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CARING
CHILDREN
FOCUS AREAS
In recent years, CRY has been actively
involved in emerging issues such as
JUVENILE JUSTICE
Till last year, India could boast of one of
the most progressive acts for juveniles
that stressed on their reformation and
reintegration into society, according to CRY.
However, the act that came into force in
January 2016 allows young children to be
tried as adults in over 46 offences under
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other
Acts. This, in CRY’s view, will only lead to
an increase in the number of such cases,
adding to the existing burden on Juvenile
Justice Boards (JJBs).
name including nationality, nutrition,
health, development of education, care,
leisure and recreation; protection from
exploitation, abuse and neglect; and
participation in expression, information,
thought and religion. CRY draws
inspiration from UNCRC to focus on the
basic rights of “survival, development,
protection and participation” and works
towards guaranteeing the same to street
children, bonded child labourers,
children of commercial sex workers,
physically and mentally challenged
children, children in juvenile
institutions, and even children in
privileged homes.
CRY goes about doing this in three
stages. First, it identifies the most
marginalised communities and their
children and tries to understand the
entire gamut of issues affecting them.
Second, it arrives at the root cause of
deprivation faced by these children that
could be gender or caste-based
discrimination; lack of a means of
livelihood forcing children into labour;
or forced displacement/migration
causing children to drop out of school.
Last, the NGO, along with its partners,
mobilises the local community to find
long-term solutions to these problems.
EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
Despite various Government of India
schemes addressing health, nutrition and
development needs of young children (0
to 6 years), pregnant women, and nursing
mothers, India is one of the highest ranking
countries in the world in terms of children
suffering from malnutrition with an abysmal
performance on child nutrition indicators.
CRY strongly recommends that nutrition,
health and care be provided to children
as entitlements, and nutrition security be
addressed with the utmost urgency.
EARLY EDUCATION
CRY recognises that the first step to
education is a strong foundation and
therefore works to ensure that all boys and
girls, especially those aged between three
and six years, get access to quality early
development and pre-primary education.
Top to bottom: Community training at a
CRY-supported project in UP; pre-school
education in Dakshinpuri, Delhi; and
children at a primary school in Mirzapur, UP
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION POLICY
The Government of India plans to introduce
a new National Policy on Education
(NPE) to meet the population’s changing
educational needs. Given that the country
is home to over 400 million children,
it is extremely important that decision
makers across the board work together
to ensure that all children enjoy the right
to education. This not only warrants
accountability at every level – be it parents,
teachers, the community or state but also
calls for special attention to be given to
disadvantaged children i.e. girls, who have
higher dropout rates and are more prone to
trafficking, child labour, and child marriage.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
The recently defined “Sustainable
Development Goals and Targets on
Secondary Education” state that by 2030,
all boys and girls must get completely
free, equitable, and quality primary and
secondary education resulting in relevant
and effective learning outcomes. What is
needed to achieve this however is improved
accessibility and availability of secondary
schools; improved public spending for
better transition and retention rates among
children.
PRASHANT PANJIAR (COMMUNITY TRAINING)
110
MAY 2017