Smt.Shanta Sinha, the Ramon Magsaysay award winner, has recently been appointed for the post of chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. She is the founder secretary trustee of the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya (MV) Foundation, Secunderabad. She has made an immense contribution in the area of child development. She has strived hard for eliminating child labor. She has played a pivotal role in universalizing the elementary education. These days, she is working in close association with government teachers, non-governmental organizations women’s groups, local bodies and youth associations. Presently, Shanta Sinha is focusing her attention on the development of girl child and children, who are engaged in the industries as bonded laborers. She has taken up a number of social issues like compulsory school education, eradication of child labor etc. She was sought help by Nupur Talwar, the mother of victim Aarushi Talwar, a minor who was recently murdered.
She is never hesitant to raise her voice against sensitive issues that are a matter

of concern to the society. Shanta Sinha was a 
faculty member of the department of Political Science at the University of Hyderabad.

This lady of phenomenal strength has given an interview to the Career Guide on all vital aspects of importance of Primary Education and the need to be self-driven. Read on...

TCG: Career Guide congratulates you for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award. Could you tell us about your experience and interaction with other awardees who shared the dais with you on that day?
SS: In the year 2003, when I won the award, I met a lot of eminent people who also won the Magsaysay the same year. There was J.M Lyngdoh from India who pioneered the concept of free and fair elections, Gao Yaojhie who is known for her fervent crusade to confront AIDS crisis in China, Sheila Coronel who won the award for her groundbreaking collaborative effort to develop investigative journalism as a critical component of democratic discourse in Philippines.
It was also great meeting the other awardees like Tetsu Naka from Japan who won the award for his commitment to ease the pain of war, disease, and calamity among refugees of the Afghanistan,-Pakistan borderlands, Seiei Toyama from Japan for his twenty-year crusade to green the deserts of China and A.G.Lopes from East Timor for his courageous stand for justice & rule of law during his country’s turbulent passage to nationhood.
All the awardees are very accomplished and their contribution to society is invaluable. It was a very humbling experience.

TCG: Education is the fundamental right of any individual, especially with the technology boom there is greater demand for quality education. In this era we Indians are still lagging behind in literacy/ basic education, leave alone Higher Education.
What do you have to say about this?
SS: There is a need to change our way of seeing reality. We must begin to acknowledge that the poor are making whole hearted efforts to send their children to school. There is such a mismatch between parental aspirations and the half-hearted policies that are unwilling to recognise and respond to parental demand for education. In the name of being practical they make plans in a piecemeal fashion, saying ‘lets do primary education’ first (the MDGs too says so!) or lets focus on removing children engaged in the ‘worst forms of child labour first’.

TCG:  Could you brief us about the MV foundation’s role in this aspect? 
SS: MVF believes in changing the social norm
of the community to accept ‘NO child labour’. MVF prepares the community, the government and the school authorities in improving the access to quality education as schools, like any other educational institution, are also instrumental in democratizing distribution of all those resources [technical and social skills, certificates, general capacities] which help improve the life chances of those who survive in the system. MVF has now expanded its mandate to look into all aspects of child rights.

TCG: From social activist to Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights—how was your journey? What were the milestones?
SS: It has always been a process of learning. As a Chairperson one is an ‘authority’ and has ‘access’ to authorities. This could be used as an advantage to influence policies.

TCG: Your present position should be helping you in fulfilling your mission easier than before. Did you foresee this?
SS: Yes, in my present capacity as Chairperson I am able to reach out to many more people in power who have enormous impact on the lives of thousands of children.
TCG:  You must have seen that parents from rural areas owing to economic conditions are forced to send children to work. On the other hand there are many who force their kids to ‘earn’ at a very tender age and abuse them for money. How do you tackle these two categories of parents? How do you crack down their sense of ownership towards their children and convince them to send the child to study?
SS: There are many excuses that are propagated to perpetuate child labour. One of the excuses is the argument that children have to work because they are poor. In fact most of the time it is because children work there is poverty, depression of wages for adults and a low quality of life in the society. Children earn not enough to even feed themselves. They are malnourished and unhealthy. So where do they actually support the family?
There are very few parents who force the children to earn. It is more so because they are conditioned by the community and predominant thought that educating their children is of no use. It is more the middlemen/contractors, who are generally from the village/friend of the family, who convince the parents that the child is better off earning than studying.

TCG: What problems does a social activist generally encounter till he/she breaks the ice with the people they are dealing with?
SS: I did not particularly face many problems with the community. However, an activist must be aware of the social realities and the problems faced by the community. He/she must also be sensitive to issues of the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged. Bringing the community together on issues of social and human justice is the prime role of an activist.

TCG: How would you explain to the rural community about the need for education? Are they convinced about the indispensability of education? Could you walk into their lives/hearts easily?
SS: A poor parent’s decision to send the child to school is predicated, and pre-decided, by
an atmosphere that repeatedly states that they are too ambitious and impractical in intending to do so. These values and
attitudes seep through all layers of society with such ease that they are internalized by the parents themselves. Parents cannot take education of their children for granted and have to, in fact, even offer explanation for sending their children to school, something that is otherwise considered normal.

TCG: Several Indians including Mother Theresa must have been your role models to eradicate this strife against child labour. How many noble souls like these did you meet so far? They surely must have left an indelible impact on your conscience? Could you talk about any such particular incident/persons?
SS: For me there are many role models. In fact, I am inspired by the poor and their enormous capacity to sacrifice. I see a Mother Theresa in all of them and they are all my role models.

TCG: Could you elaborate more about the formation of the MV Foundation, its objectives and volunteers?
SS: Based on the non-negotiable principle that ‘no child works and every child attends full time formal school as a matter of right’, MVF has been working towards abolition of child labour in all its forms and mainstreaming them into formal schools, for over a decade now. It began its work from 3 villages in 1991. Currently it monitors the status of over 400,000 children in 6 districts of Andhra Pradesh namely Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Warangal, Hyderabad, Adilbabad and Kurnool.
MVF’s vision is to build societal norms that respect children and consequently make certain that all State policies ensure that children enjoy all the rights.
Its mission is to abolish child labour in all its forms and ensure that every child attends a full time formal school by building a social norm in favour of children’s right to schools and preparing the school system to protect children’s rights.

Objectives of M.V.Foundation

-To build a social norm in favour of children’s right to education and against all forms of child labour.
-To prepare older children, who have been withdrawn from work, to an age-appropriate class through bridge courses and place them in full time formal day schools
-To build capacities of local bodies and other local institutions to strengthen the school system and monitor child rights
-To prepare the education system, more specifically the schools, to respect poor children and the first generation learners and enable their completion up to 10th grade without any difficulty and to ensure that every school becomes a vibrant and dynamic centre of learning and co-curricular activities.
 
TCG: It is seen that educated youth and like minded people, with social service and motto are actively involved in running the foundation. They strive to keep the mission going. This is certainly a very positive picture about the youngsters today who are mostly painted by the society and media to be self centered and selfish. What do you have to say about the youth?
SS: In almost every village the local youth are indispensable partners. They debate, plead, argue and contest all the status-quoist positions on child labour. They bear the brunt of massive resistance to their interventions. They enjoy the new found strength in the strategy of inclusion. They work hard to win over even those who had vehemently opposed them and their families for they know that the real victory for children lay in a societal consensus on protecting their rights.

The youth play an important role in mobilising support and motivating communities to join the campaign against child labour; establishing contacts with the Gram Panchayat and involving the Sarpanch in the program; bringing pressure on schools; taking on employers and even facing their wrath; and organising meetings in expression of solidarity.
While being involved in all these activities, the youth discover themselves as a team who share knowledge about the lives of children in their village, the condition of local schools, and the enthusiasm or lack of it among the partners in the community. They learn how to take decisions in a democratic fashion, conduct review meetings and the rudiments of ‘inclusion’ as a strategy. They also become united as a ‘solidarity group’ who enjoy the rains, mosquito bites, lack of water and food occasionally, as these are registered as challenges rather than disadvantages.

TCG: Do you think that voluntary organizations like yours make palpable difference to the society? How does the general public respond to you and your institute?
SS: Yes, voluntary organisations certainly make a difference as they act as conscience keepers. However, voluntary organisations must prepare the community to assert their rights and not substitute them.  As a voluntary organization the NGO must also not substitute for the government but work towards enhancing the capacities of the already existing government structures. 

TCG: When did the urge to ‘fight for child education’ actually start in you? Was there any particular incident, or a child that triggered this off in you? Please elaborate upon this.
SS: Since 1991, MVF has been working for child rights. When we started our work then there were no voluntary organisations for children and their rights. There were a few orphanages and charity based institutions but none with a clear rights based perspective.

TCG: Were you clear about your objective right from your schooling or did you get this idea after taking up political Sciences in JNU?
SS: Certainly doing political science and being a product of JNU gave me a perspective but  I had no clear direction. It evolved over time and experience.
 
TCG: How did your teachers inspire you to fulfill your dreams? Do you think the present day teachers are looked upon as role models by their students?
SS: In every generation there are teachers who inspire. There will always be good teachers and good students.

TCG: What was the response from your family, friends and society when you expressed the desire to work for the cause? Was there any social stigma that women of your status had to face?
SS: My family always supported my work.  No, there was no stigma of any kind. In fact I did not have to establish my credibility, as being a woman has its own set of advantages. Women are generally considered more honest and credible.

TCG: Primary education is the most important foundation a child must have. It is the stage
where the child is influenced by the teachers, peer and school. Isn’t it important that education at this juncture should be more of fun and inculcate curiosity rather than dumping the child with knowledge?
SS: MVF has repeatedly stressed the need to improve quality of education in government schools. However, it is untrue that only private schools provide better education. The various learning improvement and teaching methodologies that are prescribed to the government teachers are excellent. Also, there are provisions for overall development of the child. Most private schools insist on rote learning and not on the overall development. But I agree that the schools
have to be made child-friendly.

TCG: In what ways can our education be made more interactive than it is at present? 
SS: There has to be shift in our approach. Education must be curricular and co-curricular with emphasis on over-all development. Unlike the normal understanding of education being related to a job and career, we must see education as freedom to explore opportunities.

TCG: What is your message to all those aspiring to enter into social service, full time? 
How can we mobilize more youth to enter into social service? What incentives could attract them? Should it made compulsory in regular education?  Does the present education system reflect any humanitarian values?
SS: I just have one answer for all these questions. If each of us did what we had to do in our roles in an honest and sincere way in our own tasks then each of us would have contributed to the society.