An Assessment of Awareness of Rights of the Child among the Students of Class X

The General Assembly of United Nations adopted a convention on the rights of the child (UNCRC) in 1989 with the right to survival, protection, development and participation forming the core of the convention. 192 countries affirmed their commitment to the convention and India ratified it in 1992. Chapter VI) of the RTE Act (2009) deals with protection of the rights of children. It thrusts the responsibility of protection of child rights on the National Commission and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights along with agencies at lower levels of administration. It also describes the mechanism of redressal of the grievances. But, are our children enjoying a secure childhood? Do they enjoy the rights as declared in UNCRC? India has been working towards providing a safe childhood to all children. As education is a medium to know about child rights and its redressal, it is essential to find out whether the children who are at the stage of stepping out of school aware of their rights. Therefore, the investigator felt the need to take up the study. The sample of the study included 138 students of class X from the two co-education schools (one residential and another non- residential) chosen randomly, following the CBSE syllabus. A questionnaire prepared by the investigator with 25 items of multiple-choice type was used as the tool for the study. The findings of the study show that the level of awareness on rights of the child is average among the students of class X. There are no significant differences between the students of residential and non-residential schools; boys and girls of both the schools taken together; boys and girls of residential as well as non-residential schools, on awareness about the rights of the child.