Each year, an estimated 40 million children are abused; around 150 million girls and 73 million boys have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence. * United Nation’s Violence against Children Study

2 out of every 3 children reported being physically abused. 62% of the reported corporal punishment was reported in government and municipal schools in India * Ministry of women and child development

Presently, punishment as a form of discipline is prevalent and also considered an unavoidable part of growing up. Teachers also feel that they use corporal punishments not to hurt children but to discipline them as they themselves were turned right in the same way by their teachers and parents. Therefore there is no harm in using corporal punishment in schools.

The fact remains that corporal punishment breaches children’s fundamental rights to respect for human dignity and physical integrity. Corporal punishment does not really work. It only creates an environment of fear and distrust between children and teachers and should be replaced by non-violent methods of discipline.

Learn without Fear, Plan’s second global advocacy campaign, is about preventing all forms of violence against children in schools. The vision is to make a world where children can go to school in safety and expect a quality learning experience without fear or threats of violence. To achieve this it is important that first teachers as well as students acknowledge the fact that it is the right of the child to feel safe and protected. Many child rights organizations have been engaged in generating this awareness on children’s rights to protection. The challenge now is to have clear reporting mechanisms in place where children could report any kind of assault or abuse they face in or outside the school and it is appropriately addressed. There is a need to involve teachers, parents teachers associations, students to work together to create an atmosphere of trust and safety in schools.

In order to have reporting mechanisms for children in schools, it is important to have views of likeminded people from various backgrounds like representatives from school, SCERT, NCERT, All India, Primary Teachers’ Federation, Education Ministry, SSA, NGOs, INGOs, NCPCR, State commission etc and strategize to facilitate implementation of guidelines for reporting mechanisms recently issued by the Directorate of Education.

As 20th November is recognized as International Children’ Day, it is the right time to begin thinking on developing reporting mechanisms for children so that they are able to expedite their right to protection. Hence, a state consultation is being organized with the key stake holders for taking these guidelines to schools and strategizing its implementation at school level. Some of the key dignitaries who will be part of this consultation are  Swatantra Bala, Additional Directorate of Education, MCD Shri. Amod Kanth Chairperson DCPCR, Mr. Ram Pal, President All India Primary Teachers’ Federation and Key dignitaries from Ministry of Education

Since the circular issued by the office of Directorate Education on additional guidelines to address corporal punishment in schools, is a very timely intervention from the government, the proposed state consultation will be a step ahead to facilitate implementation of these guidelines. Further, in this platform the Code of Professional Ethics for Teachers developed by All India Primary Teachers’ Federation will also be shared with other stakeholders.

We will share the proposed guidelines discussed in the above platform in our next post.

Please follow us at @LWFIndia on twitter to get live updates on the state consultation briefing to be held in Delhi on 20th November 2009, 11am (IST) onwards.

This cartoon strip brings to light the helplessness of a poor boy in getting proper education. Here a boy from a poor family craves to study but his name gets struck of the register as he is unable to pay the fees, his pleas for extending the date for fee submission fall on deaf ears.

This cartoon strips addresses the twin evil of school drop out and sexual abuse in schools. The cartoon strip shows a teacher abusing a girl, when the girl along with her friends protest the treatment meted out to them the teacher beats them up. This leads to a tragic end where the girls drop out from school.

This cartoon strip addresses the issue of gender discrimination. It depicts a family where the boy is obviously pampered over the girl child. When the girl questions, a flimsy explanation about girls having to learn living and serving her in-laws post marriage is meted out.

This cartoon strip addresses the problem of gender discrimination and bullying. Here a brother slaps his sister for talking to a boy. When she questions him about the reason he replies that it was wrong because she is a girl and girls should not talk to boys.

Please note these cartoon strips by children are based on what they see in their schools and not actual happenings. Also, the name of the children who have created the strips have been omitted to protect their identities.

Please note this is a drama enacted by the children based on what they see in their schools and not a recording of actual happenings. Also, the name of the children involved in shooting the video or in the video have been omitted to protect their identities.

Sexual harassment in schools often goes unnoticed, as it is silenced by fear, guilt & ignorance of rights. Seema’s story was different; she did not succumb to surrounding pressures and preferred speaking about it openly. Thereby bringing to justice the offending teacher and ensuring that no such shameful event occurred in her school ever again.

In this animation video, Seema narrates the story of her fight for justice.