CRY-RILM project helps kids learn anew
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, April 30 2023:
A project launched by Child Rights and You-Rotary India Literacy Mission (CRY-RILM) has reportedly been helping school drop-out children pursue study afresh.
In a release, CRY informed that an 11-year-old boy named Tekcham Bikash Singh from a remote area of the state was staring at an uncertain future after completing Class V as the nearest secondary school was located a mile away, and his parents were not sure if they could afford his daily expenses of commute, books and uniform anymore.
Informing that Bikash is among 1000 children who were part of the CRY-RILM assessment study in Imphal West district, it said that a CRY-RILM team met Bikash during which the team was pleaded to enrol him at the Atom Khuman Child Friendly centre, run by the project.
The boy was then registered at the centre as well as at Maklang High School.
Informing that there are nine Asha Kiran centres under two Panchayat blocks of Imphal West district, the release maintained that of the 1000 children who joined these centres, around 3.6 per cent had dropped out of school because of the pandemic and other reasons while 96.3 per cent were found to be officially enrolled in school, but without age-appropriate learning stage.
A staggering 95.9 per cent of the kids were found to be "poor" in basic-reading skills and 98.7 in basic calculations, the release added.
CRY (East) regional director Trina Chakrabarti is hopeful that change will happen, step by step and maintained that the learning loss has been unparalleled, the exact ramifications of which will take long to fathom and make up.
Every community, every child and every context is unique.
It is important to adopt and embrace contextually relevant and inclusive approaches that take into consideration the diverse needs and aspirations of children, the release said.
Over the months, the teachers at Asha Kiran centres in Manipur have managed to bring back the children into some sort of a study environment, with regular classes, innovative teaching-learning methods, extracurricular activities and more, the release added.