------ ‘Never Marry a Child’ To implement MDGs; development assistant organization are working beside the government. Meanwhile some positive changes have seen in the sector of health, education & nutrition. Now child mortality & mother mortality rate has decreased. We, who are working as development assistance showing success based on statistical & reality but early marriage especially in girl has increased rapidly due to social instability, lack of safety unemployment, broken family, disaster & social declining. Excluded girls who got change go to school are dropping out now & sending to an insecure future. If school has a child safety policy then child would not leave his/ her school or never wishes to leave it. We have to find out that cause effect. We have to measure if there enough presence of essential conditions of child friendly school. That’s why we have to know, what is child friendly school and what are the subjects that we have to maintain to provide it. Child Friendly School (CFS) is a global concept aimed at ensuring the promotion and reality of quality in all schools. CFS embraces a multidimensional concept of quality and addresses the total needs of the child as a learner CFS seeks to achieve quality education To help children realize their right to an education of good quality, we need to: • promote early learning experiences from birth • guarantee children safe, protective, and gender-sensitive spaces, free them from violence and abuse, and ensure their health and well-being • raise teacher morale, status, and motivation • mobilize community support for education Child Friendly School- Seeks to Achieve Quality Education Seeks to help develop learning environments which promote and demonstrate a broad definition of quality CFS Seeks to Achieve- • Quality Learners: healthy, well- nourished, ready to learn, and supported by their family and community • Quality Content: with relevant curricula and adequate materials for literacy, numeracy, and the essential knowledge and skills for life • Quality Teaching-Learning: Processes: with child-centered and (life) skills-based approaches and technology applications to reduce disparities and promote learning •Quality Learning Environments: – Policies and practices which prohibit harassment, humiliation, violence, corporal punishment, and substance abuse – Facilities with adequate classrooms, clean water supplies, and sanitation facilities – services which promote safety and physical and psycho-social health • Quality Outcomes: with defined learning outcomes (knowledge, attitudes and skills) and suitable ways to assess them, at classroom and national levels And gender-sensitive throughout… A rights-based, child-friendly school: • Is a child-seeking school – actively identifying excluded children to get them enrolled in school and included in learning – treating children as subjects with rights and States as duty-bearers with obligations to fulfill these rights – demonstrating, promoting, and helping to monitor the rights and well-being of ALL children in the community – actively identifying excluded children to get them enrolled in school and included in learning – treating children as subjects with rights and States as duty-bearers with obligations to fulfill these rights – demonstrating, promoting, and helping to monitor the rights and well-being of ALL children in the community – acting in the best interests of the child – Leading to the realization of the child’s full potential – concerned about the “whole” child: their health, nutritional status, and well-being – concerned about what happens to children before they enter school and after they leave school A rights-based, child-friendly school: • Has an environment of good quality • Inclusive of children • Effective with children • Healthy and protective for children • Gender-sensitive • Involved with children, families, and communities CFS -- Inclusive Of Children • Does not exclude, discriminate, or stereotype on the basis of difference • Provides education that is free and compulsory, affordable and accessible, especially to families and children at risk • Respects diversity and ensures equality of opportunity for all children (e.g., girls, working children, children with disabilities, victims of exploitation and violence) • Responds to diversity -- meets the differing circumstances and needs of children (based on gender, social class, ethnicity, and ability level) CFS -- Effective with Children • Promotes good quality teaching and learning processes – instruction appropriate to each child’s learning needs, abilities, and learning styles – active, co-operative, democratic, gender-sensitive learning • Provides structured content and good quality materials and resources • Enhances teacher capacity, morale, commitment, status, and income -- and their recognition of child rights • Promotes quality learning outcomes – defines and helps children learn what they need to learn (e.g., literacy, numeracy, life skills, child rights) – teaches children how to learn CFS -- Healthy and Protective for Children • Ensures a learning environment of good quality -- healthy, hygienic, safe, and gender-sensitive – adequate water and sanitation facilities and healthy classrooms – healthy policies and practices - e.g., free of drugs and tobacco, corporal punishment, and harassment – a venue for health ministry services - school nutrition, immunization, counseling • Provides life-skills based health education • Promotes both the physical and the psycho-socio-emotional health of teachers and learners • Helps to defend and protect all children from abuse and harm • Provides positive experiences for children CFS -- sensitive to gender • Promotes gender equality in enrolment and achievement • Eliminates gender stereotypes • Guarantees girl/boy friendly facilities, curricula, textbooks, and teaching • Socialises girls and boys in a non-violent environment and encourages respect for each other’s rights, dignity, and equality CFS -- Involved with children, and communities • Child-centred: – promotes child participation in all aspects of school life • Family-focused: – works to strengthen families as the child’s primary caregivers and educators – helps children, parents, and teachers establish harmonious collaborative relationships • Community-based: – encourages local partnerships in education – acts IN the community for the sake of children – works with other actors (duty- bearers) to ensure fulfilment of children’s rights In present context, our role & activities is not sufficient to prevent early marriage. We are unable to do advocacy properly in root level. Parents are never regret to marriage with their adolescent girl due to poverty, unemployment and lack of social security. Responsibility of this failure is on us & our social system. There is a though that, daughters would not the victim of Eve Teasing or sexual harassment if they are married with someone. The think unexpected abortion & sexual abuse will be reduced after marriage & it will reduce daily family expenditure. And by this it will ensure some sorts of guardian/parental responsibility. Recently, in a network meeting, representatives of sponsorship fund based international development organizations of Bangladesh highlighted those matters. They also discuss on what kind of steps should be taken. In the root level, it has been seen that these (12- 16 years) disadvantaged girl have got married only in one thousand taka ‘Mohorana’ (a system to pay money to wife for future). In some cases it has been seen that there is no Mohorana even any marriage registration. Most of the times husband’s family demands large amount of dowry too. Those helpless adolescent girls become pregnant after some days of getting marriage. Most of the time they suffer from malnutrition & this upcoming generation grow up also with malnutrition. It increases the risk & complexiety of mother & child. We are going to face what a horrible situation! Those early marriage make a disadvantaged girl to more vulnerable. Family violence & divorce rate are increasing day by day. Illegal relations are increasing day by day. As a member of civil societies we never expect this. The object of this article is not drawing any kind of statistical equation. As a part of our social responsibility with cultured value - How far we are doing for our society? How many responsibility we are taking on own shoulder? How many disadvantaged women & children are helped? We are fail to reach the entire adolescent girl & their mother effectively with our counseling and advocacy activities .If we had enough success then we never relay on only some statistical data. Decision makers & planners are showing many ambitious & beautiful projects & programs in meetings, seminars & symposiums but root level people are deprived of benefit of those project. We have to walk a long way. Development organizations are working in those areas where the crime tendency rate is high and normally those areas are slum, village & housing areas of landless people. In these areas violence against women & sexual harassment are increasing day by day & development organization are trying heart & soul to control this. In those areas environment is like that where girl comes out from the house would be faced in sexual harassment. Most of the time social people condemn her guardians & family members for this reason! Most cases child marriage happen for this reason. Sometimes the girl agrees with her guardian to marry or committed suicide. It is the solution? Are we thinking on it? Now a day’s marriages are available in the context of reality. Due to early marriage girls are depriving of schooling and socialization process. Sometimes guardian hiding original age of girl even in birth registration also. But later the original age come out naturally by her behavior and psychology. Development assistance organizations are trying comprehensively to make child education up to date and joyful. But are they able to provide a safe family environment for the children? This is a big question. I want to talk about Intervida Schools in this perspective. When a child comes to school he or she remains pleased with dances, songs and joyful teaching learning materials with his/her classmates. Students of this school are getting Tiffin, materials, uniform and medical service. They sometimes get letter, card and gifts by sponsorship activity. As a part of recreation they attend to artwork campaign. Children come to the school with school bag from an unhealthy slum environment &pass a wonderful time with friends & classmates. He/she forgets his/her hunger I thirsty, but, is it sure they will get enough food after returning to the home? Or will go to sleep in an empty stomach or will she/he goes out to collect wastage paper to sell? Or go out to work in risky environment of a plastic mill or battery mill? By those activities he/she will earn some money & try to reduce poverty of his/her family. In child safety policy, we have to put this matter also. Who are shouting to provide child rights please do something for them. Though beautiful pictures, joyful educational materials, nutritious Tiffin are now available for children but we have to pay more attention on surroundings of students’ house and livelihood of family. "Laila reads in class six in a NGO conducted school. Her aim to be a school teacher. Her father is a rickshaw puller mother works as a maid servant in a house. Her elder brother works in a plastic factory of Islambag in Dhaka. For earning of living he had to go to work from the age of five. Laila’s younger sister is three. This child passes her whole day with an old woman at Nobodoy Housing, Mohammadpur in Dhaka. They pay Tk. fifteen Hundred for house rent. This family passes huddling together with five members. They are paying electricity bill separately for one light, have no gas facility, have to cook by fire wood and they have no sanitation system. In the rainy season they have to suffer from water logging. This family always suffers from poverty. After coming back from school Laila starts cooking because her mother engaged in another work." Child friendly school is important for joyful learning of the students. As this it is also important to implement the policies of child safety. In this moment we need to stand beside those excluded children. We have to provide their basic human needs as can we do. We have to create opportunities to ensure child rights. Beside professionalism, we can do it personally. Most of the rich families have a child as servant in our country. It is much needed to take initiative to their education by those rich families. Everyone can play important role to prevent early marriage. Our well wish is enough, if we want to stand beside those children, if there is humanity in heart. “Children will be developed- just need your love and solidarity.” Love to the all of the disadvantaged children of the world. Written By :: Md. Hasan Iqbal Head of Child Sponsorship Fundacion Intervida, Bangladesh E-mail: Web: http://www.intervida.org/en