The inauguration of this pioneering Programme for children in communities made a huge impact on the children in rural areas in different parts of Tamil Nadu and created more expectations from the civil society groups about our programme. A number of stakeholders were involved in the launching of the Programme on 21stAugust 2021 and the visibility materials that our team prepared for the inauguration and the two modules for our program were well received among different sections in Tamil Nadu.
The CRE programme for children in 125 villages in 16 districts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry has taken off, in collaboration with 10 NGOs and grassroots movements across the state. There are children from Adivasi communities, arunthathiyars, dalits, fisherfolks, Muslims and Christians, Denotified communities and backward sections and of course the physically challenged.
The Minister for Information Technology, Mr. Mano Thangaraj was there throughout the meeting. He appreciated very much our CRE program for children in communities and he made a public commitment that he would take this message to the Chief Minister and the Education Minister and would make all possible efforts to introduce this program in Government schools.
The Chairperson of Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission, Mr. Peter Alphonse delivered a special address in the inauguration. The Member of the State Human Rights Commission, Mr. D. Jeyachandran and the Member of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Mr. V.Ramaraj openly acknowledged the significance of the CRE program for children and promised us that they would recommend this to the Government of Tamil Nadu for Government schools. The short video message sent by Ms. Karin Stoll, the Consul General, German Consulate in Chennai was encouraging!
The Module for Community CRE Programme was released by Dr. V. Vasanthi Devi, Head of CRE Advisory Committee, Former Vice Chancellor, Manonmaniam Sundarnar University and former the Chairperson of State Women Commission. CRE clubs from 15 districts took active part in the inauguration through online and participated in the release of CRE materials.
Nearly 500 children from various villages attended the online programme and they were very much impressed. The promo video and the e posters that were prepared for the inauguration were widely circulated among different sections in Tamil Nadu through social media and well received.