Our Responsibility to Children scheme scaled up to cover 1,227 schools
ORC was launched for early identification, intervention, and prevention of issues faced by children. When incorporated by the government into the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the Women and Child Development department, it covered only 90 schools. It has continued to grow since then and addresses all students, either through awareness programmes or early intervention initiatives, in the schools covered.
Today, ORC has been extended to all schools where the WCD's psychosocial counsellors are appointed and is turning its attention to lower and upper primary schools for early interventions.
Minister for Women and Child Development Veena George had reviewed the programme implementation recently and directed the formation of a committee to look into any change in strategies in light of the increasing and complex challenges experienced by children today.
The State-level module for SMART-40 (Sensible, Motivated, Able, Responsible, Talented), a life skills training programme for 30 students facing behavioural, mental health and such issues and 10 peer mentors, under the ORC is undergoing revision. The current module, in use since 2022, is being updated to incorporate contemporary contexts and life skill requirements.
Parenting sessions have been integrated into ORC to equip parents to observe and support their wards.
Similarly, besides the module for SMART-i (a derivative of SMART-40), a life skills education camp for residents of child care institutions in the State, a follow-up module too has been devised to provide further support to the children.
ORC also makes interventions in the community where schools involved in the project are located. A report is prepared after understanding the major challenges faced by the community and community-level interventions launched. For instance, programmes to prevent students from dropping out of school have been effective in Malappuram, Thrissur, and Kasaragod districts.
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