Class VI student makes efforts to tutor kids on hygiene

Pioneer Bhopal Edition : Rajni Ojha, student of Class VI makes sure that students of her school cut their nails cut properly and drinking water is provided to the students hygienically.

Rajini is secretary of Jagmag Sena, a children club on hygiene and sanitation in a Government school at Tarawata village of Guna district.Jagmag Sena is part of a project, being implemented in 25 schools of Guna by the district administration with support from UNICEF for Madhya Pradesh. To implement this project UNICEF has also engaged an NGO Vaibhvari, which is working with teachers and children of Government schools in Guna to bring in child-to-child communication, to increased awareness on issue of hygiene and sanitation among children.

Jagmag Sena is a group of 10 children (5 girls and 5 boys) who monitor the usage of toilet facilities, washing hands, safe drinking water and other personal hygiene issues in a school. Jagmag Sena has developed a monitoring chart, which consists of the above-mentioned issues and has been painted on the wall. The member of the Jagmag Sena fill the number of children practicing safe hygiene daily. The Sena has also developed a song through which they display their concern over safe hygiene practices which motivates others to follow the same.

Programme Manager UNICEF Office for Madhya Pradesh Manish Mathur said that it was heartening to meet those children who are helping to create a positive environment in schools towards healthy behavior. They not only understand the criticality of personal hygiene and clean surroundings; they practice and demonstrate correct behavior for other children to follow.

RK Mishra, Deputy Director Rural Development Department Guna district said that the children are like messengers to the society and their families, therefore, this awareness technique has been conceived. He also said that the main aim is to change the habits and behaviour of the children towards hygiene and sanitation. “We will continue the awareness programme for the next two years so that the results can easily be seen among them,” he added.

Activity-Based Learning in MP schools

Abhijit C Chandra, Bhopal, Dec 15 (UNI) : Imagine going to school sans a schoolbag! With the objectives of ensuring children's participation in the learning process and addressing absence from school, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in MP has introduced Activity Based Learning( ABL) in classes I and II with support from UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). ABL is currently reaching out to children in benefitting students in approximately 4,000 primary schools across 50 districts of Madhya Pradesh. ''Activity-Based Learning (ABL) makes certain that kids learn at their own pace with no scope for rote learning,'' a UNICEF official told UNI here.

Attractive cards and activity generate interest and boost a child's confidence. ABL also enhances scope for the child's development in creative and communicative skills. ABL is underway at 80 schools in Vidisha district and District Education Officer Manish Verma descibed the results as satisfactory.''Children's interest in Hindi, English and Mathematics has increased,'' said District Project Coordinator Vinod Chaudhry. In the current scenario, the challenges for education at primary level are insufficient availability of teachers and addressing issues concerning multi-grade teaching and multi-level teaching situations in classrooms.

''We have a situation where, even after five years of primary education, all children are unable to reach satisfactory levels of achievement. Children drop out of schools as they fall behind in pace with other students or teachers,'' the official explained. Under ABL, the young ones learn through a self-learning experience. At the same time, teachers are in the role of facilitator where they are able to identify each child's achievement level. They involve themselves as friendly guides. Teachers are free from the pressure of not being able to address the individual learning needs of children and  students are free from any fear of failure as teachers adopt a continuous evaluation procedure.ABL classes demand different pedagogy therefore it requires a change in the mindset of all- parents, teachers and officials as there are no textbooks. There are colourful activity cards and workbooks for children. Intially teachers have to work hard to establish the ABL approach, but subsequently the workload eases. As children and teachers start tracking their progress on the learning ladders, the sense of achievement is immense.

ABL classrooms require adequate space, accessible but secure storage, rich and a student-friendly environment. ABL demands higher level of creativity, commitment, mobility and responsibility from teachers. Continuous on-site support to teachers is essential.The project, which began last year, is being implemented in classes I and II and will be extended to classes III and IV in the next session

Kids at Masti Ki Pathshala

Bhopal, Dec 5, 2009 : More than 300 hundred children participated in Masti Ki Pathshala organized by Aarambh, a non governmental organization with support from UNICEF held at BHEL sports club, Berkhera.

Children from Aishbagh, Bajaria, Kabadkhana, Annu Nagar, Atal Ayub Nagar, Indra Sahayat Nagar participated in the various event held to mark the day. Children participated in various track & field sports activities during the day and cultural programme like song and dance in the afternoon. Games stall were installed where children enjoyed during the day. The programme was part of events to mark 20th anniversary of Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children release UNICEF report in Bhopal

Sanjay Sharma, Bhopal, Nov 20 (IANS) For the first time in Madhya Pradesh, a clutch of children released the Unicef State of the World Children Report 2009 here Friday, praising the efforts of the government for their survival, care and protection but also calling for more focus.

Children like Pappi Khan, Madhu, Aashi, Shivani Sen, Aarti, and Sunil - from Bhopal and Hoshangabad - were delighted to get a platform to speak out. They called on the state and society to speak out against female foeticide, child abuse and provide quality education and care to all children.

“What’s needed is a supportive environment that respects women’s rights. Educating women and girls is pivotal to creating such an environment,” said one of the children. “Most of all, saving women and children’s lives requires the concerted efforts of government leaders, health specialists, civil society, communities and families”, said another.

“There has been considerable progress since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was opened for signature nearly 20 years ago though the rights of millions of children are still not respected or protected,” said Manish Mathur, officer in charge of Unicef. Twenty years after the UN adopted the treaty guaranteeing children’s rights, fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school, says Unicef’s report.

MP becomes 1st state to top IMR for 6th time

PTI from Bhopal reports that Madhya Pradesh has got the unenviable distinction of becoming the first state in the country to top the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the sixth time in a row. Madhya Pradesh had replaced Orissa as the state with the highest IMR in the country about six years ago and since then the former is keeping this stigma on its head. "Madhya Pradesh has the highest 70 IMR in the country in 2008 also even after it has decreased by two points in the State in comparison to 2007 when IMR was 72 at per thousand live births," says the latest bulletin of Sample Registration System (SRS) of the Registrar General of India. Orissa, which stands second in worst performing states in IMR in 2008 recorded 69 infant deaths and managed to keep the IMR below that of Madhya Pradesh consistently for the last six years. Kerala achieved the status of best performing states in IMR in 2008 where only 12 infant deaths were reported during the period followed by Tamil Nadu (31) and Maharashtra (33). The SRS bulletin also shows that Madhya Pradesh continues to be even worse in case of the female children and the IMR for girl children is 72 in the state as compared to 68 for boy children.

Madhya Pradesh asked to set up child rights body

Sanjay Sharma, IANS, BHOPAL - The Child Rights Observatory - an independent child rights monitoring body comprising of civil society groups, NGOs, academics and media persons - Saturday urged the Madhya Pradesh government to set up a board or mission for child rights.

The recommendation was made in its report “State of MP’s Children”, released by Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, the chairman of the state Human Rights Commission, along with students Priya Singh & Abhinash Mishra and UNICEF State representative for Madhya Pradesh office Hamid El Bashir at a function here.

The group, set up in November 2007, also advocated the establishment of child rights centres, clubs, forums and parliaments in schools to encourage child participation in issues of children.
The group also stressed the need of sustained participation of the local community and civil society and engaging local elected bodies in solving the issues of children.

“The state has in the last ten years progressed in literacy, education and provisioning of schooling, yet it lacks on indicators like infant mortality rate, malnourishment, basic poverty and infrastructure,” says the report adding that the state also has challenges in school dropouts and high rates of crime against children.

In his address, Justice Dharmadhikari said children in the state face many challenges and there is need to engage civil society organisations, and capitalise on their support to bring change for favour of children. Hamid El Bashir said the report will benefit policy makers, help in promoting debate on children and create a movement for development of children in the state.

Priya of class 8 and Abhinash Mishra of class 9 called upon the state to encourage their participation and provide for protection of their rights. Principal Secretary, Women and Child Development Tinoo Joshi spoke about the state government’s initiatives for child development, nutrition and protection, while Child Rights Observatory president Nirmala Buch stressed that the report calls for zero tolerance for child rights violation in the state.