They had a lot of questions and patience was the key. Around 150 students from various Vigilance Committees of schools in the city came together at the Regional Science Centre in Kozhikode on Monday to grill some of the eminent personalities of the district on a variety of topics.
The place was the open forum organised by Childline on the occasion of International Child Rights Day, marking an end to the week-long ‘Childline Se Dosthi’ campaign. Deputy Excise Commissioner P.K. Suresh, Sub Judge and Secretary of District Legal Services Authority M.P. Jayaraj, Director of the science centre V.S. Ramachandran, Deputy Director of Education E.K. Suresh Kumar, Regional Transport Officer C.J. Paulson and president of Kerala Union of Working Journalists Kamal Varadoor attended the event.
Earlier, V.P.M. Mather, guest faculty at Ghent University in Belgium, delivered the keynote address.
The guests explained to the children their line of work and the basics of it based on which the children started shooting questions from the very beginning. Laws concerning children, punishments, courts, the Constitution and rights of children were discussed on the occasion. Influence of drugs and technology seemed to be a major concern for many of the Vigilance Committee volunteers.
Meanwhile, the Police Department familiarised children with the working of the department to mark International Child Rights Day. Student Police Cadets had a field day at the Town Police station in Kozhikode where experienced personnel provided them practical lessons on various aspects of running a police station.