Posted On: 2022-04-08 23:55:37
India's current population is 1.4 billion people as of April 3, 2022, with more than 12.9 million children under the age of sixteen. Despite having a national policy for compulsory primary child education in India and a child labour policy, more than 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school. The expression "Children are the nation's future" no longer makes sense! Indeed, it sounds like a foreboding prophecy. How else can we explain why, 60 years after India's independence, half of the country's children are illiterate? Despite having one of the world's largest school networks and identifying primary child education as the main thrust area?
Let us understand the main reasons why there is such a huge gap in dropouts
Poverty Accessibility and Availability:
One of the main reasons for the country's illiteracy is Poverty. Education nowadays is costly which is equal to survival. Therefore, many parents opt out of the option of education to fulfill the stomachs of their families.
The government has not made any arrangements to settle these people. Therefore there is no place for the students to study. In some of the schools, students from grades one to seven have just a single classroom and all other classrooms are occupied by people.
Excessive academic pressure from school and parents:
Many kids drop out of school due to their inability to cope with academic pressure and crippling anxiety. Many parents have high expectations for their children and fail to consider the children's abilities and interests. Children are compelled to enroll in classes in which they have no interest and, as a result, never complete the course and, in most cases, fail. Some of them succumb to drunkenness and drug addiction, such cases are witnessed where the children are from poor backgrounds.
The School
Infrastructure plays an important role in building character development in children. When classrooms are in proper conditions, schools have good resources like labs, libraries, playrooms, and art rooms, children are excited and motivated to attend school and most importantly there will be fewer dropouts. Many schools do not provide enough guidance and counselling. The curriculum does not correspond to the demands of the students. Individual student learning styles are ignored when passive instructional tactics are used. Teachers are not up to date on the most up-to-date teaching, learning, and technology practices. Teachers with the least classroom experience and training are frequently allocated to the most challenging schools.
The importance of a girl’s education is still not understood
Educating girls is still a topic of discussion, as most parts of India still believe education is for boys and girls are born to be at home. The taboo "What good can a girl do after going to school" is still around and because of this many girls' children have to drop out of school.
Kids Working as daily wagers
Another major reason is children working as labourers instead of being students. mainly because of the finance issue or whatever the reason might be, children work as waiters, street vendors, tea vendors or do any odd jobs from which they can earn little. Despite the "Child labour" law around 12 million children still work.
Toilet Hygiene
Toilet hygiene plays an important role in maintaining the children's attendance, especially girls. If the toilets are hygienic and proper, students would feel safe attending the school. Proper sanitation is necessary otherwise it can lead to the spread of disease and unhygienic habits.
What has Filaantro done to improve on these points?
Filaantro has raised many campaigns online to improve education quality.
Students are the pillars of the coming future and every child has the right to education. With this belief, Filaantro raised more than Rs. 2.5 lakhs for Lady Willingdon Girls Higher Secondary School, Triplicane.
Lady Willingdon Girl’s Higher Secondary School, Triplicane is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is a 108-year-old government school building that requires renovation and construction on an urgent basis. It was on the verge of collapse, the compound walls have collapsed multiple times but luckily no one was injured as the school was closed for the summer vacation. These children were not able to study in uncomfortable conditions and there is a possibility of getting hurt from the broken furniture and the damaged infrastructure. Lights and electrical wires may get damaged through the water leaks that were present, leading to short circuits. A lack of access to proper sanitation amenities poses a huge obstacle to education as children frequently miss school due to hygiene-related illnesses. Toilets and proper washing stations can help stop the spread of many diseases such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fever. The girl children were usually shy and due to the absence of functional or usable toilets, these girls then drop out of school. With the raised amount the school was renovated and with the new changed infrastructure, the school witnessed more education than ever.
Similarly, Hemachandra Simanta Sanskrit Vidyalaya needed funds to renovate and build toilets. With the help of Filaantro, they started a campaign and raised 50 thousand, the construction has started and with this change admission of students looks promising.
Shramik Kisan Seva Samiti is an educational society founded by well-known social worker Mr Nandkumar D. Mohite, who raised a campaign with the main objective of building an institute to spread secondary and higher education, motivate the students of the rural area towards higher education and spread the importance of English and to improve social, economic, educational, cultural and political background, They wish to expand these dreams by constructing its various educational activities for the rural masses. In the campaign, they were able to raise more than 80 thousand and are still raising more. You can support this dream of building the youth of our nation. Click here to support.
Welfare society for Destitute children started a mission One Village, One Teacher (OVOT). OVOT is one of the key projects to improve local education facilities in villages. As part of the project, the Welfare Society for Destitute Children supports students with a local teacher from grade 1 to 10 in the village, so that the children irrespective of their caste or creed or financial status get access to this new study support in the village itself. Though it was started with one teacher in one village, soon the number of teachers increased in each village up to three. Students who enroll in OVOT are given Scholarships from the 11th standard onwards so that they can continue with their further studies till the completion of graduation. Support them so that the children can have their basic right to education.
These mentioned are some of the many campaigns that are raised online for the 12.9 million children who have ZERO access to education. You too can start a campaign today. Just click here and help millions of these kids’ futures. Filaantro is an online crowdfunding platform that supports many causes. Education is one of the most important causes. Every child should be able to enjoy, learn and grow in school. As these experiences build a better character. Support NOW!!
The purpose of education is to make good human beings with skills and expertise.
-APJ Abdul Kalam.
Author : Lubdha Dhanopia
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