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The Promise Foundation

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Prevention of Child Labour

EXECUTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC COOPERATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (NIPCCD) AND THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO): RURAL ANDHRA PRADESH

Teacher Training for the Prevention of Child Labour

The target trainee was the anganwadi worker (pre-school teachers). The objective was to train 110 workers on skills to prevent child labour. Our training modules combined our SIP and PAL  methodologies. Three sessions of training amounting to a total of 10 training days, were held at each location over the course of 18 months.

Targets for skills transfer

Training focused on helping teachers develop skills to make the pre-school an attractive place for children and their families to want to attend. Teachers learned to make teaching aids, giant posters and stimulation material from low-cost or no-cost material.

Skills to identify children who are at risk to becoming child labourers

The Promise Foundation through its research has identified early warning signs that signal the risk of a child becoming a child labourer. We have found for example that unemployment in the family, experiences of segregation in school, distance between home and school were some of the factors associated with child labour. Teachers were trained to recognise these and other early warning signs.

Skills for intervention and sensitisation

Having learned to identify children who are risk to becoming child labourers, teachers then worked on skills for sensitising parents and the community to the dangers of allowing children to become child labourers. Parents for example ask the question, 'If there is no food in the house, what is the use of my child going to school. Better she works,' or 'What is the use of going to school. It does not give you a job.' Teachers were trained to deal with such questions. Role plays were used to help the teacher develop skills for conducting group meetings to sensitise the community about the problems of child labour. Most importantly, teachers were taught various activities they could use to help adults understand the long-term outcomes of allowing children to become child labourers.

Skills to Establish Linkages

Poor linkages between pre-school and primary school is one cause for school drop out. Once the child drops out of regular school, the drift towards child labour begins. Teachers were therefore given the skills of developing linkages between their own pre-schools and the primary school to which their children could go. This would ensure that the continuity in the child’s education is maintained over time.

Chinnari Navvu - The Training News Letter

Training inputs for teachers continued between training modules. This was done through a training newsletter. The name of the newsletter was Chinnari Navvu - the Smile of the Child. One issue was published every month and a total of 10 issues were brought out.

The newsletter had the following objectives:

  • To reinforce the training inputs given during the training programmes.
  • To encourage teachers to contribute their ideas which were printed in the newsletter.
  • To network the 110 teachers in the programmes through the newsletter.
  • To use the newsletter as a teaching tool in the pre-schools.
  • To inculcate the reading habit amongst teachers!

A unique feature of this newsletter is the poster it carries. The inside of the newsletter folds out to become a poster. Teachers put up the poster in their classrooms and use it as a teaching tool as well.

About 40% of the content of the newsletter comprised contributions from trainees across the different training locations. The many stories, cartoons, handwork and songs that teachers sent us is testimony of its popularity – and effectiveness as a training tool.

STIMULATION KIT

The final component of the training programme was a Stimulation Kit that we have developed for teachers to use in their pre-schools after the training is completed.

In addition to providing material for early childhood stimulation this Kit is designed to provide the teacher with scientifically validated material that address the child's learning needs in the areas of pre-reading, pre-writing and pre-number skills. Therefore, the Stimulation Kit also functions as a School Readiness resource for the older children in the pre-schools