Save the Children

Identification and mapping of street children in Delhi: Approach for out of school children in urban

areas

On 3rd July 2012

Definition of out of school and street children

• Who is an out of school child?– A majority of out-of-school children belong to disadvantaged communities:

scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Muslims, migrants, children with special needs, urban deprived children, working children, children in other difficult circumstances, for example, those living in difficult terrain, children from displaced families, and areas affected by civil strife, etc. (SSA revised framework)

• Who is a street child?– They belonged to three categories – children on the streets (children from the

street families), street working children and children of the streets. They largely represent the marginalised communities like scheduled castes, schedules tribes, Muslims, migrants, children with special needs (disabled), working children, children living is difficult and abusive conditions, children from displaced families, etc.. (UNICEF definition)

Definition of Out of school children and Street Children represents mostly the same category, however, street children caters to children in the urban areas.

Reasons : Out of School and Street Children

Out of school child Poverty Socio-cultural factors Disability Migration Frequent mobility of families Conflict (political, social/ cultural) or other issues (famine/ flood/ draught)Geographically difficulty in accessing school Language School environment Attitudinal factors

Street child Poverty Socio-cultural factors Disability or other health issues Migration Frequent mobility of families Conflict (political, social/ cultural) or other issues (famine/ flood/ draught) Neglect Family Breakups Orphaned.

Most of the reasons cited for the out of school and street child are the same.

Challenges of identification of out of school children and street childrenOut of school child• Heterogeneity • Scatteredness

• Across various age groups• Across rural and urban• Seasonal family migration

• Invisibility • Working children within

households• Working children in

factories/fields• Vulnerability

Street child• Heterogeneity• Scatteredness

• Across various age groups• Seasonal family migration

• Accessibility• Mobility• Vulnerability

Most of the reasons cited for both category of children are the same.

Can methodology of identification of street child be replicated for out of

school children in urban areas?

Census of Street Children in Delhi

• Delhi a major destination for migrants – 42% of Delhi’s population

• A significant number of these families live on the street

• Lack of credible and comprehensive data on street children for formulation of appropriate policies and plans

• Ministry of WCD requested Save the Children to conduct a study on street children in Delhi

Context

Objectives & Methodology

Objective • To estimate the total number of street children in

Delhi• To understand the socio-economic conditions of

street children

Method of data collection• Mixed (Census (every children) + Sample Survey

(randomly every 50th children)) and case studies

Area • All nine districts of Delhi

Data collection methodology

• Developed from detail consultation with experts from academia, civil society, NSSO and Census departments and policy-making bodies

• Pre-survey investigation contact points– Literature on delhi street children– Traffic police– NGO/ CSO working with children– Locals – traders and village panchayat people, mainly old people, taxi stands

etc

Data collection methodology• Operation:

– Census road map of each district, the key entry tool in the field– Field work started from a key location in the district and moved

around in all directions to cover the entire district– To ensure that the entire district was enumerated, field teams

marked the covered areas on the detailed district map. – To avoid duplicity, enquired before enumerating, whether anybody

has already interviewed them with similar questions in the last one or two months in Delhi

• Main locations and categories (mandatory): – On the footpath/pavement; under a bridge; at religious places; in markets, – Parks; tourist spots; bus stands; railway stations; outside metro station etc – and on displayed street-child behaviour such as begging; vending;

wandering/sleeping on the street.• Timing:

– Largely took place in the afternoons and continued till 9 pm

Save the ChildrenDATA COLLECTION

Designing of survey tools

& methodology

Consultation meeting

(experts from academia, civil society, and policy-

making bodies)

Revised methodology and tools

(conducted pilot survey)

Training to supervisors & field investigators

Field Teams (3 supervisor and 9 teams comprising 36 field investigators and 9 team leaders). With weekly scrutiny and meetings

Research/ Field Co-ordinators ( verify and monitoring daily)

Data Entry (Research Assistants)

Central Delhi 12%

East Delhi 14%

New Delhi 11%

North Delhi 20%

North East Delhi11%

North West Delhi7%

South Delhi 8%

South West Delhi6%

West Delhi 11%

Street Children Population in Delhi

Distribution of Street Children in DelhiThe census identified 50,923 children below 18 years of

age as street children in Delhi

Street-living children are those who have run away from their families and live alone on the streets of Delhi

Street-working children spend most of their time on the streets fending for themselves, but return home regularly

Children from street families live on the streets along with their families

7%

36%

28%

29%

No Response

Children from Street Families

Street-Living Children

Street-Working Children

Category

• Gender: Largely male children (79%) • Age: Two out of three street children, belonged to the 7-14 years age group (0-3 years (7%), 4-5 years (9%), 6-14 years (61%) and 15-18 years (23%)

• Religious groups: Hindus (75%), Muslims (17%), Christians (1%), Do not know (2%) and No response (7%)• Social class: A key determinant in leaving a child on the streets

Distribution by Social Group

NR6%

Do not know

2%

STs17%

Others1%

OBCs38%

SCs36%

Profile of street children – Census finding

• 51% are illiterate

• 13% received some form of early childhood education

• 23% received some form of informal education provided by NGOs

• 20% had formal education

• Majority of school-going children were ‘children of street families’ and ‘children working on the street’

Education

Places of Origin• Ratio of those born in Delhi and those born outside is about

50:50• Around 70% reported to have family in Delhi

Places of origin:

Challenges of accessing educational rights by street children• Care and protection, the key concern.

– Difficult to demand educational rights by unaccompanied children– Continuity of a homeless child in educational system is a major challenge as

where the child will keep bag and books.• Lack of entitlements- teachers often not ready accept a child with

pavement based address. • Continuous mobility hampers access to schools.

– Constant risk to life/ living often leads movement from one location to another within the city or outside.

• Lack of support systems (especially in case of orphans or children who have migrated without families) is stark.

– No clear demarcation of who will ensure that children once enrolled remain in school and are provided the requisite support to manage school based activities.

• Teacher insensitivity in recognizing them as normal child anther challenge 

• Who will identify out of school street child within the local authority?

– Role of various agencies that has the power to demand care and protection like CWC not clear

– How far SMC / teachers an be responsible for OSC in urban area

Strategy needed to address their educational rights• SMCs in collaboration with municipal corporations, CSOs and local

communities to mandatorily map street children (a probable intervention)

• Involvement of police department is essential• CWC should be a stakeholder in this activity

• Interdepartmental convergence is essential • Education, Social welfare, local authority (municipal corporation), police

department

• Home care is essential for unprotected child

• Child with adult care, but on the streets also needs residential care to continue education

• SMC and teachers should identify and recommend them to CWC • SMC can monitor with the help of teacher

Strategy : Category specificStreet Living ChildrenChildren living on their own, subject to different forms of abuse, extremely vulnerable— in urgent need of care and protection • Need for full time comprehensive care- shelter, food,

healthcare, education and overall pastoral care/protection• Age-appropriate educational mainstreaming • Children should be enrolled in regular schools and

provided bridge education schools to bring them up to age-appropriate competency levels

Children from Street FamiliesChildren on the street due to lack of housing for the migrant poor; frequent slum dismantling, construction activities and distress migration. Strategy needs to rehabilitate both children and their families :• Link families with social safety nets• Children should have access to schools and ICDS centres

Working Children on the StreetThese children have families in the city. Often there due to poverty and lack of care by their parents• Create awareness among parents, communities about RtE

and labour laws• Strict enforcement of the CLPRA and anti-begging laws• Ensure their access to ICDS centres and schools• Enforcement mechanism to be strict enough to dissuade

families/ guardians from letting children work on the street

Strategy : Category specific

Thank You