Every year, June 12th is observed by countries across the globe as ‘ World Day Against Child Labour.’ India has the highest number of child labourers in the world.

India has 10.3 million child labourers. Of these,whopping 70% are girls. Child labour is the work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development. Child labour deprives them of the opportunity to attend school, obliging them to leave school prematurely, or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

Generally working children in the five to fourteen years age group are classified as child labourers. Child labour exists in India for several reasons. The biggest cause of child labour has been identified as poverty. Families with scant resources force underage children to work.

It is therefore our responsibility to raise our hands against child labour and contribute towards its eradication. In order to raise awareness on child labour, Students of standard 9th D conducted an assembly on Anti-Child Labour Day which included a speech and a skit. The skit highlighted the reasons of child labour and its effects on childhood. The skit also depicted the menial labour done by the unfortunate children and it also gave the message on the need of education for the under-privileged children.

On this day our Principal Ms. Sharmistha Sinha addressed our students. She said, “We should sensitise our society at large on the sensitive issue of child labour. By taking small steps, we can reduce the number of children who join work at an early age. Students should report to Child line if they see a child working illegally on the road side. Our students can educate parents of child labourers on the options of municipal schools. Stressing the need to change the society she emphasised that, We should not employ children as house help and should convey this message to our extended families and friends.”

Celebrating Successes, Embracing Challenges
More than 600  teachers and staff of Udgam School for Children and Zebar School for Children came together under one roof to celebrate the successes and embrace the challenges that lay ahead. The Annual Teachers’ Conference was held at YMCA , Ahmedabad on 8^th June,2018. It was attended by trustees, directors, teachers and staff of Udgam School and Zebar School. The compere for the day,Ms. Aarti Kellog, supervisor of Udgam Primary School engaged brilliantly with the audience and facilitated the event with ease. The day began with a prayer song followed by the lighting of the lamp by the trustees of the school Shri G.K. Choksi, Shri J.D. Patel, Shri Shaunak Majmudar and Shri Vartik Choksi along with Academic Advisors Ms. Radhika Iyer,Ms.Pratima Patell and Mrs Villoo Parikh.
A motivating speech by veteran educationist, Shri Rajabhai Pathak, left an indelible mark on the audience. The speaker of the conference was Swami Sukhabodhananda.He is the founder Chairman of Prasanna Trust. It was a great honour for the school to have him as a speaker. His speech was based on Alacrity to life. He addressed our teachers and explained them as to how they can expand their vision which in turn would help the children for success in life.
The conference was a platform for knowledge sharing and an opportunity to discuss the successes and failures of 2017-18 and the future plans of 2018-19. Using powerpoint presentations, the Vice-Principals of Udgam School for Children and Zebar School for Children spoke at length about challenges they faced last year and the changes they will bring in their respective sections in the future. Executive Director,Sri Manan Choksi then presented his ideas which inspired the teachers on dealing with day to day challenges in schools with parents and children. He spoke at length on how parents, school and teachers have a common goal and they can unite and give intelligent, hardworking and healthy responsible citizens to the country.
Both schools have an accomplished and dedicated team of teachers and staff and it is quite difficult to decide who is more deserving. Next was Employee Recognition and Motivation through awards to those who had proved themselves to be a shade better than their colleagues this year. Finally, Ms.Reena Kahlon, Vice-Principal of Zebar School for Children, gave the Vote of Thanks.