Empowering Girl Students by Counselling Mothers

 

Girl students attending online classes Pic Courtesy Calcutta Rescue

 A Calcutta based NGO, Calcutta Rescue, has started a campaign to provide counselling to slum parents to encourage them to ensure their girls and boys continue with their studies and do not give up midway. Among other things advice is also provided to minimise the gender divide that exists in most families where the boys and their demands are prioritised over the girls’.

According to initial reports the sessions have shown early results In many cases mothers are standing up for their daughters and speaking for them. Teachers at school say they have noticed a change in the attitude of the parents. This is a major achievement since earlier, the parents were not be keen on online classes. Now, when the parents step out, they leave their phones behind to allow the children to attend classes.

According to counsellor Suchandra Chatterjee..“Most of the children are first generation learners and some of the mothers have been subjected to violence at home. We ask them if they would want the same plight for their daughters or if they want them to become financially independent and not be subjected to any atrocity.” The counselling is mostly for mothers but the NGO has tried to include fathers, too.

“The gender sensitisation has worked in some cases. We have seen mothers telling their sons not to take the phone with them when going out because their sister has a class,” Suchandra said. She said that while the mothers have been able to change their attitudes, the resistance comes from the grandparents whose thinking is still “primitive”.Encouragted by the results achieved Calcutta Rescue now wants to make it more regular and rigorous.

Conducting a poverty survey of the city

"We are able to connect with more and more parents through online parent-teacher meetings. We notify them beforehand. It has become easier for them to join the meetings from their homes. It’s less time consuming. They can listen to the meetings while working. They are now very attentive of the children’s hygiene, mental health, vocational trainings etc, They encourage their children to attend career counselling classes.

"Calcutta Rescue runs two educational institutes, which provide love, care, support and a safe learning environment for Kolkata’s street and slum children. At our centres we do more than just teach. We know that in order to learn, children must be well fed, healthy, active and have the appropriate clothing and equipment – we try to provide everything the children need that they are not able to get at home or at their school."

Counsellors also orient the mothers to look for signs of disturbance among their children, which could be due to abuse, and report it to the teachers. “We have to keep in mind the mental health of our children and for that it is essential to orient the parents. Many of these children are exposed to abuse and need to make their mothers aware of it,” said Ananya Chatterjee, the school administrator at Calcutta Rescue.

“The best part is we have been able to retain our children. They have not dropped out, barring a few exceptional cases who have migrated to their native places,” she said. Children who hqave moved out of the city continue to attend the programme. The counsellors also ask parents to ensure regular attendance among the children. The adolescents sometimes use phones to play games or watch videos instead of attending classes.

“Despite the phones being recharged by us, the children are not attending classes while their parents think they are because they are sitting with the device. These are also issues we have to address,” said Ananya. Suchandra said there was a need to build confidence in the parents’ because there was a tendency among the children to take them for a ride since they do not know how to read or write.

About Calcutta Rescue: A pioneering Indian-registered charity working to improve the lives of the poorest people in and around Kolkata. We provide free healthcare, education, vocational training, social support and sanitation so that families and whole communities have a chance to lift themselves out of poverty. Calcutta Rescue (CR) collaborates with Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives for empowering 126 girl students Azim Premji Foundation is one of the largest not-for-profit organisations