Registration of 6,130 Working Children in Schools; 7,000 Stationery Packs Distributed

The Director General of Public Participation and Social Capacity Development at the Welfare Organization reported that 6,130 children have been registered and that more than 87 percent of school-age children are covered by child labor and street children centers.

Fatemeh Soltani, director general of public participation and development of social capacities of the country's welfare organization, in a conversation with Mehr reporter, referring to the beginning of the new school year, said: one of the priorities of the country's welfare organization is to support the continuation of education of working and street children and prevent them from dropping out of school.

He added: Out of a total of about 7,000 school-aged children who are covered by working and street children's centers, we managed to enroll more than 87%, equivalent to about 6,130 children, in schools. The rest of these children are mainly foreigners and do not have identity documents.

The General Director of People's Partnerships and Social Capacity Development of the National Welfare Organization continued: For the registration of this group of children, specialized experts in the centers and provinces are interacting with the Department of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants and the Department of Education, so that by removing the existing obstacles, the right to education of these children will be realized.

Soltani stated that the lack of education is one of the permanent harms related to the phenomenon of child labor, and said: Identifying and tracking the educational status of child laborers is done through the social workers of the centers and with the cooperation of families and related institutions, and we are trying to provide the basis for the return of these children to the education cycle.

He explained about the process of registering working children in schools: this process is a comprehensive intervention of social work and is never limited to introducing the child to school. When there is an obstacle to the child's education, the social workers of the centers first check the family's situation and try to make the child's education a priority by informing and justifying the family members.

The Director General of People's Partnerships and Development of Social Capacity of the National Welfare Organization added: In the next step, social workers will consult with school principals to accept these children who are at risk of harm, and if needed, they will get help from the capacity of other relevant institutions to remove existing obstacles. Our goal is for the child to be permanently present in the classroom and not be deprived of the right to education.

Referring to the role of economic poverty of families in children dropping out of school, he said: Economic poverty is one of the main factors of children leaving school and not continuing their studies. In order to remove this obstacle, on the eve of the new school year, about 7,000 packs of stationery have been provided and distributed among them.

He continued: This support measure has been carried out with the aim of reducing the financial burden of education on families so that educational expenses do not lead to the child dropping out of school and returning to the street.

Director General of People's Partnerships and Development of Social Capacity of the National Welfare Organization said about the items in these packages: The contents of the stationery packages have been prepared according to the needs of the students and their level of education. Due to the increase in the price of stationery, we have tried to continue supporting the children under cover and to maintain the number of prepared packages at a significant level.

Soltani clarified: educational support for working and street children and their families is still on the agenda of the country's welfare organization.

Provision of stationery for 168,000 students as part of the campaign "All present"

Director General of People's Partnerships and Development of Social Capacity of the Welfare Organization of the country, referring to the "All Present" campaign, said: "This campaign was created in memory of 168 martyred students of Shajre Tayyeh School in Minab city, and in its form, the provision of stationery and educational items for 168,000 students from families covered by the Welfare Organization is targeted with the participation of people, benefactors and benefactors."

Soltani pointed out: So far, the provision of the necessary items for 168 thousand students has been achieved and this campaign is still ongoing. Therefore, it is possible to increase the number of items and packages provided. This support is done along with the distribution of about 7,000 stationery packs for working and street children under the cover of welfare centers, in order to help families meet their children's educational needs and reduce economic barriers to continuing education.