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WHO WE ARE: ABOUT PVCR-AP
PVCR or People’s Voice for Child Rights, (earlier known as AP CSS or Andhra Pradesh Common School System Campaign ) is a state level alliance of like-minded NGOs and civic society across the state campaigning for basic rights of the children. Child Rights and You - CRY has played a key role in promoting this Alliance, enhancing the capacities of the members through trainings and strengthening the advocacy efforts of the Alliance.
AP CSS began as, a movement spread across unified Andhra Pradesh advocating the Common School system (CSS) of education for children. An outcome of the alliance was the AP Samana Vidhya Sadhana Samithi Campaign. The Campaign that got on board well known people from the field, spread across the state in a short span of time. In order to achieve its objective the campaign undertook various activities like assessing the situation of education in AP, engaging with the State, creating awareness amongst communities, organizing consultations and public hearings, submitting memorandums to policy makers, releasing a concept book on CSS and strengthening the process by building networks at the district level.
Through the course of its campaigning on CSS the alliance noticed wide spread violations and denial of some of the most basic rights of children and communities. It felt a dire need to focus on not just education but basic rights of health, nutrition, protection and livelihood. Hence in 2012, the alliance was renamed as PVCR or People’s Voice for Child Rights.
PVCR today is a network of distinguished persons and intellectuals, activists, educationists, Students and Teachers organizations and media representatives all of who have a common vision, to ensure marginalized children have access to quality education and basic rights.
While PVCR continues its work at addressing issues impacting children, the bifurcation of AP state in 2014 has resulted in the Alliance branching out as PVCR – AP and PVCR – TS (Telangana State).
Background:
A ‘Parliament Gherao’ Campaign in 2007 to pressurize the ruling government to make education more accessible witnessed participation of various NGOs across the country, including AP. This is where an urgent need was felt to better understand and analyse the situation of education in Andhra Pradesh.
With over 1000 primary schools being closed down in AP in the year 2006, there was a growing concern about its impact on children. To add to this there were plans to stop grants to aided schools, recruitment of teachers in aided schools were being stopped, schools and colleges were being privatised.
Extremely poor infrastructure at schools, the sudden spurt of number of schools being closed down because of lack of students, increasing schools being privatised making it unaffordable for the poor were just some reasons that the government schools in AP were in a crumbling state.
On one hand poor infrastructure does not provide a challenging enough environment for children to go to school. On the other hand, the government cited poor attendance as the reason for shutting down schools. A vicious circle where children drop out of schools because of non-existent infrastructure and schools are being shut down because of lack of children, children end up being the victims, loosing out on education.
This led to like minded organizations and individuals getting together to address the situation. In the same year, a consultation was organized that witnessed participation from various people in the development sector including eminent persons in the field of education like Prof. Kodandaram, Nageswer (MLC) Khasim and Narasimha Reddy who have been actively involved in making education accessible.
The consultation was intensive and there was an urgent need felt for the government to recognize their moral and constitutional responsibility of providing free and quality education for every single child, no matter what the background.
The outcome was the formation of AP CSS in 2007. It kick started with the ‘SamanaVidyaSadhanaSamithi’ Campaign. The main objective of the campaign was based on the premises of the Common School System, that is, free and compulsory education for all children as guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The demands of the Campaign were simple.
- Provide 10% and 30% budgetary allocation by the Central and State governments respectively for education,
- Stop closure of government and aided schools,
- Provide for scientific, secular and democratic education
3 years of intensive work in ensuring children of AP get quality education, the alliance realised the many underlying factors that act as hurdles for children to access education. Poverty, landless ness, migration, malnutrition, lack of infrastructure in education and health institutions of government, Infant mortality, child trafficking, juvenile delinquents, orphan children and child marriages are just some of the barriers children face. The alliance collectively agreed to work on systematically addressing each of these critical issues. In 2012, the alliance changed its name to People’s Voice for Child rights.
PVCR soon gained momentum to include over 500 members across 19 districts of AP.