“I don’t have any interest in studies; moreover I don’t know what to do in the future”, Michael (name changed) with bowed head shyly remarked when asked how he envisioned his future. He is the eldest in a family of 4 siblings. His statement is a typical comment of a school drop-out. At face value we can just dismiss his and such cases as one of sheer laziness. His identification has now unwittingly been reduced to that of “school drop-out”.
The world we live in, labels; and none is free from it. Easy is to label another, but extremely hard to digest such a tag given us. The identification of an individual who opts out, or is circumstantially forced out of school is often reduced to that of a “School Drop-out”. Very often we just make sweeping statements and move on, with no intention to delve deeper than the surface. The general notion harbored is that they are a burden, to themselves, to the family, to the society. And By this logic our train of accusative burden hurled at them only ends at a point where we can no longer think of placing any more blame. But beneath the surface lies intricate reasons of economic, social and other pressures.
Nagaland may not have a record of the exact number of school drop outs in Nagaland. And no one may be able to provide the exact number too. But what is more alarming is the gut feeling that the rate of school drop outs in Nagaland is on the rise. Prodigals’ Home has been working with the SDO’s for sometime now (since 2005). Within a short span of working with them compositely with the NSACS funded HIV/AIDS intervention programme in some pockets of Dimapur, the Home has, till date, identified 211 school dropouts from only 5 colonies in Dimapur. The reasons for dropping out of schools are varied; but especially economic and social. Many of these robust youngsters are being caught unguarded by the unwarranted media exposures and the highly augmented lifestyles of the rich and the famous. Often these situation and habits leads them to confuse their judgments and reasoning. Drugs and alcohol have slowly crept into their daily routine, making them highly susceptible to becoming an addict, an alcoholic, and a social menace. With no means of income, they often are dependent on their parents, relatives and, in extreme cases, resort to illegal means. A small study conducted by PH also unearthed a high rate of sexual activity among them (43 out of the 91 responded in the affirmative). This scenario is becoming more threatening with the intrusion of teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS. Many are also unaware of the health risk issues such as HIV/AIDS and STIs. And this ignorance, coupled with their risky behaviors, could easily give way to HIV or chronic STI infection/s (there are some recorded cases of STIs among them). One prominent reason why these youngsters adopt risky behaviour is that, they have ample leisure time that prompts them to experiment, some out of curiosity and many, due to peer pressure. The greatest challenge they perhaps face is how to utilize these free times’ to indulge in creative and productive activities.
In a noble gesture, a small training on mushroom cultivation was conducted by the DYBES in collaboration with Prodigals’ Home at supply colony, Dimapur on the 7th of July 06’ with some SDOs. The training was facilitated by two DBYES’ Nagaland youth coordinators, Miss Kaini and Miss Thejangunuo. The training session started with briefing from the co-coordinators on the advantages and importance of mushroom cultivation and its’ high income value. This form of training, to many may be no more than a speck of water in the ocean. But let us not forget that a mighty ocean too is made up of little droplets of water. Such modest initiative can, and do bring about positive outlooks among the SDOs and their community. “I never thought mushroom cultivation could be so easy”, one of them expressed. And with a gleam in his eyes quickly added “I hope I can earn a good income with what I have learned today!”
In our limited way and related to the intervention programme, the SDOs are being counseled about various issues and also being motivated to form SHGs and to participate in income generation trainings and activities. The organisation has occasionally organized educational programmes with them and has also been sponsoring some of them for vocational trainings with the objective to empower these individuals. In the course of our learning and challenging work, we have faced a lot of frustrations. But they were overshadowed by the concern and support of some well spirited individuals, organisations and groups. But nothing could beat the smiles and positive responses we get from the SDOs who have shown that with a little more understanding, support and space they can be, not a burden, but an asset to the society. These youths are high on spirits, zeal and enthusiasm. It is our belief that a little bit of concern, positive support and understanding could make a world of difference in their quest for economic independence, and respectable social recognition. Learning is life-long, and I firmly believe that where we learn is significant, but less important than what we learn.
Moa Nungsang
(Outreach Worker)
Prodigals’ Home
