Campaign Story
About the project
The closure of 1.5 million schools due to the pandemic and the resultant lockdowns has affected millions of children in India. While the repeated lockdowns had stalled economic activity and pushed more families into poverty, the situation also took a toll on the education of children and heightened the risk of drop-out of school thereby undoing years of effort to break inter-generational cycles of deprivation. Children have been at heightened risk of exploitation, especially since school closures have not only precluded many from access to education but also from a main source of shelter and nourishment. In some of our operational areas we saw an increase in child labor of more than 200% during the last two years. The Covid-induced situation has also resulted in a spike in child marriages.
Making a difference
The Child and Adolescent Resource Centre (CARC) Programme is specifically designed to cater to the needs of children between the ages of 6 to 18 years who are at risk of dropping out of the school system and are vulnerable to child marriage, trafficking, and child labor. The program has various aims, including the retention of motivation levels and positivity about education amongst children to prevent them from dropping out of school. It also focuses on building the agency of children through life skills and sports to promote their well-being and confidence to pursue their aspirations and recover from losses. Another critical aim of the program is to transform parents’ and caregivers’ mindset regarding the importance of education and the value of protecting their children. Additionally, the program aims to reinforce informed and aware community vigilance and action to protect children and influence government mechanisms to function optimally for the care and protection of children at all levels from village to state.
The way forward
● Working with 4927 children across 23 centers
● Provide study support and bridge classes for grade 6 to 12 students
● Provide class appropriate books, teaching aid and workbooks
● Facilitate digital education to children from 9th to 12th grade
● Conduct life skill sessions with children and adolescents for overall mental, cognitive and emotional development
● Career guidance & skill programs for 10th and 12th graders
● Enable transformation of parents and caregivers with regard to the importance of education
● Influence government mechanisms to function optimally for the care and protection of children at all levels
● Conduct sessions on internet safety to keep the children away from cyber crime
● Organise sessions to link children and adolescents with the scholarship programs and government schemes
● Encourage open forum for parents to share parenting experience and discuss effective parenting strategies
● Conduct regular meetings with the village-level stakeholders in favour of child protection and education
● Conduct awareness campaign to protect children from child trafficking, sexual abuse, child labor, and child marriage
Project Impact
4,927
Children impacted
95%
Children attending schools regularly
3402
Children enrolled in digital education sessions
2592
Children enrolled in online safety sessions
2447
Children & adolescent in collectives
5490
Children engaged in recreational activities
2515
Children and adolescents linked with vocational courses
Last Year’s Grant Disbursed (Jan to Dec, 2023) – $297,425
