Mahbubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, India, where RDS's projects are based, is a drought prone area of the state. The drought conditions force the population to migrate, in search of livelihood to the other districts and big cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai etc. where they are trapped and forced to join anti social elements like sex workers. Many of them contract diseases like HIV-AIDS and when they return home, they are isolated from the society and most of them end there life, committing suicide. This forced migration also leads to children leaving school and supplementing their family income by working as labourers for a pittance. Education is definitely not a priority among the migrants; moreover facilities and infrastructure for education is poor. Government school registers show a 100% enrollment but it is seen that barely 50% of the children attend classes regularly. The attendance of the teachers at these schools is irregular too, and in most cases it is a single teacher who handles the classes in the village schools. Industries are very few and the major industry is mining, slate production and hotels. Children are employed in the slate industry and in agriculture. The children work in chili and cotton fields too. Most of these children are employed, and even when they are not working outside their homes, they must do domestic chores and look after siblings. Typically, they have dropped out of school, or in some cases, never attended one.RDS works to eliminate child labour through a participatory approach in the rural interior of Andhra Pradesh. RDS organises people to solve their problems through collective action, to channelize the energies of women and youth towards development initiatives, and to provide education and health facilities with a focus on children and women. RDS began working with Unemployed villagers, counseling them on the benefits of having the children attend school. RDS conducts campaigns and seminars in villages, where the children are motivated and helped, to enroll them in school. The children’s progress and success encourage the parents to remove their other siblings from the work force and enroll them in the school too.
RDS's initiatives
RDS's initiatives
- Balwadi education centers or the Pre-Primary Centers are organised and conducted in villages where they follow the Montessori form of education. Training is organised for the teachers who manage the balwadis. Apart from education, to address the issue of malnutrition these children receive mid-day meals.
- The Non Formal Education (NFE) programme was implemented to prepare elderly children who have not attended any schools proportionate to there age to join the formal schools.
- In order to strengthen the Village Education Committee (VEC), meetings during the year were conducted with each of the VEC in the villages. The meetings with the VECs were helpful in enrolling child labourers into schools. Public meetings were conducted in the villages that focussed on child labour, education issues and migration. Street Theatre Performances, Posters and Display of Banners were used extensively used for the purpose.
- Mothers' are imparted health education in the area of mother and child health care, immunization and family planning. Holding its meeting regularly has strengthened the Mothers' Committee in each of the target villages. Health awareness at the village level has increased over the years. As a result there is a considerable decline in the Infant Mortality Rate [IMR] and Maternal Mortality Rate [MMR] in the target district.
- The village women are involved in the community mobilisation process by forming Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The members are involved in education awareness programmes, education campaigns etc. Continued interaction of RDS staff with SHGs has now ensured that no child of any member is either sent to work or left idle at home. SHG members are very particular about enrolling their children into local schools. SHGs were active in the past year through their regular meetings, savings, and credit and income generation activity.
RDS's efforts in rehabilitating child labourers in the entire district primarily through community participation has shown a positive impact. It is the continued efforts of organisations like RDS that will ensure that children in our country can have a healthy, happy and carefree childhood - the way every child should.