Because every child has rights

Educationists and policy-makers from 11 states along with UNICEF representatives met to discuss various issues concerning children

Because every child has rights

Educationists and policy-makers from 11 states along with UNICEF representatives met to discuss various issues concerning children

Even in the age of social network and digital classrooms, child rights are an issue in our country, being pondered, sorted and worked on.

ACtion plan:u00a0 Amod K Kanth, Chairperson, DCPCR, addressing the
delegates at the conference

In an endeavour to safeguard the rights of children, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), set up in 2008 by a Parliamentary Act, organised a national conference recently where educationists and policy-makers from 11 states along with representatives from UNICEFu00a0 put forth their views on various issues concerning children and education.

Introducing the theme of the programme, Amod K Kanth, Chairperson, DCPCR, said the National Commission as well as the State Commissions are legally bound to protect the rights of children and they should not hesitate to use their autonomy to serve that purpose.

They have the power to intervene in cases of corporal punishment, misbehaviour, exploitation, child labour, trafficking and sexual harassment. However, the good part is that the commissions at the state and national levels are empowered by the Act of Parliament. They are not governmental departments, but autonomous bodies to monitor and ensure that all policies and programmes of government are in harmony with the Child Rights laws.

The commission looks after the interests of children and devises strategies to deal with the problem areas. "From 2008 till date, DCPCR has recorded 10,626 complaints against child rights and have been able to sort out around 6,000 of them, which is quite an achievement," said Kanth.

Addressing the gathering, Prof Krishna Kumar, Director NCERT (National Council for Educational Research and Training), said education is as much a cultural goal as it is an academic one. "When it comes to rights of children there are numerous issues involved as children cannot have a voice of their own. The state is aware of the faults in the system, but is scared of society. It doesn't want to confront the societal norms directly, which to the youth might look too slow," he added.

u00a0According to UNICEF, 40 % of children in the age group of 11-19 years have never been to school. Since they cannot approach the court to fight for their rights, they are meant to be looked after by others. Thirty five million children are still in need of care and protection in Delhi alone. Half a million of them are working in Delhi in all kinds of sectors while more than 25 children get lost every year in the city. Only 14 laws till date deal withu00a0 violation of child rights, which need to be modified and more laws are needed to be made.

"I think child rights is a sensitive area and needs the participation of guardians, teachers, law-makers and other involved agencies. UN is one such agency which is doing its bit for the issue, but each state in the country should have its own monitoring agency to bring out any change in the existing scenario," said Urmila Srakar, representative, UNICEF.

Key Areas to be worked on:
* Suggest legal safeguards for protection of child rights and recommend measures
* Enquire into violations of child rights
* Examine Rights of Children affected by terrorism, violence, disaster, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, maltreatment, exploitation, pornography and prostitution, recommend remedial measures.
* Children in need of care and protection, marginalised, disadvantaged, juveniles in conflict with law and children of prisoners
* Monitoring and implementation of Right to Education
* Monitor cases of rescuing and rehabilitation of children