
‘Aviva Street to School’ – Recognizing ‘Education is
Insurance’
Education is pivotal to human progress. It is the main tool that empowers individuals
to make informed choices. Every child has the right to basic education so that their
future is built on a strong foundation; enabling them to free themselves from the
vicious circle of ignorance, poverty and disease.
At Aviva, we recognize that education is insurance for a better future. In line
with this thought, ‘Aviva Street to School’, our new, international
charity partnership programme, aims to improve the lives of thousands of street
children and young people around the world by helping them off the streets and into
education and training.
Children living and working on the streets is a global issue. Aviva Street to School
is about ‘recognising that Education is Insurance’ – not only
doing the right thing, but also standing by our brand promise and improving the
lives of young people and helping them develop their full potential.
In India, we have partnered with CRY’ (Child Rights and You) and ‘Save
the Children’ to facilitate education (including other related factors that
could prevent a child from attending school) for over 50,000 children by 2012. In
the first year, Aviva will be reaching out to 20,000 children across 9 projects
in 5 states.
We seek to better the lives of underprivileged children and thereby contribute towards
building a brighter future for the country.
Making a difference
Some of our ongoing projects supporting education for underprivileged children are:
- CRY
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CRY will be facilitating education for underprivileged children through intervention
based projects.
PROJECT: Social Action for Literacy and Health (SALAH) This project is working with
slum dwellers across 10 slums in the Bhandup district of Central Mumbai. The project
seeks to address issues like illiteracy, child labour, lack of basic amenities,
addictions among even young children and child marriage. The action plan includes
providing birth certificates which would be required for enrollment into government
schools, surveying and enrolling all eligible children in balwadis or support classes,
providing ration cards to give families access to government welfare schemes and
creating awareness within the community about child marriage. Support classes and
balwadis operate in these areas and all eligible children will be enrolled.
Number of children impacted : 1,300
PROJECT: NIRMAN This project works with children in three resettlement colonies
in South-West Delhi. There are two groups of children that are targeted – children
of workers from the unorganized sector, many of whom do not go to school and children
engaged in labour. The main problem in these areas are the insufficient number of
schools. The schools that are present also lack the basic facilities like toilets
and drinking water. Many children stay at home to look after younger siblings while
the parents are at work due to the lack of crèches or balwadis. Affordability of
education is yet another issue which prevents children from going to school. Malnourishment
and the lack of immunizations are some of the other key issues faced by children
in these slums. Registration of Construction Workers with the Welfare Board to get
scholarships for their children, Mobilizing the community to enroll their children
into schools, quarterly follow ups to ensure benefits – are some of the areas this
project works in, in order to ensure child rights Provisions are also being made
to provide registration of births, health check ups and proper sanitation.
Number of children impacted: 1,570
PROJECT 3: JANVANI This project works with 15 slums in the Shamirpet, Rangareddy
district in Hyderabad. Out of these 12 slums do not have any educational facilities.
The nearby educational facilities that are present do not have basic amenities and
sometimes do not even have a proper compound. They lack basic facilities like toilets
and drinking water, the former being a huge problem, especially for girls and lady
teachers. The schools are also severely understaffed thereby impacting teacher-
student ratio and therefore lack of quality education. Janvani focus includes identifying
and enrolling children into schools, improving infrastructure of the two government
schools in the area, monitoring of ICDS centers and formation and regular follow
ups with youth and children’s groups.
Number of children impacted: 8,343
PROJECT 4: Society for Occupational environment and social security (SOHES) This
project works with 80 coastal hamlets in Thriuvellore, Kancheepuram and Villupuram
districts in Tamil Nadu. They mainly work with the children among the fishing community.
SOHES has first started work in these parts after the Tsunami and thereafter, along
with CRY has taken up a more long term based approach. Only about 50% of the children
in these areas attend school but the poor quality of government schools induces
parents to try and send their children to private schools which are significantly
more expensive and rather far away. Therefore even though enrollments in the primary
level are still high, there are a huge number of dropouts in the middle and secondary
levels. Moreover girls do not attend school because of the responsibility of younger
siblings when the mother goes out to work. The lack of proper and nutritious food
at the government maintained anganwadis give rise to deficiencies in the children’s
physical and mental health. As part of the action plan, there will be 100% retention
of the enrolled children. There will also be enrollment into schools for identified
child labourers. Sensitizing the community at various levels, studying the impact
of the Coastal Management Bill on women and children, setting up new elementary
schools and monitoring functions of the PHCs in the areas are some of the other
points.
Number of children impacted: 400 directly, a few thousand indirectly.
PROJECT 5: DOOARS JAGRON This project works directly with 20 tea gardens in the
Jalpaiguri district. They further have advocate for child rights in 14 other tea
gardens. There is a high number of school dropouts in this region. Child labour
and lack of nutritious food leading to hampered physical and mental development
are other barriers to education. Parents not getting regular wages and lack of proper
crèches and health facilities further prevent the children from going to school.
The action plan targets identifying and bringing dropouts back to school, activation
and monitoring of primary schools, interactive sessions with youth conventions to
generate awareness, studies on child labour and reactivation of ICDS centers.
Number of children impacted: 3120 directly. 6000+ through advocacy program.
- Save the Children
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Save the Children will address the care and protection needs of street and slum
children in New Delhi and Kolkata by setting up child friendly spaces and providing
education. The NGO will work with children of pre-school age at ICDS centres through
our early years programme. For older children between 15-18 years of age and will
provide life skills training and link them to vocational training opportunities.
Save the Children will implement early childhood care and education in the Okhla/Govindpuri
slums of Delhi, working with 400 children. The NGO will mobilise parents around
health and hygiene and the importance of early childhood care and education, training
Anganwadi workers, sensitising 400 mothers and linking their families living in
slum areas with social protection and food security schemes.
Save the Children will work with 700 children living on the streets, 300 children
in Northern Kolkata and 400 children around Nehru Place in Delhi, providing them
safe and child-friendly places through Facilitation Centres that will run approximately
6-8 hours a day, and link with shelter homes operated by Government and non-Government
agencies as “night safe shelter” for street children.
The NGO will facilitate access to bridge courses for children who have missed out
on education and health services. The NGO will facilitate enrolment in formal schools,
provide training in life skills (e.g. emotional and physical self-control, sexual
health, protective measures from abuse, self-esteem). The NGO will also establish
links with vocational institutions, for example, training children to lead heritage
walks as Delhi and Kolkata are tourist cities. While we will focus on formal education
for street children aged between 6-14, the market-oriented vocational links will
focus on the 14-18 age group.
For children enrolling into formal schools, the NGO will connect them with students
at local private schools to mentor and tutor these children with their homework.
Save The Children will train teachers in a total of 16 schools in Delhi (6) and
Kolkata (10) on inclusive teaching methods so that street children enrolled in these
schools will not drop out. Through this programme, Aviva and Save the Children will
indirectly positively impact the lives of 6,400 childre