Aide et Action Hong Kong

Aide et Action South Asia advocates bridge schools for children of Migrant Communities in India (22 March 2010)

Aide et Action South Asia has initiated five schools on 11 March 2010 in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. The project aims at offering approximately 300 migrant children an education in their native language in order to reintegrate them into the school system. Born in the west of the State of Orissa, some migrant children spend half a year in the State of Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu where their families work in the bricks production industry. Nowadays, more than 10 million migrant workers are working in this industrial sector in India, while children alone account for about 22% of this work force. They are being excluded from schools in the regions since they cannot speak the regional language. So they have no choice but to work with their parents. With small hands that are more suitable for making bricks, children are the target of exploitation at these works.

Benefiting from the bridge schools initiated by Aide et Action, these children will have the opportunity to attend lessons during the months they spend away from their home villages. Fifteen other bridge schools will soon be opened by Aide et Action for the children of migrant workers in the state of Chattisgarh. Many actions (food distribution, identification of migrant workers, and advocacy for financial aids etc…) have already been carried out by Aide et Action South Asia to support this population.