When the SSLC results were declared earlier this week, it was restoration of hope for 365 students who had all but given up.
Either failed in previous attempts or dropped out of schools due to their circumstances, among them were even drug junkies, abused, fated to hard labour and those in danger of being lured into the world of crimes.
Coming to their rescue was Hope, a programme being implemented under social policing initiative of the Kerala Police with the help of the NGO Mission Better Tomorrow (MBT). Since it was launched in 2017 by IGP P. Vijayan, when he was in charge of the Ernakulam Range, over 2,500 students from various police districts across the State have benefited from the programme.
“The range had about 8,000 goondas at that time and it was found that most of them were either school dropouts or victims of abuse. Thus was born the programme, which could be described as pre-emptive policing aimed at motivating those teetering on the verge of the world of crime and hand-holding them back to a life of hope, thus getting rid of potential criminals,” said Mr. Vijayan.
Bridge course
A bridge course was offered under the programme to help them scale the gap since they left the world of learning. They were also given skill development training enhancing their employability. “Now, we plan to engage them for voluntary work in palliative care units and homes of the intellectually challenged. For them, it's about returning something to society,” he said.
Ananda Mani, coordinator for MBT in Kozhikode, said that the initiative had not only helped to mainstream the children but helped to improve their familial circumstances through group counselling. The only three to fail out of the 55 prepared under Hope had failed only in a single subject.
Buoyed by the success of the programme, MBT now plans to scale up the programme beyond Kerala.
