Education
While the Right To Education Act has brought elementary education within reach of almost all children, a lot remains to be done in terms of access, retention and quality in schools and early learning centres. For older children and young people, support is needed to complete higher education, and to access and take advantage of training for jobs. HCNF supports all such efforts that seek to strengthen the government’s education system and bring in quality and accountability.
Marginalised Children and Young People
In many parts of the country, socio-political conflicts have disrupted children’s education. If these conflicts sustain for some time, there is a danger that children will give up on education altogether, endangering their prospects. HCNF supports efforts to reach out to children and young people in such circumstances and strengthen the alternative modes of education that may be set up in such crisis.
Cultural and Ecological Diversity
We believe that while children should have access to the modern world through education and technology, they are also the inheritors and future custodians of the culture, language and values of their communities, and of the planet. We support all endeavors to prevent the erosion of the cultural and ecological wealth.
Children and Young People at Risk
Children from marginalized communities, older girl children, children whose home language is completely different from the language of the local school, are some of the categories of children who are at risk of dropping out of school. The reasons could be the need to start work, or early marriage, or inability to cope with the academic burden that some children face. HCNF supports efforts to ensure that such children remain in or rejoin the mainstream of education, and complete it successfully
Social Change and Public Awareness
All efforts for and by children for their growth and development need to be backed by enabling policies. We believe that the public at large needs to be aware of and sensitive to the issues that endanger our children’s lives and futures, so that they as citizens can contribute to supportive and effective policies being enacted and sustained