Smile Foundation India
SUPPORT A CAUSE
Logo
Smile Foundation India
DONATE NOW

Author: Smile Editorial Team

Categories
Insights Partners In Change

What Can Keep Teachers Motivated during the Uncertain Times of the Pandemic?

What Can Keep Teachers Motivated during the Uncertain Times of the Pandemic?

COVID-19 disrupted professional norms across all industries. Education was equally impacted by the pandemic. Everyone talks about how the pandemic has affected students. However, very few pay attention to how teachers have been dealing with their jobs. In these uncertain times, what can keep teachers motivated?

 

Boost blended learning infrastructure and training

 

Blended learning has emerged as the go-to method for students as well as teachers all over the world. It provides a great degree of flexibility in learning. It also enables teachers and students to use technology to their advantage.

 

Some teachers have started using video modules to impart education. Some have been using voice notes on whatsapp to communicate with students as well as parents. However, there are still many teachers who are not able to capitalize on using technology. Thus, schools and institutions must invest time and effort to train teachers on this new aspect of teaching.

 

Teachers need to be acknowledged for the tremendous effort they have put in to learn digital tools. However, with the correct guidance and some time, they can master the art of blended learning and make their lessons more effective. Despite all this, Internet access and availability of devices remains an issue.

 

Focus on their emotional and mental well-being

 

The pandemic has brought into focus the need for good mental and emotional health. COVID-19 has had a psychological impact on millions of people on the planet. Children and adults alike have been affected. Teachers are no different. With schools being shut intermittently, teachers are also continuously adapting to the situation and adopting new techniques to continue their work. As a result, teachers are working harder than ever to ensure that their students continue learning.

 

In this situation, we need to take care of teachers’ mental and emotional well-being more than ever. Counselling and the correct tools to help deal with the stress can help to a great extent.

 

Governments and institutions can play a vital role on this front by innovating. For instance, government schools in Delhi introduced the happiness curriculum even before the pandemic. The concepts taught as part of this curriculum–mindfulness, listening, emotional well-being—have become important in the COVID times.

 

Increase autonomy of teachers to keep them motivated

 

Before the pandemic, the curriculum being taught in educational institutions was limited in certain ways. More or less, it was a one-size-fits-all approach. The pandemic taught teachers to find creative ways to reach out to children. And this they did in different ways for different students, all of whom are facing some challenge or the other. Thus, teachers got an increased sense of autonomy.

 

Instead of relying only on textbooks, teachers started experimenting with other content delivery formats. They also started visiting the homes of students in the community. The students who have access to the Internet and smart devices have also been learning online.

 

The experience of improvising through the pandemic has definitely taught teachers a lot. If they are given more say in the curriculum and in teaching methods, it will motivate the teachers and also improve their performance. This will in turn contribute in keeping them motivated.

 

Creating communities through practice

 

A supportive network of peers is important for any community. We can strengthen our teaching community in the same manner. Having forums where teachers can discuss their learnings and strategies and also share feedback will build a sense of community. During the pandemic especially, sharing experiences with other teachers helped all of them.

 

Filling teacher vacancies to reduce pressure

 

Teachers have been paying individual attention to many students during online classes and home visits. However, once schools open, this focused attention might not be possible. The teacher-student ratio needs to be improved by filling up all the vacancies. 

 

This will help to reduce the burden on teachers. It can also help to ensure that weaker students get the benefit from a better teacher-student ratio. By enhancing learning outcomes, this can keep teachers motivated.

Categories
Insights Partners In Change

Role of Community Mobilizers: Pillars of Strength for the Healthcare System

Role of Community Mobilizers (Anganwadi): Pillars of Strength for the Healthcare System

In a country as large as India, it is impractical and nearly impossible for healthcare workers to be available in every village and every remote corner. This where the role of community mobilizers comes in. They are a vital part of the healthcare system as they are often the first point of contact or information related to health, vaccinations, and so on. This includes both Anganwadi and ASHA workers.

 

Anganwadi and ASHA workers

 

ASHA workers come under the ambit of India’s National Rural Health Mission. They act as the first point of contact for any health-related issue in rural areas. The most marginalized communities in the country depend on ASHA workers for doorstep healthcare services. The women who work as ASHA workers have played a huge part in bringing down maternal and infant mortality rates. They inform and educate the communities, right from pregnancy, to childbirth, lactation, and even after that. Moreover, ASHA workers also help marginalized women with institutional deliveries. As per the scheme, every village in the country must have an ASHA worker. This is a trained female community health activist who belongs to the village itself. She is accountable to the people and works as an interface between the community and the public health system.

 

Anganwadi workers primarily work on nutrition of children. They come under the umbrella of Integrated Child Development Services of the government.

 

Even amid the pandemic, this force of community mobilizers played a large role in informing, educating, and collecting data. They have also been at the forefront of many immunization initiatives over the years. During the pandemic, they were responsible for contact tracing as well as ensuring that migrant workers quarantined properly.

 

What all services do community mobilizers provide?

 

Anganwadi and ASHA workers are responsible for a number of nutrition and healthcare services. Some of these are as follows.

 

ASHA

 

Promoters good health practices in the community.

Provide a minimum package of appropriate and feasible curative care.

Arrange for timely referrals.

Generate community awareness concerning various aspects of health. These include basic sanitation and hygiene (promoting WASH), healthy living conditions, balanced nutrition, and so on.

Counsel women over the course of their pregnancy and after childbirth. They educate women about birth preparedness, institutional delivery, breastfeeding, immunization of the child, contraception, and prevention of common infections.

Facilitate the community’s access to health-related institutional services.

Provisions essential items like oral rehydration solution and so on.

Anganwadi

 

Elicit community support and participation in various programmes.

Carry out surveys with special focus on mothers and children.

Organise non-formal pre-school activities for children.

Educate mothers about supplementary nutrition.

Provide health and nutrition education.

Conduct home visits to educate parents about the growth and development of their children.

Keep track of possible outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.

Guide ASHAs in carrying out their responsibilities and in maintaining records.

 

Why are community mobilizers crucial to the healthcare infrastructure?

 

The responsibilities of ASHAs and Anganwadis listed above make it clear that they are at the frontline of the healthcare infrastructure of rural areas and even in urban villages. Being from the community themselves, they are trusted and counted on by the community. These women at the grassroots are the main force for improving health and nutritional status among our impoverished masses.

 

The pandemic also gave us some community leaders

 

Community leader Savita conducting an informative session
Community leader Savita conducting an informative session

 

Fifty-year old Savita is a resident of Surat Nagar Phase 2 in Gurgaon. She has been working for her community for the past five years. However, it was during the COVID-19 lockdowns over the past two years that she has emerged as a true change-maker.

 

Savita suffered a huge loss in her personal life during the pandemic. She lost her husband. Despite this, she kept working tirelessly for her people. During the pandemic, all primary healthcare services had come to a standstill. At this time, she ensured institutional deliveries of at least 10 women from her community.

Singlehandedly, she coordinated with health authorities and the families of expecting women to ensure that they reach hospitals in time for their deliveries.

 

She is also regularly counseling women in her community on reproductive health and guiding them on good health practices.

Categories
Insights

Can climate change turn into a child rights crisis?

Can climate change turn into a child rights crisis?

Children are the most susceptible in crises ranging from warfare to natural disasters and everything in between. Climate change is no different. The threat presented by the global warming catastrophe will only intensify unless the world comes together and thinks of immediate and long-term solutions. Before climate change turns into a child rights crisis, we need to address this issue.

 

At the recently held COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, world leaders promised to combat carbon emissions and other climate-related challenges with greater vigour than ever before. The world has no other choice, and children will play a critical part in addressing the crisis of climate change.

 

Mary Robinson, former Irish president who also served twice as a UN special envoy for climate change, moderated the event. During the conversation, she stated that every committee to future climate summits should include at least one or more student representatives. This can help guarantee that young people’s perspectives are acknowledged.

 

The Future

 

A recent Save the Children report has revealed some telling data. If the earth gets warmer at the current rate, children born in 2020 would suffer more heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires than earlier generations. In comparison to a person born in 1960, these children will encounter three times as many climatic disasters as their grandparents. They will also experience nearly seven times as many heat waves over their lifetimes.

 

Water scarcity and air pollution will worsen as global temperatures continue to rise. It will put children at danger of the most lethal effects of water-borne infections and severe respiratory disorders. Indeed, according to a UNICEF research, The Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI), released in the run-up to COP26, practically every child on the earth is vulnerable to at least one climate and environmental danger. These may include heatwaves, cyclones, air pollution, flooding, and water scarcity. The Index also categorizes roughly one billion youngsters – nearly half of the world’s minors living in 33 nations – as being at “very high-risk”.

 

There are additional repercussions to extreme weather events. According to the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) report, women and children who are affected by natural disasters are at increased danger of modern slavery and human trafficking.

 

Climate change manifesto for children and the youth

 

South Asia contains some of the world’s densest, child-populated places, including India. Thus, large numbers of children are likely to be affected by flooding, drought, and heat waves.

 

Young people around the world may inherit a problem that was not created by them. However, they may contribute in greater numbers to environmental causes and raise awareness about the impending issue. According to UNICEF, young people can play a bigger role as climate change pressure groups.

 

UNICEF is urging governments, NGOs, and corporations for a number of things.

 

  1. Invest more on climate adaptation and resilience in vital children’s services. Critical services, such as water, sanitation and hygiene systems, health and education services, must be changed to safeguard children, communities, and the most vulnerable from the worst effects of the already changing climate.
  2. Minimise the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Comprehensive and immediate action is essential to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis. To keep global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, countries must reduce emissions by at least 45 percent by 2030 (compared to 2010 levels).
  3. Focus on providing climate education and environmental skills to children, which are essential for their adaptation to and preparation for the impacts of climate change. Children and young people will bear the brunt of the climate problem and water scarcity, despite bearing the least responsibility. All young people and future generations owe us a duty.
  4. Involve young people in all climate debates and decisions at the national, regional, and international levels, especially at COP26. All climate-related decision-making must include children and young people.
  5. Help to make sure a green, low-carbon, and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, so that future generations’ ability to address and respond to the climate challenge is not jeopardised.

 

India’s child rights activists

 

Vinisha Umashankar of Tamil Nadu, Ridhima Pandey of Uttarakhand, and Ayaan Shankta of Maharashtra are some of the Indian child activists who have received international attention for spreading awareness about climate change and environmental conservation.

 

Ridhima was just 11 years old when she filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal in 2017, condemning the Indian government for failing to take proper climate action. Seeing the horrific 2013 floods in Kedarnath, which killed nearly 6,000 people, had a profound impact on her. She decided to step up. She even addressed the United Nations, urging swift action to rescue the earth.

Categories
In The Spotlight

Why Beneficiary Management System Is Crucial to Mission Education

Why Beneficiary Management System Is Crucial to Mission Education

Mission Education is the flagship programme at Smile Foundation. The aim of this integral initiative is to reach out and make quality education accessible and available to underprivileged children. Mission Education reaches out to children across the length and breadth of the country. We need to ensure that the objective of the programme is in alignment with our interventions. To study the expected outcomes, it is important to have qualitative management of beneficiary data in place. Thus, the function of collecting, storing, and managing student-related data from pan-India centers comprise the Beneficiary Management System, commonly called the BMS.

 

About Beneficiary Management System (BMS)

 

Beneficiary Management System (BMS) deals with all the details of the students. These include academic reports, batch details, and so on. It tracks all the main points of a student. For example, total number of children enrolled, number of children retained, etc. Data collation is an annual event, facilitated and supported by Smile teams on the ground and from the individual centers. This portal essentially intends to gather and maintain students’ data securely.

 

Why BMS?

 

Our portal will facilitate to explore all the details about the students at any given point of time. The BMS is an automated version of the manual way of entering and managing beneficiary data. It is able to handle all the data points in a robust manner. The information consists of center or school, student education, parent/guardian, and socio-economic background details.

 

Features of BMS

 

Through this system, we have access to alumni information, like their names, contact numbers, address, geographic details, etc. Since it is centralized, project coordinators or regional officers can verify the students’ details during their regular visit to the centers. If any changes are required they can observe, note and update online immediately. There are times when there might be errors in student profiles, including change in status due to migration or other reasons.

 

Identifying these errors and finding effective ways to rectify them can help in improving the systems in maintaining records, managing operations, etc. This process refers to the physical verification of the beneficiary. The data is accessible through a well-designed front-end interface that is easy and friendly to use. The back-end administration tools to administer authorizations and control the front-end content are also optimized. This can also help focus on sustainability. 

 

Benefits of BMS

 

Beneficiary Management System (BMS) is an effective management tool to view students’ details, educational details, etc. within the broader purview of the Mission Education programme management. The obvious advantage of the BMS is that it is a strategic technique to make and manage the data management network, a platform facilitating alumni engagement and alumni community building. The system will give all the random uncoordinated efforts to manage student information by student management services right away. Therefore, BMS is a critical element in the effective execution of the Mission Education initiative.

 

This blog has been contribute by Dharmendra Kumar Chauhan, Senior Executive, Mission Education, SVP.

Categories
In The Spotlight

Nurturing Women Entrepreneurs: Swabhiman Team Helps Yashoda Fulfill Her Dreams

Nurturing Women Entrepreneurs: Swabhiman Team Helps Yashoda Fulfill Her Dreams

The pandemic affected each of our lives. It tested us in the biggest and most unusual ways possible. However, for most us, the entire experience has made us stronger. In some way or the other, we have found the strength within us to do bigger and better things. Through our Swabhiman programme, we have managed to help and empower many women even during the pandemic. Entrepreneurship has been one of the major outcomes of the pandemic. Nurturing women entrepreneurs is among the main goals of Swabhiman. With their help, many women have developed their own enterprises too. Here is the story of one such woman, Yashoda.

 

Yashoda’s origins

 

Before the pandemic, Yashoda was just a regular young woman. She lived with her one-year old child and her husband in Bengaluru. Her husband was a cab driver. However, when the lockdown was imposed last year, the family started facing financial constraints. Soon, things turned bitter.

 

‘My husband was at home, and always stressed out. With such a small child to take care of, I did not know what to do. I was emotionally and financially distressed,’ shares Yashoda.

 

However, despite the difficult circumstances, Yashoda did not lose hope. She had made up her mind to fight back. ‘I came to know about the Entrepreneur Development Training programme from Smile Foundation through a community mobilizer. I attended all the training modules they were offering. Meeting women from different backgrounds and getting to know about their problems, I felt I was not alone,’ she shares.

 

Swabhiman team nurturing women entrepreneurs

 

The Swabhiman team conducts training sessions for women on various things. For instance, menstrual health, organic farming, cooking nutritious meals, entrepreneurship development, financial literacy, and so on. All these are aimed towards empowering these women. The women engaged with us are able to improve their lives in a number of ways. Many of them become confident enough to take up jobs or start their own ventures.

 

Setting up an enterprise: Yashoda’s dreams

 

Yashoda enjoyed these sessions very much. She met other like-minded women through these sessions. They all enjoyed the session and learned a lot from them. Yashoda not only completed the training herself, but also gathered women in her community who were suffering like her. Soon she emerged as a leader of her peer group and set up a business of handmade organic cosmetics with them. ‘Two of my group members are college-going girls. We segregated our work and proposed our business entity. They gave us specific training on how to make lip balm, kajal, bath salts, bath powder and tooth powder. They motivated us so much. I got all my confidence back,’ says Yashoda.  

 

Smile’s team provided them not just with know-how but also with the raw materials they needed to start the business. Yashoda and her team named their business Kadamba Naturals, which is now registered too! She says, ‘I’m sure we will make it a big brand and become financially independent. My dream is to expand my business and train a lot of women like me and make their dream come true.’

 

Together, the team not only manufactures but also markets the products by themselves.

 

A source of inspiration for many and a true entrepreneur

 

Yashoda has motivated other women in her community to start their own enterprises too. Some women are not able to initially arrange the resources for their own business. She involves these women in her own business to help with production.

 

COVID-19 turned her world upside down, but she emerged as a true leader who has changed the lives of women in her community forever. Doing this for herself has helped her take the first step towards financial independence. Moreover, she has got the much-needed self-respect and confidence back. She is a true change-maker who has overcome her problems. At the same time, she has also emerged as a leader who has motivated others.

Categories
In The Spotlight

National Mathematics Day 2021: Marking S. Ramanujan’s Birth Anniversary

National Mathematics Day 2021: Marking S. Ramanujan’s Birth Anniversary

Since 2012, India celebrates National Mathematics Day on December 22 every year. This day marks the birth anniversary of world-renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

 

It was then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who declared S. Ramanujan’s birthday as National Mathematics Day to honour his contribution to the subject. Now, this day is celebrated all over the country in various government and academic institutions. It marks the importance of mathematics in our life and encourages people to develop self-learning and rationale skills, much like Ramanujan.

 

 

A brief history of S. Ramanujan

 

S. Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887. He belonged to a Tamil Brahmin family of the city of Erode, Tamil Nadu.

 

He was a child prodigy, and largely a self-taught mathematician. At age twelve, he had mastered trigonometry thoroughly. So much so that he was inventing sophisticated theorems by that age. By the age of fourteen, he was helping his school with logistics and completing his exams in half the allotted time. He won a scholarship to study in college at the age of seventeen. However, due to his failure to crack the other subjects, he lost this scholarship.

 

Solving algebra and trigonometric problems came so easily to him while his fellow students struggled to crack these.

 

His rise to fame

 

In 1913, Ramanujan sent a long list of complex theorems to three Cambridge academics: H. F. Baker, E. W. Hobson, and G. H. Hardy. Hardy recognized the young man’s genius and invited him to visit the University of Cambridge. Thus, at twenty-six, Ramanujam went to Britain for his theorems on infinite series, continued fractions, improper integrals, and number theory.

 

The genius mathematician was the first Indian to be elected as a Fellow at Trinity College. He also became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society in London for his work on Elliptic functions and theory of numbers.

 

Ramanujan came to be known as ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’. This was because of his infinite love for and contribution to mathematics.

 

In Britain, he compiled more than 3,000 mathematical results and equations. He finally returned to India in 1919. Due to tuberculosis, he passed away the next year.

 

Ramanujan contributed greatly to mathematical analysis, infinite series, continued fractions and number theory. His path-breaking work is an inspiration for future generations.

 

One of Ramanujan’s most famous quotes is:

An equation means nothing to me unless it expresses a thought of God.

Categories
In The Spotlight Partners In Change

Students as Mentors: Child for Child’s Buddy Mentor Initiative

Students as Mentors: Child for Child’s Buddy Mentor Initiative

There is a famous quote from Galileo Galilei, “You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself.” How true is this for our students who are every day learning new things and are being encouraged to explore new ideas! It is with this inspiration at Child for Child that we decided to include children from privileged schools to become part of our student mentoring system. Students as mentors? An exciting idea, isn’t it? Here’s how we did it.

CFC students as mentors

We spoke to some of the students who have been associated with us for almost a year. All of them are working on some project or the other. We have six students from Bangalore who are members of an organisation called LEAP, an acronym for Leaders of Environmental Awareness and Protection. They are Rahul, Konik, Siddhant, Stuti, Smriti, and Shrishti. All of them work towards the common cause of environmental preservation. They seek to mentor other children regarding best practices in ecology preservation. Well, they reached out and we connected them to our project children in the lovely hill town of Kalimpong, West Bengal.

Students as mentors

Then we reached out to Shivani, Zaara, Rishi, and Aryaman, our bunch of tech nerds from Mumbai who have set up GenZ Codes. The project teaches coding at extremely low costs to the less privileged. They have been associated with us and want to teach our beneficiary children the advantages of coding and how to do it with ease. They were happy to come on board with their tutorials, their applications, and their bundle of talent. So, we connected them to the children in our Darjeeling project who want to learn coding but do not have the means to do so.

K-students also join in!

Not to be left behind were Hyeyoon, Yedam, and Seokwoo, our very own K-students from South Korea. All three currently reside in India and are extremely excited to teach math, music, and, of course, Korean to those who were keen. They too joined the bandwagon of student mentors who want to guide, teach, and motivate the project children. We connected them to our extremely enthusiastic bunch of tweens and teens living in the quaint villages of India’s Queen of Hills, nestled amongst world’s most gorgeous tea gardens in Darjeeling.

As connections were built, introductions made, we noticed that new relationships were emerging. The mentoring quickly progressed towards formation of bonds that are visible only amongst siblings. The shy giggles from our project children gave way to eager questions. Our children accepted their mentors as buddies and wanted to know more about them, about the world outside, the music they listened to, and the pop bands they followed.

From mentors to buddies

Now, where in the world do you see the progress so quickly from being mentors to buddies? At Smile we saw that. We absolutely love this and we pray that this bond never breaks. We are happy to share that now we have a bunch of super intelligent Buddy Mentors who have taken it upon themselves to motivate their brethren mentees to do the right thing, choose the right path, and to always be inquisitive. And the amazing part…it’s all digital! How beautiful it is to see that Buddy Mentors login from south India, central India, as well as the capital of India, and connect so well with their mentees from the foothills of Himalayas.

The mentors and mentees have already celebrated Children’s Day and Environment Day together. They have also indulged in a some pre-Xmas celebrations. Let’s hope that we see this magic evolve into a relationship where children, despite the physical distances, continue to remain in touch and continue to learn from each other. As the lyrics go of a famous song by the British Rockband, GTR:

When the Heart rules the mind

One look & love is blind

When you want the dream to last

Take a chance, forget the past”

The empathy, the love & the maturity displayed by our Buddy Mentors will ensure that this Dream will definitely last!

Categories
In The Spotlight

Smile Foundation Creating Sustainable Livelihoods through STeP

Smile Foundation Creating Sustainable Livelihoods through STeP

Asustainable livelihood is one which can sustain a range of dynamic stress factors and shocks. Creating sustainable livelihoods that a skilled worker’s capabilities are not limited by external factors. A person can have a sustainable livelihood only if they acquire skills that remain relevant in the long-term to ensure a source of income.

 

At Smile Foundation, we are continuously working on creating sustainable livelihoods through the STeP (Smile Twin e-Learning Programme) initiative. Skill training and enhancement, in accordance with market requirements, are the main measures under STeP, along with personality development.

 

Till now, we have trained close to 50,000 youth. Here are the endearing stories of some of the trainees. With Tayyari Kal Ki, we are geared up to skill and support many more such youth.

 

Neha

For a better and brighter future, it is important to dream. If your father is a daily wage labourer and mother is a domestic helper, those dreams may sometimes seem far-fetched. After completing her graduation in commerce, Neha started looking for a job. It was very important for her to procure a job as soon as possible to add to her family income of Rs 10,000-15,000 per month. It has been her dream to be independent and contribute to her family’s income. She also dreamt of having a corporate job.

Neha found out about the STeP initiative through a community mobilizing session in her locality. Soon after, she joined the digital marketing skilling training programme by STeP.

 

Over the duration of the course, Neha gained the skills necessary for a job in digital marketing. With the correct training and guidance, Neha has now got a job as a Digital Sales Marketer at Innovative Technologies, Noida. She proudly earns a salary of Rs 13,000 every month and makes her parents proud.

 

She is currently working as a Digital Sales Marketer in Innovative Technologies, Noida at a salary of Rs. 13000 per month.

 

Mohammad Ibrahim

 

The future depends on what you do today. Hard work and perseverance will never fail you. Mohammed Ibrahim will surely stand by this. He is a resident from Talab Katta, Hyderabad. Ibrahim belongs to a lower middle class family. His father is a daily wage earner and his mother a housewife. Due to financial problems, he had to discontinue his studies.  

He came to know about STeP from his friends. Ibrahim felt that learning from the STeP centre would give him the much-needed skills and training he required to get a good job. As he did not finish his studies, he faced problems in finding a job. The STeP training centre provided him the best possible platform and infrastructure to excel in his career. The expert trainers made him industry-ready, while the placement training helped him to enhance his soft skills and made him stand out from others.

 

First, Mohammed Ibrahim got placed in 99TV channel. He knew he had to work even harder to chase his dreams. After putting in a lot of extra work, he is now working as a Marketing Executive at Tata 1MG. He now earns a good salary of Rs 25,000 per month.

 

“Finding a good job was my concern and how to proceed further was something I was completely unaware of. During my research, I got to know about STeP employability training which further helped me in building my confidence and polishing my skills,” he shares. He wants more young people to avail of this opportunity so that they can build a future for themselves.

 

Bijan Halder

 

Bijan Halder is a 20-year-old resident of Sonarpur in West Bengal. Soon after he completed his higher secondary studies, he started looking for skill development courses to improve his chances of getting employment. STeP’s on-ground mobilization team conducts various surveys to find potential trainees. They found Bijan through one such survey. He seemed like the perfect candidate who could upskill himself and realize his dreams.

 

Bijan belongs to a lower-middle class family. His father is the only person in the family who is earning. As a daily wage labourer, he makes about Rs 12,000 per month. Bijan wanted to take some pressure off his father and support his family financially. He always had a knack of helping others and he finally decided to put this to use for earning an income. After contemplating for a few days, he decided to enroll in the nursing course at STeP.

He joined the three-month programme in 2020. The healthcare course under STeP not only provides the required theoretical knowledge but also the practical knowledge. This helps new healthcare workers to hit the ground running when they join the industry. Communications classes are also held as part of the course to make sure the students do not face any problem communicating with their patients or colleagues in the industry. With the tireless help of his mentor, Bijan was able to successfully complete the course.

In 2021, he started his career in the nursing industry with Hindustan Health Point as a trainee. He is now working at New Town Nursing Home and earning Rs 9000 per month.  

Categories
In The Spotlight

What has NFHS-5 revealed about malnutrition in India?

What has NFHS-5 revealed about malnutrition in India?

Malnutrition is among India’s most serious development challenges. It contributes significantly to the country’s disease burden. Stunting and under-nutrition continue to be the big challenges. The National Family Health Survey (NHFS)-5 has revealed some more insights into the problem of malnutrition. The NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. It is second only to the Census.

 

What NFHS-5 revealed about malnutrition in India

 

There are improvements on various dimensions. These include educational attainment, infant mortality, vaccinations, and institutional deliveries.

 

There are three main indicators of malnutrition: stunting (low height-for-age), wasting (low weight-for-height) and being underweight (low weight-for-age). There is an improvement on all three indicators. It is important to remember that the survey was conducted in two phases. In Phase, the malnutrition indicators had shown worsening; in Phase 2 none of the states show worsening. This anomaly may have something to do with COVID-19, which possibly affected the way data was collected.

 

As per the NFHS-5, 35.5% of children below five years were stunted and 32.1 per cent were underweight in 2019-21.

 

Among the stunted children, 37.3% are in the rural areas as compared to 30.1% in urban areas. If we look at state-wise data, Meghalaya (46.5 per cent), Bihar (42.9%), Uttar Pradesh (39.7%), and Jharkhand (39.6%) have the highest rates of stunting while Sikkim (22.3%) and Puducherry (20%) have the lowest.

 

Two states that had the lowest stunting rates in children in NFHS-4 (2015-16) but showed a substantial rise as per the NFHS-5 are Goa (from 20.1% to 25.8%) and Kerala (from 19.7% to 23.4%).

 

Moreover, the proportion of overweight children, women, and men also increased. This also reflects malnutrition which can lead to serious health consequences.

 

What this indicates

 

Stunting is a health condition caused due to malnutrition. It can have consequences on human capital, poverty, and equity. A child suffering from stunting may also study less and have fewer professional opportunities.  The World Bank says, “A 1% loss in adult height due to childhood stunting is associated with a 1.4 per cent loss in economic productivity.”

 

From what the data reveals, it can be inferred that collaborative measures will prove to be useful to overcome this menace. Thus, the government, health institutions, academic, as well as civil society organizations need to work together.  Health and nutrition programmes need to be converged to address these issues right from pregnancy until the child reaches five years of age.

 

Change at the behavior-level is also needed. For this, information, education, and communication sessions should be held. Effective social behavioural and communication (SBCC) strategy is essential because behaviours are ingrained in society and in family traditions.

 

Effective monitoring and implementation of programmes to address malnutrition and prioritise the reduction of child undernutrition in the national development agenda is the need of the hour.

 

Smile Foundation’s work on malnutrition

 

As part of our work with women and children, we have actively been working on reducing malnutrition. At our Mission Education centres, we ensure that children get healthy and nutritious meals. We also educate their parents on the same. Through our Swabhiman programme, which works for and with women in particular, we are constantly educating and empowering women to take charge of their own lives and health. For this, we conduct various informative workshops with them to teach them how they can take care of themselves as well as their newborns through the means of good food. Nutrition is a vital aspect of our work towards the improvement of society. After knowing what NFHS-5 has revealed about malnutrition in India, it is more important than ever to intervene on this aspect of development.

 

You can also do your part by ensuring nutrition for someone else. Know more here.

Categories
Insights

Mid-day Meals and Their Role in the Education of Children

Mid-day Meals and Their Role in the Education of Children

There are millions of children in our country who face many obstacles in their education. Socio-economic causes are the main deterrents to education, apart from others like geographical difficulties. However, it is important to keep working on educating such children for the many benefits it will provide to them and to the society at large. Some of these benefits also act as incentives for students to come to school and parents to send them. The mid-day meal is one of these. Mid-day meals play a vital role in the education of underprivileged children.

 

What are mid-day meals?

 

The Central Government of India established the mid-day meal scheme in 1995 to give free prepared meals to children in government and government-aided primary schools (classes I–V; ages 6–10 years). The National Programme of Nutritional Support for Primary Education had planned to cover all government schools. However, due to institutional constraints, only a few states promptly ramped up the programme.

 

Data from the 1999 National Sample Survey (NSS)–consumer expenditure survey (CES)–suggest that just 6% of all girls aged 6–10 years received mid-day meals at school.

 

However, between 1999 and 2004, the programme’s coverage expanded in many states. This was after the Supreme Court ordered state governments to provide prepared lunches in primary schools.

 

In 2004, 32% of Indian girls aged 6–10 years were covered by the programme, which increased to 46% by 2011 as significant funds were provided to the plan. Throughout this time period, boys received comparable coverage.

 

The study also discovered that the 14 states that implemented mid-day meals in the late 1990s had improvements in child height before the rest of the country. Following the Supreme Court rule, these states expanded the mid-day meal programme in the 2000s.

 

The findings imply that acting during the primary school years can make significant benefits to lowering future child stunting, particularly given the cumulative exposure that school nutrition programmes can provide. Because they target numerous underlying factors of undernutrition in vulnerable groups, these mid-day meal programmes have the potential to stimulate population-level stunting reduction.

 

What studies indicate

 

A new study discovered that girls who received free food in elementary schools as part of the mid-day meal programme had children with better growth. The study, titled ‘Intergenerational Nutrition Advantages of India’s National School Feeding Programme’ was published in the journal Nature Communications.

 

The study examined whether mid-day meals help intergenerational increases in a child’s linear development. This was done using nationally representative data on mothers and their children from 1993 to 2016.

 

How are mid-day meals helping

 

School, without a doubt, plays a vital part in the socio-economic development of society. It is a place where youngsters from all origins mix, establishing a culture of unity and brotherhood. Their education at school prepares them to reach their goals and be successful in life. However, the majority of students in government schools come from low-income families. Even when education programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan are being introduced, some youngsters are forced to pick jobs over school due to financial constraints. And this is where the true value of a mid-day meal emerges. The mid-day meal serves as an enticing incentive for parents to take their children to school. This way they can ensure that their child will receive at least one plate full of food for the day.

 

Social structures are used to channel policy actions. The resilience of these social institutions guarantees that social differences are maintained and that rewards are distributed based on one’s place in the social hierarchy. All policy interventions began in this manner. In the case of Mid Day Meal, the situation is rather different. It is worth noting that MDM governmental intervention is not included in that assumption of social structure. Rather, it has opposed the influence of an inequitable social structure by allowing disadvantaged students from low income categories, as well as female students, to complete their studies. Furthermore, advancements in girls’ education will lead to benefits in social development. Continued education postpones marriage and improves women’s participation in family decisions.

 

Role of civil society organisations

 

The Government of India encourages civil society organisations to participate by providing enough support in order to enhance the benefits of mid-day meals. These include

 

  • Avoiding classroom hunger
  • Increasing school enrollment
  • Increasing school attendance
  • Improving caste socialisation, 
  • Addressing malnutrition and 
  • Empowering women through employment.

 

Smile Foundation understands the concrete and long-term impact of a mid-day meal. Thus, through our various programmes we are providing meals and good nutrition to as many children as possible. As a result, it takes on the responsibility of providing mid-day meals for impoverished children.

Know more about our work here.

0%