About 350 children, all studying at the special centres in the district for rehabilitated child workers and coming from economically weaker families, had a day full of games, cultural programmes, and awareness talks for Children’s Day here on Tuesday.
The children were also treated to a special lunch, including cake and ice cream.
According to D. Vijayakumar, director of National Child Labour Project, in the day-long programme, K. Arul, additional director of Industrial Safety and Health, urged the students to make use of the government schemes, focus on studies, and continue going to school. V. Lavanya, lawyer, spoke on child rights.
The children exhibited their creativity on using locally available materials to create educational resources. They displayed projects, chart works, and vegetable sculptures. A team from Gem Hospital demonstrated and educated the students on hygiene. Games that will improve the focus of children were distributed to the special centres. The afternoon session was for cultural programmes put up by the children, and magic show.
The NCLP runs 30 special schools in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts, educating over 800 students. The Children’s Day programme was fully supported by private organisations and companies through financial and material resources, he said.
The District Child Protection Unit, Coimbatore, Care Trust, and Government Higher Secondary School, Vettaikaranpudur, organised an awareness rally at Vettaikaranpudur in which about 200 students took part.
This was followed by an awareness programme on child safety, according to a press release.
