NEW DELHI, India, September 5 – As nearly 200 million elementary school children across the country celebrated Teacher’s Day today, UNICEF launched a set of guidelines that aim to make schools child-friendly and ensure secure, safe, rights-based, quality education, for each and every child. The launch of Child-friendly Schools and Systems package is a part of the UNCT Campaign on Education for India being organised in the month of September 2014, which is in line with the UN Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI).

The ‘Child-friendly Schools and Systems’ (CFSS) package highlights the need to keep continuous focus on the qualitative aspect of the Right to Education. It is designed to enable all children to benefit from child-friendly and inclusive learning environments.  The launch was presided by Mr. Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF India representative; Ms Kushal Singh, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and UNICEF Celebrity Advocate for Education Kareena Kapoor. (Watch video- link to be inserted later)

It is four years since the historic Right to Free & Compulsory Education (RTE) Act that ensures free and compulsory education for children in the age group 6-14 years, was enacted by the Government of India. Today’s launch of the guidelines urges stakeholders to expand the focus beyond quantity and accelerate the shift from ‘Right of Access to Education’ to ‘Right to Learn and quality education’.

“Enrolling children is only the beginning of any educational initiative. Once children are enrolled, it is essential to ensure that the school works in the best interest of all children to ensure that that they are learning and developing to their full potential. Child friendly schools can support holistic development and inclusive learning of children leading to effective implementation of RTE.”, said Louis Georges Arsenault, Representative, UNICEF India

Speaking on this occasion, UNICEF India Celebrity Advocate, Kareena Kapoor said, “I recently visited Rajasthan with UNICEF to see child-friendly schools and to meet some of the girls and boys that are benefitting from these programmes. I was inspired to see spaces which are child-friendly. These are places where children are full of joy when they interact with teachers, where children feel safe and secure and where interactive and creative tools are used to ensure that children are happy and learning.”

The CFSS package describes a typical child-friendly school where the infrastructure, learning environment and learning processes aim towards children’s well-being, holistic development and inclusive learning. The content and methods of teaching-learning centre around children’s best interests and encourage the joyful participation of every child. Community members are closely involved in supporting and monitoring the quality of the school’s learning environment.

“The purpose of the Child-friendly Schools and Systems framework is to serve as a guide for planners and practitioners. The proposed measures which have been developed through extensive consultations over the past three years, will enable teachers to transform classroom environments into inclusive and interactive learning spaces. For policymakers this can act as a reference guide for quality improvement in schools, to make RTE a reality for all children in India,” said Urmila Sarkar, Chief of Education, UNICEF India. She emphasized that child-friendly education has two major characteristics, both of which relate directly to the right to education and to equity: It is child-centred, and it is child-seeking. Child-centred education acts in the best interests of the child, leading to realization of the child’s full potential.

UNICEF is working with the Government of India to ensure greater access to education, enrolment and improved learning outcomes for all girls and boys by strengthening policies, enhancing capacities of teachers, as well as working with communities to raise awareness about the importance of education.Today’s  launch of the ‘Child-friendly Schools and Systems’ package is a key step forward in this direction as the CFSS approach aims to improve  the quality of education leading to gains in access, gender equity, empowerment and improved learning outcomes. It is integral to fulfilling each child’s fundamental right to education.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.