriate measures to ensure the delivery of quality education in a safe and secure environment. A comprehensive national push on safe and secure education will result in a significant reduction in losses due to avoidable disasters and dropout rates, and inculcate in India’s children a sense of well-being.  India, the world’s fastest growing economy, can afford to make the investment necessary to keep its children, especially all its girls, safe.

(Anjela Taneja is technical director, and Seema Rajput is technical specialist at CARE India)