As per Census 2011; 1 in 4 children of school-going age is out of school in our country – 99 million children in total have dropped out of school. As per the Census 2011 data, India has more than 45 lakh girls under 15 years of age who are married with children. Out of these, 70% of the girls have 2 children.

Such stark are the realities of an unequal childhood for children in India. With current COVID pandemic and other multi-layered vulnerabilities, the present situation for children is eerie and the girl children especially have been further pushed to the margins exacerbating a child rights crisis.

Caritas India organised a Webinar “Towards Equal Future for All Children” to observe International Day of the Girl Child 2020.  This Year’s theme is “My Voice, Our Equal Future”.

The Webinar was moderated by Ms.Leeza, Manager- AHT and Safe Migration.  Fr. Jolly, Asst Executive Director – Caritas India welcomed the esteemed speakers, guests and set the context sharing the objective of the Webinar. Fr.Jolly shared that this webinar is a platform for interaction between Girl Child Leaders and other stakeholders to strategize thinking on prevention of gender-based violence against children and moving towards gender-inclusive schools & breaking gender-based barriers in communities by all actors.

Most Rev.Bishop Sebastian Kallupura, Chairman, CI reflected upon the National Education Policy,2020.  Rev.Bishop stated that it’s a matter of celebration that the reform in National Education Policy came after years. He further shared that it has several positive reforms, however few points such as skilling early in school might hinder underprivileged children from opting for higher education. He further shared that these norms might prove discriminatory for the young population and increase school dropouts. “The promise to invest 6% of GDP for budget allocation towards education is a welcome announcement.  The government must fulfil these promises and hold accountable for the same.”

Mr.Anurag Kundu, Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) asked several self-reflective and thought-provoking questions seeking reflection on our program intervention approaches.  He stressed the need to identify child diversity at the early years of the child. He also emphasized on the need to move towards an inclusive vision that all children must be treated equally.  “There is a need for all of us to self-reflect on our perspectives and break the gender-based barriers in our preconditioned thought processes that create discrimination. Further, we need to look beyond enrolment rates in schools. Rather our education attainment should now be assessed by tracking the attendance rates of children at school.”

Ms. Priyoshi Mondal, Girl Child leader from Murshidabad District, WB Partner – SPMUS, Surokhit Shaishav Program supported by Caritas Germany; shared some key recommendations for how an ideal school should be. She shared that each child in school must have access to uniforms, every child should be given the opportunity to play sports irrespective of their gender, every school must have Counsellors at school , there should be a playground at school and every school must provide access to clean drinking water and clean toilets.

Fr.Dr.Maria Charles delivered a very informative session on the detailed analysis of the National Education policy 2020. His session covered all the pros and cons of NEP and concrete recommendations on what further needs to be done as a way forward towards creating an inclusive education system.

Mr. Ambarish Rai; National Convener- RTE forum provided a constructive critique of the National Education policy stating that the Policy though has exemplary positive reforms, it has certain gaps which may negate the progress made in the field of Right to education. “The how part- that is the way for implementation is missing in the NEP. Also, it must be remembered that Right To education is an act and an Act is always above a Policy. There is an urgent need for extension of RTE act till secondary level in schools.”; shared Mr. Ambarish.

Ms.Amisha Raj, Girl Child Leader from Bihar, Roshni Suposhan, supported by Caritas Germany shared that her dream is that every child of her village is in school irrespective of gender. “I want to stop discrimination between girls and boys in my village. Often the girls here are subjected to child marriage. The boys here are sent to school and later given the opportunity to work in a different city when they grow up. But girls are only restricted to household chores. My dream is that every child of the village is sent to school irrespective of their gender. Also, I recommend that each school must have separate clean toilets for girls & boys and also set up sanitary pad vending machines as well as incinerators for safe disposal”.

Ms.Anubhuti Patra, Malala Fund delivered an insightful session on Breaking Gender-Based Barriers at school. She focussed on the need for a Comprehensive vision towards girls’ education. Ms.Anubhuti further reiterated that it is of prime importance to focus on school infrastructure, the role of multiple stakeholders in the school and need for strengthening sexual and reproductive health curriculum at school to break the gender-based barriers in the school education system.

Ms. Rabina Singh, Girl Child Leader from PGSS, UP, Swarakhsha (AHT) Program supported by SCIAF; shared about the work she has been doing towards ensuring rights of children in her village through back to school campaign and campaign against Child Marriage. She shared about the issues faced by children during the lockdown. She shared that due to school closures, poor children from our villages are losing out on education as they do not have access to smartphones and neither they have money to buy them. Hence during the lockdown, Rabina and her peers continued education through peer to peer support and conducted free tuition classes.

Ms.Mary Thomas, UNICEF India highlighted the best practices of UNICEF  on Community Action to prevent gender-based violence through various ways such as  Meena Manch, edutainment etc.  She further shared their COVID action strategy of UNICEF to engage children through digital platforms during the lockdown period.

Mr. Rajesh Upadhyay, HOD – Programs, CI shared the concluding remarks focussing on the need to create an equal, inclusive and safe society for all children. He focussed on the relevance of the need for common school education system and how privatisation may hinder the vision of equal opportunity in education for all children.

The Webinar concluded with Vote of thanks proposed by Ms.Rashi Mitra, officer – Child rights, CI.