The programme focuses on providing educational support to rural children in the age group of 13 – 18 years to facilitate them to complete their secondary level (tenth standard) and prevent school drop-out. It also aims to render training and awareness on child protection to adolescent children in government schools along with the teachers to make the schools child friendly and reduce incidence of human trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation. 

Objectives

The programme aims to reduce vulnerability of children to situations of human trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation by

• preventing their drop-out, enabling them continue their education and improve their learning level outcomes through remedial coaching
• implementing a child safety programme in the schools ensuring security and protection of every child

Remedial Support Centres to Promote Education of 100 Children

The programme would entail

Collaboration with the Community: Interactions with community members and parents will be undertaken to raise awareness on the importance and motivate them to send their children to school. 

Training of Teachers: Before commencement of classes two days training will be conducted for the teachers on teaching learning methods, content and monitoring of academic progress

Remedial Coaching Centres: Centres will be set up in the villages in collaboration with the community to help children cope with the academic backlog and improve their learning levels. Each centre would accommodate 25 students (Class VII to X) and one teacher. Two classes would be conducted from Monday to Friday of two hours duration at each centre. The morning session would cater to children facing academic difficulties and at risk of dropping out while the afternoon session would provide support to drop-out children helping them enrol and complete their secondary level through National Institute of Open Schooling. All children attending the centre would be provided a healthy snack after the class.

Networking with Stakeholders: The team would interact with the school teachers and school monitoring committee members to map the academic progress of the children being supported.

Child Safety Programme in School: Ensuring Safety for Every Child

The programme would entail

Content development: Content for the awareness mela and the teacher’s training will be compiled as per the need and translated into the local language for easy dissemination 

Awareness Mela: The awareness mela would include activities and games on different child protection issues like child marriage, child labour, gender based discrimination, eve-teasing, child sexual abuse, reproductive health rights, etc. The children will be encouraged to visit the different stalls and participate in the activities. Children from three nearby schools will be visiting one mela. Two hours’ time-slot will be allotted for each school. Children from standard 7^th to 10^th will be encouraged to attend the mela. Children will be encouraged to give feedback on the mela using feedback forms to identify possible at-risk children. 

Discussion sessions: As a follow-up to the mela, children will be approached at the schools and encouraged to reflect on their experiences and learnings from the mela. These would be small group meetings.

Support to at-risk children: Children who disclose about incidences of abuse and exploitation will be supported through counselling. Home-visits may be conducted to understand the safety of the children in their homes. In collaboration with school teachers and the School Management Committee adequate steps would be taken to remove the child from situations of abuse and exploitation. 

Teacher Training: Two days training will be provided to the teachers raising awareness on child protection issues helping them to identify signs and symptoms of abuse and exploitation in children. 

About Kishanganj, Bihar

 Secondary data and key finding from the baseline assessment reveals the vulnerability of the district:

• Kishanganj shares a porous border with Bangladesh and Nepal and is referred to as a hotspot for cross-border trafficking incidents. 
• It is one of the most socially and economically backward regions with severe food security issues, low literacy rates, seasonal migration and dropout, child marriage, child labor, trafficking, and other social and religious taboos. 
• Nearly 85% of households are the below poverty line (BPL – less than $0.5 /capita/day).
• It is a source, transit and destination point for trafficking and other illegal activities.
• Our nationwide operations in 2015-16 to rescue children trafficked for labour to South Indian states witnessed the rescue of 555 children who belonged to the state of Bihar (87 of these children were from Kishanganj)
• Kishanganj houses three active brothels, in a recent rescue operation undertaken by the local police minor girls were rescued from the brothels 
• Kishanganj is a flood-prone district and prone to water-borne diseases
• A large segment of the rural population seasonally migrates in search of livelihood. Often, children accompany their parents and consequently, drop out of school. According to government statistics, only 57% of the children from minority communities pursue their education beyond the primary level in Kishanganj district.
• One of our target groups in Kishanganj comprises of the Santali tribe, the most socially and economically deprived community with high incidence of child labor, bonded labor, and child marriages. 
• Illiteracy among the marginalized group is high, leaving the community easily gullible to the evil schemes of the traffickers who find it very easy to lure the children. 
• The caste system is yet another factor that leaves these people who are at the lowest strata of society vulnerable to be exploited at the hands of those with power and authority. 
• The COVID-19 pandemic has further impoverished millions of families, taken children out of school leaving many helpless with increased vulnerabilities.  

We are currently operating to build communities resilient to situations of human trafficking, abuse, and exploitation through partnerships with government and non-government stakeholders. It brings together a multi-pronged approach under one umbrella to ensure a more intense impact at all levels – district, blocks, panchayats, and villages – in addressing the problem and bringing about sustainable solutions.

Under the school safety program, Vihaan has conducted 100+ awareness programs in government schools across 10 panchayats in 2 blocks of Kishanganj, Bihar in 2021 - 22. Over 5,500 children were reached through these programs. 

 The main objectives were to-

• educate the participants on issues of child protection and child rights 
• inform them about different ways to report cases in an emergency situation

The children wholeheartedly participated in the discussions. They shared incidences of child labor and child marriage in their villages. Overall, there was an overwhelming response from the participants. The initiative was highly appreciated by the District Child Protection Officer and the Labour Department.