Teachers’ Day is an opportunity to celebrate the professionals who shape young lives, and to reflect on how partnerships with educators make our work possible. At the Children of India Foundation, we partner with school principals, teachers, and anganwadi workers across several projects to bring children back into learning, support their well-being, and protect them from exploitation.
Many children living in or near mica mining areas face interrupted schooling and are at risk of exploitation. By working directly with school principals and teachers, our teams have supported re-enrollment drives and follow-up engagement, enabling children to resume their studies with confidence. Teachers are trained to support returnees with remedial learning and are motivated to work with families so education becomes a realistic option again.
Under the MICA project, we have introduced home-based Early Childhood Education (ECE) kits and trained teachers to demonstrate their use, enabling parents and carers to create rich learning environments at home. Alongside MICA, the Children GOOD project works in Karnataka to help girls escape exploitative practices by combining education, life-skills and community advocacy. As part of GOOD, the foundation has run capacity-building events, including para-legal training and outcome-harvesting workshops, that strengthen local actors and frontline workers who safeguard children. These efforts include working with anganwadi teachers to ensure early learning and protection reach the youngest and most vulnerable.
Emotional support and counselling are vital for retention. Through the CCCEP Project, teachers receive training to provide psychosocial encouragement and basic counselling so children feel supported both inside and outside school. The project also works with anganwadi centres and community volunteers to create an integrated protection network that addresses health, education and social security together.
Not all children arrive in class at the same level; many need carefully designed catch-up opportunities. Our Miss-Collect initiative sets up bridge courses and learning centres, and trains teachers to adapt lessons to varied learning levels. These bridge programmes help children who have missed foundational schooling to regain confidence and progress into formal classes at an appropriate pace.
The digital age brings new threats as well as opportunities. Under the SUFASEC programme, teachers are equipped with IEC materials and training on online safety and how to recognise and report online exploitation. Training sessions and awareness events, including national consultations on the surge in online child sexual exploitation, are strengthening teachers’ ability to protect children in virtual spaces as well as in classrooms.
Teachers are the linchpin of change: they re-enrol children, model lifelong learning, counsel those in distress, and act as the first responders to online and offline risks. This Teachers’ Day, we salute their dedication and reaffirm our commitment to continue capacity building, provide practical teaching tools, and deepen partnerships with schools, anganwadis and community leaders.
