School kids to soon have clubs to debate rights, fight abuses

BENGALURU: Parents, step aside. Children can now haul up school authorities for any lapses in services or infrastructure. The education department has directed schools to set up Child Rights Clubs, giving children a voice that can rebound beyond classrooms.

“This will make teachers aware of child rights, thus making schools child-friendly.Clubs will be a catalyst to report and address child rights violations. With this, we also hope to achieve 100% attendance in all schools,“ Commissioner for Public Instruction KS Sathyamur thy stated in his circular.Activities of these clubs must be reported to the education authorities once every two months, he added.

Coming as it does after a public outcry following several cases of child-rights violation and sexual assault of children in city schools last year, the clubs will serve as a forum for children to discuss harassment, torture or any other form of violation. The clubs em power children to report faults in school infrastruc ture and also give them the responsibility of ensuring their classmates do not drop out.

Students of Class 4 and up wards will be members of the club, with two or four from each class up to Class 10. They will be elected by children themselves. The principal and children will elect a teacher to be the club's convenor. “Participation of children isn't just about giving them a stage to sing or dance. This is a major step to take their opinions seriously,“ said Nagasimha G Rao, convenor of the Right to Education Task Force, a voluntary association of parents, teachers and activists.

Kushi Kushalappa from Enfold Trust, a nonprofit working towards child safety , called it a “great idea“ before sounding a caution. “It can be a forum to encourage children to put pride aside and talk about drunken fathers or someone touching them inappropriately.There has to be support mechanism when such issues come up,“ she said.

Private schools, however, scoff at the idea.

Blossom's School in Nagasandra, for example, already has a similar club run entirely by children. “Kids end up misusing the club. We had children complaining against their classmates or teachers for personal reasons,“ its director D Shashi Kumar said.

National Public School chairperson KP Gopalkrishna questioned the very need for Child Rights Clubs. “Every school has so many clubs today and children closely interact with teachers. Like all laws, I visualise this to be misused as well,“ he said.