The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is often the first meal of the day for most of them, while, for some others, it is the only meal of the day. When schools were closed, many children missed out on these meals and went to bed hungry. Many of them did not get enough food on non-school days
By Irat Bhat
A letter addressed to the Supreme Court of India, written by the children of the National Inclusive Children’s Parliament, has brought to attention several concerns and recommendations regarding school closures and rights entitlements.
In their letter, organised under a voluntary organisation, PRATYeK, the children, mostly from poor backgrounds, and studying in government schools, have expressed their gratitude for the recent reopening of schools after the pollution-related closures. However, they have also highlighted many pressing concerns that affect many children in their communities.
PRATYeK works with poor children in slums and other marginalised areas, mostly on their educational, social and emotional needs. Their focus is on education. Most children with whom they work are studying in government schools.
This includes the fact that many of their working class or daily-wager families have no access to mobiles, especially smartphones, or have only one in their household. Hence, unguided online classes often do not work in these circumstances.
Besides, many of the children live in highly congested localities like slums and low middle class areas, where the noise decibel is high, it’s very crowded, and very limited space in homes is shared by adults and children.
The children have noted that while they appreciate the measures taken to address the air pollution crisis, including the closure of schools under the GRAP 4 guidelines, they are worried about the impact it has on their rights and entitlements. As part of this response, various measures have been suggested, including the closure of schools.
The children have highlighted that schools are not just places of learning, but also provide them with nutritious food through the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Many of them rely on these meals as their primary source of nutrition.
The fact is, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, granted to them by a crucial intervention of the Supreme Court earlier, is often the first meal of the day for a majority of them, while, for some others, it is the only meal of the day.
When schools were closed, many of the children missed out on these meals and went to bed hungry. They also recalled how many of them did not get enough food on non-school days.
The Right to Education (RTE) requires schools to work for 220 days in a year, leaving 156 days when the children do not receive these meals. This is particularly tough for these children, especially when many of them are underweight, stunted, or malnourished, as shown by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data (2019-21).
The children have noted in the letter that the hybrid mode of learning does address the rights of parents and children by providing each the space and freedom to choose between online or in-person options. However, they recommend that in these times, dry rations be provided to those who are eligible. They acknowledge that this option only addresses their nutritional needs and not their other rights entitlements.
The children have emphasized that schools are not just classrooms, but also provide them with clean air, safe environments, time for play and leisure, and the opportunity to meet friends. They have expressed their desire for schools to become day-boarding facilities and holiday camps for sports, extracurricular activities, and vocational training.
The children have made several recommendations, including:
– Ensuring that no child misses out on Mid-Day Meals, even during school holidays and closures.
– Providing dry rations to eligible children during times of crisis.
– Transforming schools into day-boarding facilities and holiday camps for sports, extracurricular activities, and vocational training.
The children believe that every child has the right to education, nutrition, safety, and a decent standard of living, as promised by the Constitution of India and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). They are confident that their voices will be heard and that the highest court in the land will help them and earnestly protect their rights, their educational needs, and their future.
The ‘unofficial’ National Child-Parliamentarians of India, with ministries based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, have endorsed these recommendations. They believe that no child should be left behind and that every child deserves to learn, grow, and dream without barriers.
The letter also gave reference to recommendations about Child Rights in the UNCRC:
A. My Right to Education (Articles 28, 29): “The closure of schools during the pollution crisis had resulted in many of us children being deprived of access to quality education and access to equal learning opportunities. The lack of access to digital devices and connectivity for online classes further complicated this concern…”
B. My Right to Play (Article 31), and My Right to Holistic Development (Articles 6, 18): “During the high pollution phase, many of us children were unable to go to school and some of our friends were instead playing outdoors in unsafe and polluted environments, rather than engaging in indoor games and fun-learning activities, which is only possible within the school environment…”
C. My Right to Socialization (Articles 15): Due to the closure of schools, children were unable to meet their friends and socialize, since some of us were confined to the four walls of our huts or small rooms, while others were exposed to the dangers of unsupervised online socialization…”
D. My Right to Nutrition (Articles 24): “With schools closed, many children, especially those attending hybrid classes, were unable to access the Mid-Day Meal Scheme…”
E. My Right to Protection from Exploitation (Articles 29, 32, 35, 36), My Right to Health (Article 24): We noticed that some of our friends engaged in child-labour (for paltry wages in hard and unsafe conditions) during these days, as has been reflected in various studies (by the ILO, UNICEF, Save the Children and others), on the impact of Covid-19 on children. In fact, we are also aware that such closures lead to our vulnerable peers falling prey to child-trafficking, child-marriage, child-abuse and mental ill-health…”
F. My Right to Protection (Articles 19, 36): “Being at home while parents are away at work, leaves us and our younger siblings exposed to the risk of abusewithout supervision of parents and trusted adults, particularly when we live in small homes in crowded locations that are high on unemployment. Exposure to devices without parental supervision is an added risk to our safety…”
G. My Right to a Decent Standard of Living (Article 27), My Right to Health (Article 24): The low quality of air that we continue to breath in our homes does not address our right to a decent standard of living and our right to health. This would perhaps be better addressed if we are provided with good quality face masks and air purifiers in all classrooms…”
H. My Right to Expression (Articles 12, 13): This attempt of ours to have our experiences and opinions heard and responded to by our Honorable Supreme Court and other child rights bodies is in harmony with our rights to speak and be genuinely heard and our right to express ourselves which cannot be furthered if we are in the confines of our homes, away from the guidance of our trusted teachers…”
J. My Right to Information (Article 17): Staying at home deprived us of having platforms to discuss the causes, impacts and strategies to address the climate emergency we faced. We believe that being in school and participating in eco-clubs and eco-debates would have deepened our knowledge, and our responsiveness to this crisis, which we children have a knack of effectively passing on to our families…”
I. My Rights in relation to the Environment (General Comment 26 on the UNCRC): This entire General Comment 26, adopted by all member states (including India) of the United Nations on child rights (just last year) in relation to the environment, emphasizes on all points we have mentioned above, while underlining our right to keep governments, businesses and all adult duty-bearers and stakeholders accountable to our right to a clean environment even as we are protected while claiming these rights…”
Photos courtesy: PRATYeK
Get to know PRATYeK more- https://pratyek.org.in/