Saving childhood : Veeru's story in India
"I was lucky I was just washing cars. There are other children in much more dangerous trades, where one mistake could mean tattered limbs,” said Veeru.
The 17-year-old's young face masks a solemn demeanor. Tempered by the hardships he has faced since the age of eight, Veeru has experienced more life on the streets than most adults will over the course of a lifetime.
Schooling was never an option for Veeru, let alone a topic of discussion with his impoverished parents. Fortunately, he was rescued from child labour by Save the Childhood Movement, an NGO founded by educator and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
Veeru’s life has markedly improved since arriving at Bal Ashram, a long-term rehabilitation centre that is part of Satyarthi’s efforts to integrate street children into formal classrooms.
The Indian government acknowledged the fundamental right to education, regardless of age or socioeconomic status, when it passed the Right to Education Act (RTE) in 2009.
UNESCO reports that the implementation of the law has since helped tens of millions of children between the ages of six and 14 access primary education. India has made large strides in achieving universal primary school education, and according to the latest EFA Global Monitoring Report it is the only country in South Asia to have an equal ratio of female to male students in primary schools. However, many students continue to drop out of secondary school. Poverty is the main reason, causing families in rural and urban areas alike to push their adolescent children to work.
According to the Indian Census Board, at least 21 million Indians between the ages of five and 19 are working.
In a context with mixed results at best and disparate experiences for children based on their economic backgrounds, cultural norms, gender and access to education, Lakshmi, a 14-year-old girl living in a slum community of South Delhi tries to manage between work and school.
According to UNESCO's latest Global Monitoring Report, India is winning the race in reducing its out of school children and has achieved universal primary education. But education at higher levels remains a hurdle, especially for female students.
At the young age of 14, Lakshmi, who lives in a slum in South Delhi, manages between her job as a domestic maid and attending the local public school.
A small NGO called Lakshyam provides supplemental education to girls in this slum to make up for the dearth of resources at their formal school.
While India has made remarkable progress in achieving gender parity in education at primary levels, adolescent girls are often not afforded the same rights as boys for higher education.
Due to dire poverty, families often send their children to work instead of school. Child labour is a driving reason for students dropping out after primary schooling.
In order to address gender disparities in access to education, the Indian Government started the Pratham Open School of Education as a 'second chance initiative' that reaches young girls and women. Millions have been educated through this scheme.
Attitudes towards education for women have gradually changed in India, with more opportunities for girls in comparison to their mothers, especially in urban contexts.
Lakshmi hopes to become a police officer to tackle "rampant corruption" in her country and to "protect the voiceless."
Child Labour and Child Marriage are major obstacles in achieving literacy in India - both in rural and urban contacts. Educators like Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi have called for a total ban on both with strict application of the law against offenders.
Lakshmi's teacher Nazma, also from the same slum community, hopes that newer generations of girls will achieve high levels of education, progressing to attend university.
Retaining students in schools will require social progress in communities where families view education as an investment that yields multifold benefits and income in the long term.
Girls continue to drop out of school at higher levels because of lack of basics such as toilets for female students.
Like most of her friends, Lakshmi faces social pressure to be married off. Her teachers and social activists have been trying to educate families in these communities on the benefits of a high school diploma.
Meanwhile, many others are stranded on the streets without any support or protection and do not officially exist in the census records.
For a first-timer walking through the streets of Delhi, Mumbai or any other major Indian city, the number of children on the streets often comes as a shock. Sometimes on their own, sometimes in groups and at other times running after moving vehicles with their faces pressed against windows, they belong to a population that is officially unaccounted for. Often not part of the official statistics, they are the most inaccessible demographic.
These street children, who often beg, work in the diamond industry, weave carpets or sell small items, are lucrative sources of income for destitute families and third-party agents, who organise their labour and often exploit them.
We encountered Raju, a 12-year-old abandoned by his mother, at a public park in New Delhi. He calls the New Delhi railway station his home, and India Gate, a national monument and popular tourist location, his workplace. Unlike other children his age who sell small items to make money, Raju simply walks up to strangers, explains his destitution to them and asks for food, money or clothing.
Although the Right to Education Act has helped to boost enrollment rates, the quality of education offered by India’s schools must also be addressed. When education leads to employment and students and their families are able to see the lifelong benefits that schooling offers, they will naturally want to continue pursuing their studies at higher levels, and will be less inclined to drop out.
Educators and rights activists in India have called upon the government to present education as an investment, and offer families financial support so that their children may complete their schooling. Most agree that economic and social empowerment of communities is the only foundation upon which progressive educational initiatives can be built.
Such initiatives have borne tangible success. The Indian Government's Pratham Open School of Education is a second chance initiative to reach young girls and women.
The National Institute of Open Schooling, often called the world's largest open school offers open basic education programmes’ for 14 years and older to over 2.2 million students.
As Satyarthi explains, “Families must be able to see how education materialises into opportunities for their children. Only then will we see enrollment at higher levels and degree-seeking students.”
Video and photos by Iason Athanasiadis
Copyright UNESCO/Iason Athanasiadis
Produced and written by Preethi Nallu
