Open Access Research Article
Coping With the Inchoate Direction of Policies in Education of Juveniles and Street Children in India
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Article Details
Coping With the Inchoate Direction of
Policies in Education of Juveniles and Street Children in India
Authored
By- Richa Sharma, Meghana Raut & Rahul Patil
NLC
Mumbai
Abstract
According to the
UNICEF India report 2020, interrupted learning impacted 286 million children,
with school dropout rates skyrocketing due to covid (India U, 2021). More
alarming is the data from the year 2000, estimating 18 million street children
in India, which was the highest in the world (Bellamy, 2000). 23 years hence
and post pandemic, this number is inevitably much larger, and reaches 7%of all
the child population of the world[1].
The large number is due to unemployment, rapid urbanization, large population,
extreme poverty, increasing disparities in wealth, cutbacks in government
social and educational budgets and child abuse (Bartlett, 1999). We found that
the magnitude of the population of children who fall into the category of
juvenile street children remains nebulous at best with no official data
available. This has led to paper policies that have no role in reality and stay
as lip service at best. With limited knowledge of the numbers, there is an
inherent impediment to making action plans and budget outlays. The objective of
this paper is to study the data available regarding the education of street
children, identify the legal framework available to them in India and prepare a
concise report to help an actionable plan for adolescents on the street,
deprived of education.
Introduction
Family plays a
fundamental role in meeting the health and social care needs of children, and
they function as intermediaries between home and educational institution
settings. Risk and protective factors can be organized into three spheres of
influence as per the 2021 report of UNICEF: home and caregiving settings;
safety and security and healthy attachments in preschools, schools and
communities; and large-scale social determinants– such as poverty, disaster,
conflict and discrimination. (Fund, 2021).
The Comptroller
and Auditor General of India (CAG) released an audit report on the
Implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act,
2009 on July 21, 2017. In 35 states/UTs, it was noted that the unutilized amounts
ranged between Rs 12,259 crore to Rs 17,282 crore over the six year period[2].
(India C. a., 2017).
As per Note for
Cabinet (October 2008), the financial requirement under the Act, based on
population estimates in the age group of six to fourteen years, was estimated
as 2.28 lakh crore for the period 2008-09 to 2014-15. As per Section 7(2) of
the Act, the Central Government was to prepare estimates of capital and
recurring expenditure for the implementation of the provisions of the Act.
Regrettably, the Government has not allocated any separate budget for
implementation of the Act till date. (India C. a., 2017).
Without legal
framework, juveniles and street children will continue to be inconsistently
identified by the systems, engendering gaps between education providers and
difficulty connecting children with services. Over the past thirteen years in
India, states and legal systems have implemented policies to support juvenile
and street children. The Right to Education Act 2009, which requires the government
to delineate a national strategy for recognizing and supporting child
education, has potential to effect widespread change. An initiative to recognize,
assist, include, support and educate street children has to have the
commitment of leadership as well as financial backup and action from all
stakeholders to protect the adolescents at crucial moments of development.
Study Data And Methods Framework
We used a critical
literature review to specify components of inclusion to the right to education.
To align this work with government policies including organizational policies
or administrative guidance to standardize actions, we studied both the
government and non-government reports. Due to paucity of time, there were no
surveys conducted. Processes are actions that affect delivery—for example, the
manner in which educators interact with students. Solutions that modify the
structure or process to include educators could, in turn, facilitate the
optimal use of legal provisions and government policies to help juveniles with
serious issues maintain independence and remain longer in their educational
system.
Literature Review
More than 15
books, reports and datasets were leveraged to identify the terrain of solutions
and indicators of reach and effectiveness of policies and action plans. These
studies, reports and analyses were drawn upon, to form hypotheses, and
prioritize our findings and highlight the differences seen in the ground
realities.
The critical
literature review was conducted to develop the analysis to figure out the
effectiveness of solutions. The review included papers published from 1995 to
2022 that examined situation of street children and their being included in or
excluded from education and explored mechanisms for eliminating drop outs or in
minimizing drop outs of the education system. All three authors reviewed papers
at first the title and then the abstract level for eligibility, working to
arrive at consensus and resolve discrepancies. We excluded papers that did not
focus on street children while studying education systems.
Classification of street children and
juveniles
“Street children
are those for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, i.e. unoccupied
dwellings, wastelands, etc.) more than their family has become their real home,
a situation in which there is no protection, supervision or direction from
responsible adults.” [3]
The definition was accepted by UNICEF from Nandana Reddy (1992), Street
Children of Bangalore: A Situational Analysis.
There are 3
categories defined by UNICEF:
1. Children on the
Street: Who have homes and mostly return to their families at the end of each
day.
2. Children of the
Street: Who live on the street. They have occasional contacts with their
families.
3. Abandoned
Children: Children who have severed all ties with their families.
Juvenile meaning
in the Indian constitution is if a child is below the age of 18 so under the
Indian Laws, Section 2 (k) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act,2000 defines "juvenile" or "Child" as a
person who has not completed eighteenth year of age.
|
On the Street. Stay
with families
but spend most of the time on the streets
|
|
Of the street
|
|
Family ties contacts
|
|
Roofless and
Rootless: Live on streets with no family ties or contacts
|
|
Major Causes
|
|
- Broken Families/Poor or large families/step-parent
- Out of schools
- Migrant/dislocated families families living in slums/streets
- Migrant families suffered due
to famines, natural disasters
|
|
- Family conflict
- Vices of
Parents
- Physically abused
- Outclassed by
society
- One step-parent
- Dislocated
|
|
-
Orphan
/Abandoned
- Broken families with
deterioration of
morals
- War ravaged/Disaster sufferers
-
Family criminal
background
|
|
Implication on the
child
|
|
-
Loss of
Childhood
- Malnutrition
and unhygienic appearance
- Drug/inhalant addict
- Deterioration of values and
morals
- Pickpocketing, thefts
- Loss of
personal development and employment opportunities
|
|
-
Drug/Inhalant addict
-
Abused by crime rings for traffficking of drugs, sex and
other unlawful activities
|
|
Rag- Picking, Scavenging waste material
|
|
- Rag picking
and selling
|
|
Nature of
Work
|
|
- Porter, domesticwork, helper in services and manufacturing processes
|
|
-
Porter carrying heavy load
- Work in hazardous occupations
-
Services for crime rings like trafficking of drugs,
commercial sex workers and otherunlawful activities
- Agents for hotel booking
|
|
Support Needed
|
|
- Counselling of parents
- Education and enrolment in formal schools
- Remedial coaching and
development of
skills
|
|
Counselling of
contact points, providing basic needs like medical aid ,
food, shelter, washing facility, basic education
- 24 hour drop
in centre and
shelter homes
- NFE education and vocational skills for self support
|
|
Roofless: Live on the
streets but have
family ties and occasional contacts
|
|
Street Children Classification
|
Legal Provisions
The Directive Principles of State Policies in Part IV
of the Indian Constitutions and the Fundamental Rights under Part III of the
Indian Constitution provided for the protection of children and also mentions
the duty of the Government, both Centre, and State, to take important steps for
growth and encouragement of these sections. Article 24 of the Indian
Constitution prohibits child employment in factories, mines or in any hazardous
occupations. Article 39(f) describes the State’s duties to protect children
from exploitation and to ensure children the opportunities and facilities to
develop in a healthy manner, and Article 45 mandates the State has to provide
free compulsory education for all children below 14 years. Article 45
prescribes free and compulsory education in line with the RTE act, 2009. In
1987, national policy for child labour was made so that laws could be
implemented strictly and there were several developments based on caste and
poverty. However, the budget was slashed later that resulted in terminations of
government programs.
In 2002, the 86th constitutional amendment inserted
article 21A about free and compulsory education for children aged between 6 to
14 years and it was considered a fundamental right. National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in 2006 framed the NCPCR rules constituting
the National Child Rights Commission. This Commission was assigned with
assessing compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the child and further
monitor the provision of free primary education for all children in the country
and the protection of children against economic exploitation.
The upshot of this amendment was Right to Education
(RTE) Act 2009, key features to this act in line with article 21A are
•
• Primary
education must be free and compulsory
•
• Appropriate
state government must take make laws from this central government act
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)
Act, 2015 came into force on 15 January 2016.
Case Laws
Olga
Tellis v BMC[4] speaks
about the society’s responsibility where a case against the Bombay Municipal
Corporation was filed for dislodging the children in one night thus neglecting
the essentials arrangements including uninterrupted education required for such
eviction.
In the case of Bandhu Mukhti Morcha[5],
PIL was filed against the carpet industry where street children were induced
into forced labor. The Court observed that India has obligations under the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Convention on the Rights
of the Child to provide free primary education for all children in the country,
and to protect children against economic exploitation. In an earlier case, M.C.
Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors. [[(1996) 6 SCC 756], it was adjudged to
abolish all child labour and these judgements were referenced by the Court in
orders to the States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The orders included, directing
the States to take steps to frame policies to progressively eliminate the
employment of children below the age of 14; provide compulsory education to all
children employed in factories, mining, and other industries; ensure that the
children receive nutrient-rich foods; and administer periodic health check-ups.
In Sheela Barse[6]
case, it was adjudged that although the Children Act was passed but it was not
enforced in some States – The Supreme Court had directed that such beneficial
statute should be brought into force and administered without any delay. Here a
petition was filed by a social worker seeking release of children below 16
years who were detained in jails. The detention of children below the age of 16
years in jail would be deprecated under Article 39(f) of the Constitution of
India
The perspectives from cases adjudicating on street
children’s rights and the legal provisions have been consistent with the
humanitarian approach of UDHR. The review of reports focusing on legal
provisions and capacity of the government to further the policies initiated
have spotlighted the cracks through which this vulnerable population slips
through. What improvements could be made to better include them have been
discussed further. To integrate findings from legal provisions and government
policies, we identified conceptual categories from the critical literature
review.
Limitations
This paper puts forth a definition of inclusive
approach that might not resonate in all settings as well requires a large
outlay as well as political and administrative will. Although the data was
derived from literature review, due to paucity of time, there were no surveys
conducted for in person interviews. Future studies could enhance this
definition of inclusive approach by testing or adding components in different
settings.
Discussion
Components Of Inclusive Education for Juveniles and
street children
From the literature review, we identified five
components of inclusive education: system-level policies for inclusion; clear
definition of the educator’s role; explicit involvement of families; assessment
of educators’ capacity; and mutuality in educator and guardians’ communication.
These components constitute structural and process aspects of education for
street children. Evidence from the review illuminate how these components of
inclusive education manifest in practice and point to challenges and solutions
for including educators and guardians.
Structural Aspects
System-Level
Policies For Inclusion:
Around three out of four street children, i.e., 71
percent, belonged to the 6 to 14 years age group, while 16 percent were from
the 3 to 5 years age group and 12 percent in the 15 to <18 years age group
in a study conducted in the Delhi NCT region[7].
Therefore 71% belonged to the age group that should be receiving compulsory
education. It is the first step to Recognize the age group that needs
education and the numbers that are current. Only 29% of total surveyed street
children in Delhi reported having ever gone to school[8].
Policy makers offered few systemwide guidelines to
include street children in NEP[9].
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (the Samagra Shiksha) and the Right to Education Act,
India has made noteworthy steps in recent years in attaining almost complete
enrolment in elementary education[10].
One study[11] noted
that integration of the children who had been enrolled through NEP was not easy
and the academic performance was subpar especially where the admission was to
private schools (25% reservation for RTE status in private schools). The
barriers to integration have to be recognized where the children should
have a bridge course before they are expected to participate in a
curriculum and set up that has been alien.
Clear Definition Of
Educators Role:
The educators role is too complex to define in a
systematic way. The educators need to be assisted with training programs
to ensure sensitivity as there may be cognitive dissonance between an educators
expectations and a student’s needs. At the same time, the educators have to be
the champions, advocating for their students, who may have difficulty
advocating for themselves.
Process Aspects
Explicit Involvement
Of Families:
The psychological and social security of the children
should be priority. Even though the child is living on the street or may be in
a home for rehabilitation, the involvement of family will help in psychosocial
well-being and making positive choices as regards formal education. An effort
from the administration to involve the educator and the family will have
a long term benefit to the betterment of the child.
Capacity for
facility or NIOS:
Ensuring support that all children are into the
Education either in Regular or Open mode. The education facility through NIOS
may be made in such a way that children can continue with their education even
after they are back to their family home after completing their term if in
remand homes.[12]
Conclusion
Based on our findings, we suggest structure- and
process-level solutions to guide development of inclusive policies. Our
suggestion is thus to recognize, assist, include, support and educate.
R -Recognize the numbers
A-Assist the Educators and families
I-Inclusion
of families in decision making by the administration
S-Support by regular or open mode (NIOS)
E-Educate
Formal education cannot be replaced by non formal
education as the basic ability to read write and basic arithmetic is needed for
the child.
Bibliography
Bartlett, S. (1999). Cities for Children, Childrens
Rights, Poverty and Urban Management. London: Unicef Earthscan Publication.
Bellamy, C. (2000). The State of World's Children. New
York: Unicef.
Fund, U. N. (2021). The State of the World’s
Children. New York: UNICEF.
India, C. a. (2017). Implementation of Right of
Children to free and compulsory Education Act,2009. New Delhi: Ministry of
Human Resource Development.
India, U. (2021). Rapid Assessment of Learning
During School Closures in the Context of COVID-19. New Delho: UNICEF.
Agarwal, R. (1999), “Street Children”. Shipra
Publications, New Delhi. P.23
Nandana Reddy (1992), Street Children of Bangalore:
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India
[2] India, C. a.
(2017). Implementation of Right of Children to free and compulsory Education
Act,2009. New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development.
[3] Nandana Reddy (1992),
Street Children of Bangalore: A Situational Analysis, National labour institute
(NLI), NOIDA.
[11]
Radhika J (2020) Can social
integration in schools be mandated: Evidence from the Right to
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[12] NCPCR (2018) A
Report on Availability of Quality Education and VocationalTraining in
Observation Homes (2017-18)
Article Information
Coping With the Inchoate Direction of Policies in Education of Juveniles and Street Children in India
Authors: Richa Sharma, Meghana Raut, Rahul Patil
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/03/11
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
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