To ensure that the students are able to resume their education which was affected during the pandemic, besides ensuring their overall safety and overall development in an egalitarian environment, schools in Maharashtra have been introduced with ‘Sakhi Savitri’. Committees will be formed.
A Government Resolution (GR) in this regard was recently issued by the Department of School Education. According to GR, the pandemic-induced closure of schools has had a long lasting impact on children and their overall development.
“Due to the heavy migration in the pandemic, there are serious concerns about children dropping out of schools. At the same time social issues like child marriage have started re-emerging. Keeping these various issues in mind, on the occasion of Savitribai Phule’s 125th death anniversary (March 10), it was decided to constitute Sakhi Savitri Committees to ensure protection of child rights,” said Joint Secretary Imtiaz Qazi on Friday. As stated in the issued Gr. , education Department.
“As schools are restarting, the government has decided to form committees of experts at the local level to identify various issues and address them from a professional perspective. “The idea is to focus more on schools in rural parts or inner Maharashtra, where the lack of awareness is high,” said an education department official.
These committees will include representatives of school management, teachers, parents and students besides experts from fields such as counselling, medicine, police and law. While these committees are expected in each school, there will be panels at the school groups as well as taluka levels to monitor the work of the school committees and resolve complaints.
Apart from ensuring 100% attendance by identifying those who are out of school and bringing them back to mainstream education, these committees will have other complex functions such as counseling of children and their parents, awareness against child marriage To produce and ensure the safety of the children. Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act is not violated in schools and nearby places.
According to the GR, it will be the job of the school level committees to create awareness about their existence so that the affected parties can contact them. The committee will meet once in a month. These committees are also expected to raise funds through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities for the education of children coming from socially or economically weaker sections of the society.