The first person to notice, when a child drops out of school and starts working in a neighbourhood dhaba or a garage, is most likely his or her classmate sharing the same bench. A classmate or a schoolmate can also play an active role in bringing such a child back to school.
The pro-active role played by child rights clubs formed in schools to curb child labour is testimony to this. Members of these clubs, formed in schools in 10 districts across Karnataka, have been the grassroots ambassadors of change.
Fr. Joy, director, Bangalore Rural Educational and Development Society, said: “We always look at the problems faced by children from an adult perspective. So it is important to understand what children feel about their own problems or the problems faced by their friends, brothers and sisters.”
The Hindu caught up with some children who found a way out of their hellish workplaces with help from friends in child rights clubs.
Now a leader
Bheemappa, a student of class 8 in the government school at Abbetumkur village near Yadgir, heads the school’s Child Rights Club. But for the efforts of other children in his school who were part of the same club in 2014, he would still have been a domestic help.
When he was 12, Bheemappa was forced to drop out of school by his parents. The 18 students of the club, who got alerted to this, went to his home to persuade his father to change his mind. It was not easy but they finally succeeded after persistent efforts.
“It was only because of members of the club that I could go back to school,” he said.
RTE ambassadors
Jamini Bai (10), Paru Bai (11), Kaveri (10), Bhagya (10), and Ratna Bai (10), studying in Ambedkar Government High School in Ballari, were till one-and-a-half years ago left to do household work and gather firewood in their tanda in Hosapete when the elders went to harvest sugarcane elsewhere in the State and in Tamil Nadu. Education was not even a distant dream.
With the help of Child Helpline and volunteers of the NGO BOSCO, now they are back in school. The girls have now taken it upon themselves to ensure that all children of their community get education and their elders are made aware of the Right to Education Act. “We hope going to school brings us a better future,” said Jamini.
Bold move
Pallavi belonged to a troubled household with an alcoholic father and a helpless mother at Bhimanahalli in Kalaburagi district. This meant not being able to go to school and ending up doing housework and menial jobs around the village.
In March 2016, fed up with the way of her father, Pallavi went to the police and demanded that they take action. She was relocated to a girls’ hostel in Kalaburagi and was given three months’ coaching before she joined a government school in the same district. She said she was interested in going to school, but circumstances at home forced her into doing menial jobs for very less money.
When threats worked
Nagaraja was barely 12 when he was forced to work in a farm at Devanahalli. He was involved in taking care of the cattle and other work on the farmland. Bhoomika (16), who was in the Child Rights Club at the government school in Devanahalli, spotted him.
She, along with other children of the club, approached the farm owner and kept persuading him to send Nagaraja to school. When they failed, they brought their headmaster and teachers along.
This time, they made sure the farm owner knew the possible legal consequences of making Nagaraja work. Fearing consequences, the owner finally allowed Nagaraja to join the same school as Bhoomika’s.
