Role of Youth Leaders in Supporting Free Education for Migrant Children in India

Role of Youth Leaders in Supporting Free Education for Migrant Children in India

We are aware of the state of migrant children in India. These kids have little to no access to education. These children leave their homes for another place where they could try to better their lives. Some go alone, and some go with their parents. The reality, unfortunately, has other plans for them, and in most cases, children lose their ability to live like children. The reality forces them to grow up so fast, and they must work in menial jobs to make their ends meet.

The Indian Constitution, which is a progressive document, mentioned education as a free and compulsory right (Under Articles 21-A, 45, and 51A-k). It ensures that the states and private citizens must take part in providing education to children between the age groups of six to fourteen years old. It is quite unfortunate that laws are rules written on paper. India’s laws are not as strong as the West, and in most cases, people tend to ignore the plight of underprivileged children.

Despite India’s drastic improvement in the literacy rate post-1991-reforms, there are still millions of children in India who don’t have access to school. The main reason is the lack of financial aid to provide such education. India’s economy may have improved, but it created a gap between the rich and poor and made basic commodities like health and education expensive.

The Covid-19 pandemic also made the lives of many people a living hell. We all remember the migrant crisis during the initial stages of the lockdown in 2020. The pandemic has severely affected the migrant community. The worst part is, that people were not only numb, but they were apathetic towards their misery, especially towards the children. Social media also provided a tool for people to vent out their frustrations for the wrong reasons. While they were arguing over trivial matters, the pandemic deprived many children of a chance to go to school.

India’s largest group population is the youth. Our generation is supposed to correct the mistakes of the old and bring innovation to improve lives. Unfortunately, the youth themselves are frustrated with the current system, and their disillusionment led to taking out their anger on social media. Most of that anger isn’t spent on good reasons in this polarized socio-political climate.

It is high time that they should use social media to raise awareness about educating migrant children. It is healthier than arguing over petty narratives on Twitter. They should conduct socio-economic operations like providing books or teaching children how to read and write. More so, they can take part in Government or NGO educational schemes. They can even provide early intervention methods and counseling guidance systems to migrant children with disability. They can initiate charities via social media or Twitch streams, where people can help fund the education of migrant children.

Charlie Chaplin once said that people should be kind, gentle, and human. If we don’t have three of said qualities, then our lives will be violent, and our lives will be lost. He said this almost eighty years ago during the Second World War in his movie “The Great Dictator.” The education of children is too important to ignore. We should be better to provide them decent lives with dignity without any hurdles based on any grounds. That way, we could change the fate of our country.

Anish Bachchan
Pursuing 5 th year of the BA.LL.B (Hons.) Course
Amity Law school Noida, India

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1 Comment

  1. Pankaj Chaudhary

    Says April 19, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    A very insightful article describing the problem of uneducated children while it guides us the practical ways of solving these issues on our own at the ground.

    Thanks Anish for bringing out such topics.

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