Definition of a Child in India
As per the child
rights charter, a universal definition of "child"
includes all persons under the age of 18.
40% of India's population is below the age of 18 years
which at 400 million is the world's largest child population.
Facts on Education
- Less than half of India's children between the age
6 and 14 go to school.
- A little over one-third of all children who enroll
in grade one reach grade eight.
- At least 35 million children aged 6 - 14 years do
not attend school.
- 53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years are
illiterate.
- In India, only 53% of habitation has a primary school.
- In India, only 20% of habitation has a secondary school.
- On an average an upper primary school is 3 km away
in 22% of areas under habitations.
- In nearly 60% of schools, there are less than two
teachers to teach Classes I to V.
- On an average, there are less than three teachers
per primary school. They have to manage classes from
I to V every day.
- High cost of private education
and need to work to support their families and little
interest in studies are the reasons given by 3 in every
four drop-outs as the reason they leave.
- Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to
V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls.
- 1 in 40, primary school in India is conducted in open
spaces or tents.
- In Andhra Pradesh (South India), 52 upper primary
schools were operating without a building in 2002, while
in 1993, there were none.
- In Maharashtra (West India), there were 10 schools
operating without a building in 1993, this has climbed
to 33 in 2002.
- More than 50 per cent of girls fail to enroll in school;
those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12.
- 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school
Source: 7th
All India
Education Survey, 2002
Statistics on Child Labour
- 17 million children in India work as per official
estimates.
- A study found that children were sent to work by compulsion
and not by choice, mostly by parents, but with recruiter
playing a crucial role in influencing decision.
- When working outside the family, children put in an
average of 21 hours of labour per week.
- 19% of children employed work as domestic help.
- 90% working children are in rural India.
- 85% of working children are in the unorganized sectors.
- About 80% of child labour is engaged in agricultural
work.
- Millions of children work to help their families because
the adults do not have appropriate employment and income
thus forfeiting schooling and opportunities to play
and rest.
- Children also work because there is demand for cheap
labour. High incidence of child labour is a result of
high incidence of adult unemployment.
- Large numbers of children work simply because there
is no alternative - since, they do not have access to
good quality schools.
- Poor and bonded families often "sell" their children
to contractors who promise lucrative jobs in the cities
and the children end up being employed in brothels,
hotels and domestic work. Many run away and find a life
on the streets.
- There are approximately 2 million child commercial
sex workers between the age of 5 and 15 years and about
3.3 million between 15 and 18 years.
- They form 40% of the total population of commercial
sex workers in India.
- 80% of these are found in the 5 metros.
- 71% of them are illiterate.
- 500,000 children are forced into this trade every
year.
Data on Health
70 in every 1000 children born in India do not see their
first birthday. The total number of such children works
out to 2 million.
58% of India's children below the age of 2 years are
not fully vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not
receive any form of vaccination.
95 in every 1000 children born in India do not see their
fifth birthday.
Only 38% of India's children below the age of 2 years
are immunized.
74% of India's children below the age of 3 months are
anaemic.
Over 60% of children in India are anaemic.
Acute respiratory infections are leading causes of child
mortality (30%) followed by diarrhoea (20%) in India.
One in every 100 children in India between age group
of 0-14 years suffers from acute respiratory infection.
Almost one in every five children in India below the
age of 14 suffers from diarrhoea.
58% of India's children below the age of 2 years are
not fully vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not
receive any form of vaccination.
Only 38% of India's children below the age of 2 years
are immunized.
Almost one in every five children in India below the
age of 14 suffers from diarrhoea, an easily preventable
disease.
Special Statistics on Girl Child
1 out of every 6 girls does not live to see her 15th
birthday.
Of the 12 million girls born in India, 1 million do not
see their first birthday.
Of the 12 million girls born in India, 3 million do not
see their fifteenth birthday, and a million of them are
unable to survive even their first birthday.
One-third of these deaths take place at birth.
Every sixth girl child's death is due to gender discrimination.
Females are victimised far more than males during childhood.
3 lakh more girls than boys die every year
Female mortality exceeds male mortality in 224 out of
402 districts in India.
Death rate among girls below the age of 4 years is higher
than that of boys. Even if she escapes infanticide or
foeticide, a girl child is less likely to receive immunisation,
nutrition or medical treatment compared to a male child.
Updates on Nutrition
More than 50% of India's children are malnourished.
While one in every five adolescent boys is malnourished,
one in every two girls in India is undernourished.
23% of India's children are underweight at birth.
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