The NEED
 


The education infrastructure is quite poor despite the government being the largest provider of education with only 10% of primary schools owned by the private sector. Huge gaps remain between the rural and urban areas, and the probability of getting any education sharply depends on gender, caste and income.

Statistics and facts on Education and Health

 
°
17 million children in India work as child labourers
 
°
Roughly 35 million children aged between 6-14 years do not attend school
  
°
53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 are illiterate. The literacy ratio of India is 65.38% with male literacy at 75.85% and female literacy at 54.16%.
  
° Domestic workers, especially children, are paid well below minimum wage and are discriminated against
° Labour laws do not cover workers and children in domestic work.  Children are most vulnerable and helpless in front of such employers
° 2 million children die before their first birthday due to lack of immunization and medical facilities
° More than 50% of India’s children are malnourished

And to this end our objectives are:
° Get to the root cause of child labour which is poverty, marginalization and migration, amidst a host of other issues and observe the situations that force children to work
° Educate the parents about their basic rights
°

Evolve a sustainable child support system

° Provide free education and meals to children from orphanages

Our research findings and measures adopted over the years….

We have raised serious policy concerns with the State Education board via ‘Kusma’ an association with 3000 school members, to safeguard and improve the lives of these children.

Our trained teachers keep a vigilant eye over children behaving abnormally, and who are depressed or unusually quiet. These affected children are counseled regularly to overcome fears and are treated and nurtured with compassion.

Literacy eventually enables children to become self-reliant and help develop life skills.