Activities and impact
Mobile Learning Centre (MLCs): A bus filled with books, toys, audio-visual content and other learning tools - that visits several Bengaluru localities and engages children from waste-picker communities. MLCs are offering age-appropriate learning for children to feel comfortable with the concept and experience of learning. The purpose was to familiarise children who have never/seldom attended school to start understanding the concept of formal learning, so that they can transition smoothly into formal learning at Primary Schools and anganwadi centers. Also, for children who already access formal schooling but still struggle with learning due to little or no support at home, children are offered after-school support to brush up on what they learnt at school in a more relaxed setting.
More than the numbers, it's the smiles that are so precious. Children wait for the bus to arrive and mothers tell us that kids forget to even go home for lunch when the bus is visiting!
The buses were launched at Vidhana Soudha by Honourable Minister for Education Shri. BC Nagesh in October 2021. Currently, these buses reach 30 separate geographic locations, 25 schools and 25 anganwadi centers to ensure children are able to access education, with a focus on play and activity-based learning methods. Since its launch in October 2021, until July 2023, 4,798 children have accessed the buses.
Strengthening existing Government School / angawadi center structures: Bal Raksha Bharat has provided WASH (Water Sanitation And Hygiene) facilities such as safe drinking water facility, multi height handwashing stations and child friendly WASH facilities (separate washrooms for boys and girls) and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) laboratory facilities in 25 government schools. The BLES (Building Learning Environment at School) work was completed in 25 Schools and 17 anganwadi centers. A film was developed on the pre and post BLES work.
See video here -
Installed suggestion boxes in 25 schools as a way for children to share their feedback and opinions about the various problems they face in school, and their suggestions on what can be done to for an improved learning experience.
For example, in Phase 1, we found many issues were raised around finding space for playground, acquiring study materials from prior students by the School Management, identifying and bringing dropout children back to school by their peers, use of mobile phones in classroom by the teachers. Other concerns recorded include requests for floor mats, benches and sport materials, notebooks and bags, cleaning of the school campus and drinking water. These boxes are opened regularly and suggestions are discussed with teachers and school administration.
Vaccine awareness: A mobile van campaign with a video to raise awareness on taking the COVID-19 vaccine was launched in December 2021 to address vaccine hesitancy in Bengaluru with the support of Saamuhika Shakti partner BBC Media Action. The campaign was inaugurated by Honourable Governor of Karnataka – Gelhot Tawar Chand, and reached 30 locations, covered twice a day, over a month.
Right to identity: This involved helping the community get identity cards and other documents for their children to make them eligible for social schemes. As of now 1,092 children have received social entitlements like Aadhaar card (new and corrected versions), bank accounts, Taayi Cards (Mother card), Sukhanya Samrudhi Yojana, Bhagyalaxmi Bond etc., from the concerned departments.
Back to School Campaigns: Organised enrolment drives and child rights campaigns to ensure more children are enrolled in government schools and anganwadi centers. In collaboration with the Education Department (Govt. School) and DWCD (Department of Women and Child Development), ‘Back to School’ campaign and Mobile Van campaign in 30 urban slums was organised.
In 2022 and 2023, 938 children are enrolled in government school and anganwadi centers.
At child and adolescent group meetings, children are exposed to child rights issues including the right to education, the right against child labour and child marriages, and ways to protect children from abuse. Gender equality is another major theme at these meetings, as are ways to help parents understand the right time to enrol their children in anganwadis and schools.
Other activities:
Collaborated with All India Radio to bring awareness on ‘Child Rights’ through 10 dedicated episodes, with each episode featuring a child and an expert talking about the rights of the child. After the episodes, 9 children got access to Right to Participation, 19 million listenership was recorded.
Photojournalism course: 10 children from across Bal Raksha Bharat’s project locations participated in a photography and child rights workshop. They were each given a camera to capture their world and their issues from their perspective. The photos were compiled into a photobook and an exhibition in collaboration with the government is in the works. See the photobook
here.
The Photo Exhibition was placed in MG metro station for 13 days in collaboration with BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited) for the general population to view and to understand see the world through the waste picker children’s eyes. Nearly 5000 people visited the exhibition and shared feedback on the childrens photos.
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