Students to have a say in corporation schools

CHENNAI: In a socio-cultural milieu where adults take decisions for children, a new system in the city is advocating children to have a say. To have better representation of children's voices in schools, 10 corporation schools in north Chennai have joined hands with Arunodaya, a centre for street and working children, and formed children's councils.Starting this academic year, these children will have a say in the functioning of their schools including how the noon-meal scheme is implemented, issues in teaching, corporal punishment and cleanliness.
For the project, students from Class III up to middle school have formed a council in each of the 10 schools in Korukkupet. “We zeroed-in on this location because our centre is here and children from the centre go to these corporation schools,“ says Virgil D'Samy , executive director of Arunodaya. Each council has 25 children as members and has sub-committees to oversee health and food. “They will have monthly meetings to discuss with school authorities,“ said Samy , adding the aim is to make them part of the school management committee.
The right to participate is one of the four chief components of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ultimate goal being to ensure there is representation of children in local governance and policy making. “ All views of a child may not be factored in but the idea is to hear them out,“ says Job Zachariah, Unicef 's chief of field office for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. These formal platforms should however go beyond the realm of schools, says Zachariah. “Karnataka and Kerala have mandated gram sabhas exclusively for children where they come up with recommendations for better roads and lighting. Most children ask for recreational facilities such as parks and playgrounds,“ he says.
When children are involved it helps them develop decision-making skills later as an adult, say educationists. “There is so much hierarchy in schools so students have no say and parents aren't involved,“ says S Arumainathan, president of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Students Parents Welfare Association, adding, “If schools take their views, students will develop an interest and be more responsible.“
For the past eight years, K A Saveetha, now 17, had been part of the Federation of Children's Movements for Right to Participation, a coalition of children's movements in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. “There should be at least two child members in the school education department to contribute toward deciding syllabus and curriculum,“ she says.