Child Development

REHABILITATION HOME FOR CHILDREN

Despite India’s Commitment towards eradication of child labour and street children there are reported incidents, almost every day, of children being sexually abused, exploited, trafficked which is one of the monstrous evils that need to be eradicated.  RLHP in its own stride has sought to meet challenges through well integrated shelter, outreach and Mass awareness programmes it has succeeded in restoring happy childhood and education to many street children.

With an intention to extend a helping hand for the children those who are losing their rights and lives in streets, RLHP initiated two rehabilitation homes named Ashakirana (Ray of Hope) in 1993 for boys and Ashabhavana (House of Hope) in 1999 for girls. The aim of these home is to provide a safe and healthy environment for children who are parent-less or those who are in difficult circumstances. The integrated rehabilitation care includes food, shelter, life skills, education, yoga, meditation, counselling, games, sports, computer, cultural activates. The two homes strive to give a homely atmosphere, a feeling of “at home” for these children, where they feel free and enjoy their childhood though their active participation. As of now, 2100 children were rehabilitated in these home and many of them reunited with parents and rest of them find better job opportunities with the support of RLHP and lives in harmony.

ERADICATION OF CHILD LABOUR

Right from its inception, RLHP was focused on child right issues. Over the years, the intervention in the area of child labour and child right became more pronounced. In the initial stage of our interventions, the condition of street children and abandoned children were pathetic, they were forced to engage in work and many others in beggary. RLHP has enrolled more than 10000 child labours to schools through various interventions such as awareness campaigns, workshops enrolment jatha, and Non formal education through community participation.

Acknowledging the contribution RLHP made towards eradication of child labour, the CACL –K (Campaign Against Child Labour- Karnataka) at national level honoured RLHP with the responsibility of hosting the national secretariat of CACL from 1999 – 2003. 

CHILDLINE

A phone number (1098) that spells hope for millions of children across India, CHILDLINE is not only responds to the emergency needs of the children but also networking with other similar services for the long-term care and rehabilitation.

CHILDLINE is a platform where the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Department of Telecommunications, Street and Community Youth, Non-Profit Organisations, Academic Institutions, the Corporate Sector and Concerned Individuals joined together for the protection of the Rights of children in general. Nevertheless, CHILDLINE’s prime focus is on the children in need of care and protection which includes; Street Children, Child Labours, victims of exploitation, trafficking, substance abusers, child marriage etc.

RLHP collaborates with CHILDLINE India Foundation at Mysore District since 2010 and organises different programmes like mass awareness, awareness rallies, distributing IEC materials, open house, street play, International Child Helpline day etc. in collaboration with the allied systems. Through these programmes, RLHP has reached out to more than 5 lakh people and oriented them on Child Rights, POCSO Act, Child Abuse, Corporal Punishment, and RTE Act. More than 10000 children rescued and rehabilitated with the support of CWC and other similar departments 

SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATION CENTERS

The prime objective of the Supplementary education centres (SEC) is to improve the quality of education, sustain children’s interest in education, and prevent school dropouts and child labours. To this end, in the year of 2000, RLHP has initiated Supplementary education centers in slums and villages through trained volunteers. More than 25000 children from 5^th to 10^th standard are benefited with these SECs. Apart from the educational support, SECs backing the child for extracurricular activities and trained them according to their interest and potential under the guidance of trained animators.Carrier guidance training programme also organising for the students who completed the 10^th  standard and which will guide the children for a delighted future.

The SECs providing best results for the students in the annual exams. Trained teachers supported the students to achieve the success through regular monitoring and individual care. Last year also the students achieved 86% result in the 10^th standard exams where earlier the students hardly getting below 50%.

LIBRARY PROGRAMME – READING FOR TRANSFORMATION

RLHP initiated school library programme in Govt. Schools, in both the urban and rural areas of Mysore. The essence is to support teaching and learning, fostering reading culture and lifelong learning. The prime focus was to improve the reading habits of the children and to orient them with the power of knowledge and its relevance in their daily living. As we supported the government schools it would help the marginalised children to get a free access to the world of words.  Totally 101 govt. Schools have been supported with library programmes in Mysore, Mandya and Charmarajnagar since 2010.            

Organised orientation programmes on the importance of library for children and school teachers. We supported each school with Books and other infrastructures and also formed a library committee in each of these schools, comprising of children, teachers and SDMC members. In total, 21000 students from 101 govt. schools benefited from this programme. This initiation provides additional support to the children for their project works and personal development.

CHILDREN’S PARTICIPATION

Children have a purpose in their life and we ensure that they are getting the opportunity to do what they wish to do and they must feel that others care for them and they are also important for the society. Participation in school, home and community activities gives them a purpose and also they themselves feel worthy. RLHP extends various training programmes and activities for children to mainstream them especially those who belongs to the marginalised and abandoned children. The children are participating in many groups such as Children clubs, Makkala GramaSabhas, SDMCs, CPC, Community meetings, and local governance and also raised their concerns and queries before the public and become capable enough to obtain their rights from the community.

NEW INITIATIVES ON EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Development through Education Enhancement

Promotion of right to Education & Development through Literacy Enhancement in Slum School Children is a dream project of RLHP. Hence, we monitored 1150 (1^st – 4^th standard) children from the rural areas and out of this, 383 deficit children were identified through individual assessment with the five major domains(Health and Physical Development, Sensory-Motor Development, Play and Cognitive Development, Communication and Literacy Development, Socio-Emotional Development).Classified the selected children into moderate and high risk groups and RLHP implemented a support system for these deficit children with different strategies like, regular PTM meetings, IEP activities, meeting with SDMC members etc. Gradually the percentage of deficit children reduced from 25% to 11.14 % which shows the significance of the support systems.