NGOs and teachers seek continuation of special training centres

At a time when child labour has increased due to COVID-19, the Central government’s decision to include National Child Labour Project (NCLP) under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), has come in as a shock to NGOs and educationalists, who wanted the State government to intervene and ensure the scheme continues.

A survey by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) found that child labour exists in large numbers in the country after which the Central government enacted Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 1986. It also implemented the NCLP scheme by which child workers in the age group of nine to 14 are rescued and enrolled in the Special Training Centres (STCs) where bridge education, vocational training, mid-day meal and stipend is provided and later, the students are mainstreamed into the formal education system.

The centres run by local NGOs function under the Child Labour Division of the Ministry of Labour and Employment that pays a monthly salary of ₹7,000 to the teachers, while the State government pays ₹500 a teacher. Also, to encourage children to continue their studies, they were given a monthly stipend of ₹400. But since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March, 2020, salary was not paid to the teachers while stipend was not paid to the students from 2017.

A total of 213 schools function in 15 districts in the State in which 3,190 students are enrolled and 724 teachers work. In Erode district, 15 schools function in hill areas and in remote tribal hamlets that have 250 students and 35 teachers.

A communication sent by the Principal Secretary on March 16 asked the District Collectors, who are the chairman of the project, to mainstream the children enrolled at the STCs after which the NCLP STCs will cease to be operational. The communication said that the State government may continue to identify and rescue the child workers and mainstream them through SSA or through STCs operated under SSA scheme.

S.C. Natraj, Director of Service Unit for Development Activities in Rural (SUDAR), a Sathyamangalam-based NGO, that is running STCs in Bargur and Kadambur hill areas in the district in the last 13 years, told The Hindu that child labour is on the rise in the district due to COVID-19 and closing STCs is a big blow to the children. “Poverty has pushed many children to work with their parents in brick kiln units and in sugarcane cutting all these years. The pandemic has further worsened the situation and closing down the STCs will lead to an increase in child workers”, he added.

A study by the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL) – Tamil Nadu and Puducherry ‘Lost Gains – COVID-19’ in 2021 found that child labour has increased by nearly 280% in the State compared to the pre-COVID-19 situation. “Without improving the financial position of the family, child labour cannot be abolished and hence, the Centre should withdraw its decision to close down STCs”, he added.