Womenlines takes pleasure to share about a wonderful initiative by an organisation SCHOOL (Society of Community Health Oriented Operational Links), which is very passionately working on very interesting projects on the teenage group and also on the elderly group in India, with the intention to provide the best support system to them while engaging other sectors around too. Listen from the CEO of SCHOOL, Dr Benazir Patil in the above video what is SCHOOL about and why you should support them in their initiatives-
Let us reach out to the adolescents of India
Today, we have the largest adolescent population the world has ever known – 1.2 billion, and about 89% of them live in developing countries.
In India itself, the adolescent population comprises over 1/4th of the total population and by 2020, India is set to become the world’s youngest country with 64% of its population in the working age group.
This makes today and our time now, one of excess potential as well as one filled with great vulnerability for our upcoming generation.
Investing in the development of India’s adolescent populace can help ensure a better future for them, one of equality and devoid of poverty.
Through the ‘Teen Coalition’ SCHOOL works with Adolescents of India
We strive to, first – spread awareness about the problems faced by adolescents in India and then support and advocate for organizations & individuals working to curb these issues.
“For us to survive we need more money, we have no disposable cash for anything, it affects our food, education clothing, medicine… we are unable to do anything timely, in contrast to the people who have money.” (14-year-old boy, rural village, Bihar)
The stigma associated with poverty has a strong impact on adolescents. Whilst many young people avoid describing themselves as ‘poor’, they do talk about the difficulty of not being able to keep clean, dress adequately or participate in social activities, as well as bullying and teasing.
“We’re not going to suffer like this in the mud … I wanted to study and become a nurse. But now I feel it’s better that I start working and earn some money for myself.” (Girl, who works on her family’s farm and wants to be a nurse in MP)
Education is seen by young people as the key to escaping poverty and living a better life in the future, but the reality of education often does not match young people’s aspirations.
“We cannot study because we always worry about the threat from boys’. We are frightened always.” (the 12-year-old girl who fears to go to the school because of being bullied by boys in West Bengal)
Girls are afraid to go about their lives because of uncorrected behaviour on account of the boys. We need ample awareness about gender issues in the lower strata of our society.
“I am the oldest and only after I get married can my sisters think about getting married. If the river takes the house it will be hard for them to get married.” (18-year-old, already married, Odisha)
Expectations about pathways to adulthood vary by gender, location and family circumstances
Teen Coalition seeks to invest in adolescents in order to generate a ‘triple dividend’
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improving their present lives
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aiding their transition to successful adulthood
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ensuring the overall wellbeing of the next generation
What we do
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Build effective platforms for adolescent engagement
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Draw attention to the rights and needs of girls and boys
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Design interventions that support adolescents’
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health and well-being
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education and learning
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protection from harm
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economic opportunities
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participation and engagement
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and social protection
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Your contribution will help us deliver on our collective goals and secure a better future for India’s adolescents.
To know more about SCHOOL please visit https://www.school4dev.org/ .
Womenlines wants to request readers to help SCHOOL in whatever possible way (financially, volunteer, supporter, partnership) to help them to deliver successful projects, which can be a real help to that section of society which is actually looking forward to a helping hand, to live a better life!
Charu Mehrotra
Let Excellence be your brand
Founder- Womenlines
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