VELLORE: In the 15-18 years age group, 40-50 per cent of the children are dropping out of schools despite State governments claiming to provide them necessary support, said R Vidyasagar, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, now United Nations Children’s Fund).
These drop-outs become child-labourers denying themselves access to quality education and professional skills, he added.
He made these remarks while addressing a two-day workshop on ‘Child Rights Implementation with a focus on Child Protection Issues’, which began on Monday at VIT University (VIT) campus, jointly organised by VIT and UNICEF .
Vidyasagar said, “As part of their secondary education, children must be given life-development skills and child’s-rights skills, which will help protect them as children.”
Policy changes are necessary to prevent dropout rates and to ensure that children acquire life-development skills in addition to developing the necessary confidence to protect themselves from various forms of abuse, he said.
With the percentage of India’s young population soon to be the highest in the world by 2020, this geographic dividend will only be a windfall if the serious issues children are facing in India are resolved favourably, he said. Unless youngsters are equipped to meet the ever-increasing demand for skilled manpower industrial sectors of India will continue to lag behind other countries
“Developing and strengthening the vocational streams of education, integrating them with the curriculum, should (be a priority) for educational institutions and necessary policies should be introduced by the government,” he said, adding, “(With) 42 per cent of children in India (being) victims of child marriage, this (results directly in rises in)infant mortality and maternal mortality (rates). The survival, development, protection and participation of children is critical (for the nation to develop).”
Vidyasagar continued that, “In the absence of valid data on child abuse, a public reporting mechanism is required. Ways to make schools child-friendly, saving children from the negative impact of communication technologies are big challenges,” he said.
VIT Chancellor, G Viswanathan while mentioning VIT’s tying up with UNICEF to increase awareness of child-related issues is a first, added that children are the wealth and the future of this country, , with two crore children being added to the Indian population every year.
Therefore,the child population should be protected, nourished and equipped with necessary skills to make India stronger.
Students from several colleges in and around Vellore district, NGO representatives and experts are participating in the two-day meet.
The two day long workshop, which is jointly organised by VIT and the UNICCEF is aimed at dealing with issues such as child-labour, child-abuse and legal frameworks.
These are objectives that apply to children’s rights and corporate social responsibility on child development, ethics and values will be discussed in the workshops.
