Bhopal: Covid-orphans should get priority in RTE admissions, says MP Child Commission

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MPCPCR) wants that children whose one or both parents have died due to Covid-19 should get priority in admissions to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

Commission member Brajesh Chauhan told the Free Press that such a measure would help such children and their parents. He said that he would make a recommendation to this effect in writing to the top officials of the school education department.

Chauhan said that while children who have become orphans due to Covid-19 pandemic are getting monthly stipends under Central and State Government schemes. However, there is no scheme for helping children who have lost one of their parents during the pandemic period- whether due to contracting the disease or otherwise.

“According to our survey, there are 12,000 such children in the state. Of them, we have arranged aid of Rs 2,000 per month for 5,500 of them through private sponsorships,” he said. Chauhan said the Commission had written to the state government seeking to start a scheme for assisting such children and the government may soon come up with a scheme.

Chauhan also said that the Commission is organising day-long training workshops for teachers and principals of schools to help them learn about the ways and means of bringing the children back into the mainstream after the two-year-long closure of schools. “The long break has led to learning loss among the children, they have become addicted to mobiles and their mental health has been affected,” he said. The teachers are being made aware of child rights and also on how to protect children from cyber crimes.

The workshops have already been organised in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Damoh and Sagar and many other districts. The workshops will be resumed after the Election Model Code of Conduct is lifted, Chauhan added.