The three day orientation cum syllabus training program (physical) for all facilitators from the ten organizations in 16 districts, was organized in Don Bosco youth Training Centre, Manikandam, Trichy on 21 – 23 September 2021. Nearly 70 facilitators from t10 NGOs across the state actively participated in the orientation programme. Training inputs were given by the resource persons to the facilitators and practical tips were also given to them as to handle CRE sessions for children in the communities. Now these facilitators have started their regular sessions for the children in their respective communities with the modules given to them. Formal district level inauguration of these CRE Clubs in the communities has been initiated, involving a number of civil society groups and Government officials in their respective districts.
The project team is taking efforts to introduce the Constitutional Rights Education Programme in Government schools. The team met the Commissioner for School Education, Mr. Nandakumar IAS on 31.07.2021 and made an appeal to him to consider the proposal to introduce the CRE programme in all Government Schools. He was very positive about our initiative.
Meeting with the Chairperson of the State Minorities Commission and the Member of the State Human Rights Commission
Our team had an opportunity to meet the Chairperson of Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission, Mr. S. Peter Alphonse and the Member of State Human Rights Commission, Justice D. Jeyachandran, requesting them to recommend the pioneering effort to the Government of Tamil Nadu. Both of them gave us an assurance that they would recommend this programme to the School Education Minister, Mr. Anil Mahesh Poyyamozhi.
The Project team had a series of meetings with Rev. Fr. Don Bosco, Secretary, TANCEAN (Regional Education Commission of Tamil Nadu Catholic Bishop’s Council), Chennai to explain to him about the components and the design of our Constitutional Rights Education program in schools, hostels and communities in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The project team had an opportunity to make a presentation to TANCEAN members during their General Body Meeting on 20.03.2021 at Chennai and most of the members felt the need for such program in today’s context and were convinced to take up the program in their schools from this academic year.
The team also had an opportunity to explain to the Provincial of the Chennai Jesuit Province, Rev. Dr. Jebamalai Raja on 24th March in Chennai about the proposed Constitutional Rights Education programme in the state, involving various stakeholders across the state. He was very positive about the initiative and promised the team to extend his fullest cooperation to implement the programme in their schools and their rural evening study centers located in vulnerable areas, largely of adivasis, dalit and children from fishing communities.
The Project Team took special efforts to meet the CSI Synod and CSI Chennai Bishop in their respective offices in Chennai, seeking their support and cooperation for taking up Constitutional Rights Education programme in schools and hostels, run by CSI Dioceses in Tamil Nadu. The series of meetings with Mr. Fernandes Rathina Raja, General Secretary, CSI Synod, Chennai and Rev.Dr.BenjaminInbaraj, Director of SEVA of the CSI Synod Chennai and Rev.Dr.Jeyaharan, Director of Social Justice Commission, CSI diocese, Chennai and Rev.Paul Williams, Vice President, CSI Bishop office, Chennai were fruitful and they assured the team that they would explore the possibilities of joining this collective effort from this academic year.
Seven experienced HRE teachers from different parts of Tamil Nadu were invited for a one-day meeting on 20th Feb. 2021 in Trichy. Particularly, their inputs on the syllabus for CRE program for schools and practical tips as to how to handle these sessions in classrooms were useful to the curriculum development committee to fine tune the CRE module. These teachers have promised to extend their support to carry out CRE program in schools in an effective manner.
The project team has been in touch with these teachers and is seriously exploring the possibility of taking this program to another level in future, with the support of these teachers who work in informal settings. The Project team is also in touch with two teachers’ unions and associations so that these associations could be involved in supporting CRE programme in both schools and communities in an effective way in future.
The Curriculum Development Committee prepared Module 1 for school programme. It contains eight lessons, each lesson with specific objectives and an introduction to the lesson. The module contains a lot of case studies and real stories, besides quotes and facts related to the topics. At the end of each lesson, there are group exercises for children to understand their grasp and comprehension of the topic. The lessons prepared are aimed at ensuring child participation in the class rooms and developing rights perspective among the young minds.
The pre final draft was sent to a couple of experts for their comments and feedback and after incorporating their feedback and comments on the lessons, the book is ready for printing and will go for digital format. The Curriculum Development Committee could not physically meet during the summer due to the pandemic situation and restrictions of mobility and therefore most of the conversations and corrections had to take place online.
The Module for community engagement has been prepared by the Curriculum Development Committee and there are 11 lessons in the Module, which is mostly activity based for the children in communities. Comments and feedbacks were received for this Module from the experts and two activists working for child protection. Lot of case studies, real stories, group exercises and facts relevant to the lessons are incorporated in the Module. Some of the activities and exercises for children in the Module are aimed at highlighting relevant SDGs and the corresponding targets.
Ten civil society organizations working on child protection and human rights issues at the grassroots level in different parts of the state have been approached to take up CRE programme through their child activity centers or community resource centers and adolescent girls’ groups in their communities. These CSOs have identified ten communities each, to take up CRE programme from June onwards and to form CRE clubs among the children, after the training programmes for the facilitators (Local Community based Trainers). Each of these CSOs has provided two or three Community based Trainers to work in the communities together with their ongoing programs.
Series of online consultations with the NGO partners were held by way of preparing themselves and to give them a comprehensive picture on the CRE project in communities. Their inputs were also received for effective implementation of the CRE program in communities and their practical suggestions were helpful to the project team in designing the training programs for the community based trainers (facilitators) and designing module for community engagement. All the ten NGOs show keen interest in carrying out the CRE program in their communities and provide maximum support to the project team.
With the list of community based trainers from each of the ten NGOs, a series of online meetings were organized in June 2021. One contact person from each NGO also joined the meetings to support the programs in the districts by way of coordinating the activities and facilitation with the project team. These online meetings were useful for all facilitators and contact persons to understand the objectives and the components of the project and to understand the pedagogy to be adopted, while taking up CRE sessions for children in communities.
The facilitators (community based trainers) were properly oriented with the objectives and the expected outcomes of the project and their roles and responsibilities were also clearly mentioned through a series of weekly meetings. The facilitators were involved in rapport building with the communities and particularly with the children by way of preparing for the launch of the CRE programs. There were also inputs for the facilitators on the impact of the pandemic on the rural communities and the necessary precautions to be taken, besides the rules to be followed up as per the instructions of the government.
Vaan Muhil approached the Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on 01.09.2021 for its support to CRE Programme in schools and the initial discussions with the Commission was extremely positive. The project team met the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) and the Chairperson of the State Commission for Minorities (SCM) and made an appeal to them, requesting to recommend the CRE Programme to the Government of Tamil Nadu to introduce the same in all Government and Government Aided Schools in the next academic year.
The Chairperson of SCM recommended the CRE Programme to school education department (Principal Secretary) to introduce CRE Programme in all Government Schools and the copy of his letter has been sent to Vaan Muhil on 28.12.2021 (Scan copy of this letter in Tamil has been enclosed as annexure).
The Project Director and the State Level Chief Trainer, as part of the State Advisory Committee for the Illam Thedi Kalvi (Education at Door Steps), had the opportunity to interact with the State Special Project Director for the School Education Department, Mr. R. Sudhan I.A.S., on 25.09.2021 and subsequently on several occasions both at Chennai and other places. The team explained to him in detail about the components, Contents and design of the CRE Programme and requested him to support the initiative and to consider introducing the same in all Government and Government Aided Schools in the next academic year. He was invited to release (Online) the Manual for CRE Clubs in Communities on 22nd December, 2021 during the two days facilitators residential training and he was highly appreciative of this unique effort in the entire country. He assured all possible support to our initiative in future.
A three days residential orientation Programme for CRE Facilitators was organized from 21st – 23rd Sep, 2021 in Trichy and totally 70 facilitators across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry actively participated in the three days training. Inputs were given to them on basic concepts relating to Human Rights and Constitutional Principles such as Rights to Equality, Non-Discrimination, Pluralism, Diversity, Secularism, Democratic Polity and basic knowledge on Child Protection Issues and Gender Equality. The Facilitators were also equipped with skills required for handling sessions on Child Rights and Human Rights, besides techniques and tips to organize CRE Club meetings at Village level, involving different stakeholders at Panchayat and block levels. There was a session to explain to them about the bye-laws for the CRE Clubs during the three days training Programme. The Directors of Partner NGOs were invited for the last day of the Training and there was a separate planning meeting with them to workout logistics and to coordination of CRE Programme in their respective districts. A two day follow up training Programme for CRE Facilitators was organized on 21st and 22nd, 2021 at Trichy and the facilitators shared their experiences of taking CRE Classes for children in their clubs and various challenges they faced during the three months period after the inauguration in their communities.
The CRE Project Team prepared and designed number of visibility materials and circulated among different sectors so as to give visibilities to CRE Programme continuously. Conscious efforts were taken to reach out more people through different social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and so on.
The two days online workshop on safeguarding policy and child protection policy gave an understanding of safeguarding and child protection issues and the mechanisms needed for addressing these issues at NGO level. The participants from Vaan Muhil benefitted through the online workshop and they were able to share the basic content discussed in the workshop with other staff members subsequently. The project director has promised to strengthen the existing mechanisms to address safeguarding and child protection issues in Vaan Muhil and planned for orientation Programme for all staff members on safeguarding and child protection policies.
The team members had opportunities to participate in a number of state level conferences, seminars, meetings and workshops organized by the State School Education Department and by other Civil Society Groups / Networks / Collectives / Federations on specific themes related to Education, Child Rights, Child Protection, Gender Equality, Labour Rights, SDGs related to our thematic focus and Constitutional Rights / Human Rights. Two of our team members have been actively involved in curriculum development for the Government initiative to bridge the learning gaps among rural and poor children, involving different CSOs and academics working in this field. The contributions of the team members in these State Level Conferences, Trainings, Seminars and workshops are substantial and have been duly acknowledged by the state officials including the SPD and Additional SPD. The involvement of the team members was recognized by the School Education Department so much so that Vaan Muhil found a place in the State Level Advisory Committee for the Special Initiative taken by the State Government during the pandemic (Education at door steps).
Our demand for introducing CRE Programme in all Government schools in Tamil Nadu has been raised by one of the Members of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Abdul Samad, MNMK, to whom the project team had earlier explained about the CRE Programme and the need for taking this important Programme to all Govt schools in Tamil Nadu. Prof. Jawahirullah, the President of the same Party, gave felicitations in our inaugural function on last Saturday. He had promised us that his party would raise this demand in the budget session and continue to pressurize the Govt. We wrote appeal letters to 8 MLAs from different parties in Tamil Nadu, with details about our CRE Programme and the need for taking this Programme in all schools in Tamil Nadu, and requesting them to include our demand in their speeches in the budget session if possible.
A series of Webinars were organized by the project team on specific themes related to Constitutional Rights and Values during the reporting period and the CRE facilitators and interested teachers participated in these webinars. The topics for the webinars include salient features of the Constitution of India, the relevance of the Indian Constitution in today’s context, the highlights of the Preamble to the Constitution, core values of the Constitution (Principles of equality and non-discrimination, secularism, diversity, democratic polity, and social justice).
The team members attended a number of state-level seminars, training programs, and workshops organized by the State School Education Department, by other civil society networks and collectives on a variety of themes related to constitutional rights, child rights, child protection, gender equality, labour rights, and SDGs related topics during the reporting period. The contributions of our team members in the conferences and seminars have been duly recognized by the School Education Department and this association has helped the CRE program to take further in the School Education Department.
The Core Team met a number of state-level officers/secretaries as part of its advocacy efforts to update about the CRE program in an effective way in the second half of 2022. The list of officers includes Dr.V.P.Jayaseelan, IAS, Director of Information and Public Relation, Ms. Pooja Kulkarni, IAS, Managing Director & CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu, Mr. R. Selvam, IAS, Executive Director, Council for Leather Exports, Union Government, Ms. Amudha, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, Mr.R.Sudhan, IAS, SPD, SSA, School Education Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, Mr.K. Elam Bahavath, IAS, OSD for Illam Thedi Kalvi Scheme, Government of Tamil Nadu, Mr.I.Leoni, Chair Person, Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation, Ms.Latha, Director, SCERT, Tamil Nadu Text Book Corporation · Samagra Shiksha, Dr.V.C.Rameshwara Murugan, Additional State Project Director, Samagraha Shiksha, School Education Department, Mr. S Nagaraj Murugan, Director, Tamil Nadu Matriculation Schools, and Ms.Anitha, Joint Director (NSS), School Education Department.
The Core Team took extra efforts to meet the Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu, Dr.V.Irai Anbu, IAS, and briefly explained to him about Vaan Muhil’s initiative of Constitutional Rights Education Program for children in schools and communities and handed over a copy of the printed module (We, The People of India), a copy of the bylaws for CRE clubs, along with the Teachers’ Manual. He was very much appreciative of the initiative and personally referred the matter to the Commissioner of the School Education Department.
The Project Team continued to strengthen contacts with the Commissioner of the School Education Department, Mr. K. Nandakumar IAS, through regular meetings with updates about the preparation of modules for the CRE program and the digital format of the same for the past two years. The printed module (We, The People of India), a copy of the bylaws for CRE clubs, along with the Teachers’ Manual, were handed over to him and explained to him in detail about the initiative across Tamil Nadu. His response was very positive and willing to take up the program in all government schools in an effective way.
The State Chief Trainer and the Associate Trainer for Odisha took all possible efforts to obtain government permission from the School and Mass Education Department (S&ME) and wrote a letter to the Chairperson of the Odisha Human Rights Commission to pass an order to S&ME department for conducting CRE program in Government Schools in this academic year. Unfortunately, both the Principal Secretary and Additional Secretary of the department, who were very supportive of this initiative, were transferred to other departments. They also explore other possibilities to introduce CRE programs in government schools in Odisha.
The partner NGOs have invited a number of government officials, District Legal Services Authorities, elected Panchayat Raj Leaders, and other Civil Society Groups to CRE Programs, wherever possible. This association and involvement have created visibility for CRE Program to some extent at panchayat, block levels and child protection structures at the district level. The partner NGOs developed rapport building with District Level Education Officers and Child Protection Officials and their association has been very useful in effectively carrying out CRE Programme for children and communities and in schools later.