RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Sriperumbudur-602 105

ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

I. National Adolescent Resource Centre

The basic objective of the National Adolescent Resource Centre is to function as a technical and resource support agency to government agencies like NYKS, NSS, Bharat Scouts and Guides and to NGOs and Youth organizations assisted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. The programmes proposed under the National Adolescent Resource Centre are:

1. Resource Centre in RGNIYD

The objective of the NARC is to build capacity of government officials, functionaries of the Youth network and NGOs/CBOs to address adolescent issues comprehensively, and also to serve as a credible knowledge centre with information and experience. It will become a support institution to facilitate effective implementation of programmes of various implementing agencies and partners. NARC will encourage meaningful involvement of adolescents’ in policies and programmes affecting them.

The NARC will be equipped with database on adolescents. The Centre will have an excellent and exclusive library catering to the needs of the adolescents covering topics like: education, training and employment, health and family welfare, environment, ecology and wildlife, personality development, leadership, communication skills, counseling, career guidance, RTI, STI, HIV/AIDS, etc.

The NARC will be provided with facilities like digital camera, video camera, LCD projector, scanner, reprographic services, overhead projector, slide projector, display screens, furntitures, etc.

2. National Adolescent Resource Team (NART)

The formation of the National Adolescent Resource Team (NART) is primarily with a view to orient/train and support the training needs of various agencies like NYKS, NSS, Youth organizations and NGOs. An orientation programme for the NART members will be organized by RGNIYD for two days.

Composition

The composition of NART will be 20 domain experts (eminent trainers and subject matter specialists), especially in the following areas.

• Life Skill development
• Career guidance and Career counseling
• Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health
• HIV/AIDS
• Advocacy/ Rights and responsibilities of adolescents
• Personality development/ Leadership skill development
• Adolescent Health /Nutrition
• Sexuality and Gender Sensitivity
• Mental Health in Adolescence
• Adolescent counseling

Specific Duties and Responsibilities of NART

• Overall responsibility for providing support and orienting/training Resource Teams at various levels on adolescent health and development issues and life skills education and initiatives.
• Facilitating development and finalization of the roll out plan for trainings outlined by the MOYAS.
• Supporting/guiding Adolescent Cell, NYKS, NSS and RGNIYD in the development of training materials.
• Attending policy level meetings on the Project.
• Any other work, as may be requested by the Ministry/RGNIYD.

3. Adolescent Information Website:

The objective of Website on Adolescents is to provide information to stake holders of the adolescent health and development programmes like adolescents, parents, teachers and agencies involved in the activities, on issues relating to adolescents, their needs, concerns, career, life skills, counseling, etc. It will also provide adolescent health data  in the major areas like adolescent health data, health care resources, national and state level initiatives to improve adolescent health, reproductive health, substance abuse, mental health, communications skills, life skills, risky behaviour, nutrition, physical and psychological development, etc. Other features of the website will be: E-Counseling, E-Library, list of publications on Adolescent Health, events on adolescence, young voices, role models, link to other resource organizations working for Adolescent Health, topics of importance for adolescents, etc..

II. Career Guidance

Adolescence is the period during which a person starts thinking about his/her career or about their future.  They have the desire to learn some thing new and to find a job for his/her living.  Even though the period of adolescence is an age for schooling and early college education, for many adolescents in India it is an age for finding a job also, due to various circumstances.  By providing sufficient and proper Career Guidance at school level, the adolescents can be prepared to find an appropriate vocation at an appropriate time.  Career Guidance provides an opportunity to the adolescents to select between various options and decide whether to go for higher education or to select a vocation to study and join for a job according to their capacities.  In order to provide an opportunity to the adolescents in the country to select careers of their choice RGNIYD proposes Career Guidance Programme.  The proposed programme has two components:

•  Programme at  National Level at  RGNIYD , and
•  Intensive activity at community level by selecting two districts in the country ( initially Tamilnadu) as a pilot project.

Objectives

• To provide career information to both in school and out of school adolescents and youth to help them find  work and become economically productive and socially responsible citizens;
• To help in reducing the mismatch between  the demand and supply of human resources;
• To meet the lower and middle level human resource needs of growing sectors of the economy, both organized and  unorganized, by providing information and linkages;
• To diversify sizable segments of the students at the senior secondary stage towards vocational education or the world of work, including self-employment, and thus, provide an alternative to many who would otherwise be forced to pursue a line of higher education in which they have  no interest or purpose.

Target:

The target group of the programme is both in school and out of school adolescents.

Strategy:

• Career Guidance cell at RGNIYD
• Career Guidance Web site
• Developing Career guidance literature.
• Training teachers as facilitators.
• For in school adolescents provide Career guidance facility through Higher Secondary Schools of Government and government-aided sector.
• Focus on out of school adolescents will be guidance for vocational skills and employability skills including self employment.
• Linkages with NGOs working in the field of career guidance.
• Linkages with Industries, technical institutes, banks etc.

Programme:

A. National level –RGNIYD

i  National Career Guidance cell with:

• Full time career counselor
• Library
• Web site
• Content of information may be made available at state level and district level.  The frame needs to be updated every year.

B. In School programmes ( for the intensive campaign  districts)

i    Selection of teachers from the schools, government Higher secondary 
     and Government aided Higher Secondary as facilitators.
ii. Developing training module for teachers
iii.Training the teachers (two from each school one male and one female)  
     as facilitators for providing career guidance to the teachers.

• In school activity
• Creating awareness on   need and importance of selecting a career or vocation in the early stages
• Providing guidance- Information sharing on career / vocational options
• Organizing aptitudes – interest personality test
• Providing one to one career counseling
• Organizing personality  development and life skills development programmes
• Setting up information centre in schools and equipping them with AV aids, films, posters, handouts, charts, books, etc.
• Career guidance programmes through mobile video conferencing van and community radio Station.

C. Out of School Programmes ( for the intensive activity districts)

(i) Identifying NGOs, Youth Clubs self help groups and other agencies who have interest to provide career guidance to out of         school adolescents in the project area.
(ii) Orientation meeting to the office bearers of identified organizations in the district.
(iii) Dissemination of information through pamphlets, brochures during block level campaign of identified organizations.
(iv) Block level campaign: Ten adolescents from each  block will be identified through NYK/NGO and will be oriented about the        need of career guidance and a block level campaign for five days will be organized with focus on

• Employability
• Vocations/ skill up graduation
• Self employment, and
• Financial aid availability.

D. Block Level Career Mela

The block level career mela will focus on both in-school and out of school adolescents.  The programme will be organized with the help of education department of the selected districts and NGOs working in the field for 3 days.

E. District Level Career Mela

The district level mela will be focused on advocacy to create awareness among the stake holders like adolescents, parents, teachers and community at large.

F. IEC Material development for campaign

Various types of IEC materials like exhibition panels, brochures, pamphlets, handouts will be prepared in local language for the campaign.

III. Community Radio Station

Lack of access to information, which is vital for improving the life of the adolescents is a major reason for the backwardness of adolescents in India.  Adolescents especially in rural area do not have access to right information.  Those received are unscientific and lots of myths and misconceptions are involved. Often it helps in worsening the situation of the adolescents.  There is a large gap in information dissemination among the adolescents.

FM Radio is an effective mode of communication in the present day society.  FM Radio has great influence in the community, especially among the Youths and adolescents.  Hence RGNIYD proposes to use the medium of FM Community Radio   for communication among the adolescents.  At present FM Radio has reach only in Metros and hence it cannot be used in rural areas.  The FM Radio Station installed by RGNIYD at its campus can cater to the need of people around 20 kms in the area.

Community Radio is an effective tool of social change communication. The power of community radio lies in its participatory nature, as both its content and technology are user-oriented.  It is an affordable means of communication, where the adolescents themselves raise issues and identify their own priorities.  Besides it provides a platform for accessing information relevant to their needs and as an interactive forum for participation.  Community radio is an interactive platform, one in which the adolescents are not just recipients of information but also generators of content which is determined by their self awareness, current needs and requirements.

The programmes of the Community Radio Station will be produced by the adolescents themselves.  It is a communication mechanism for adolescents managed and operated by them.

Highlights of Community Radio Station:

• The transponder capacity of the Community Radio Station will be 100 watts and hence there will be a reach for about 20kms in and around Sriperumbudur.
• There are more than 500 educational institutions in these areas and hence the programme has a greater reach.
• Even if 100 students in a school listen to the programme the reach is 50,000 at a stretch.
• In the 20kms area there may be more than 1.5 million residents. Hence the reach of programme is enormous.
• FM radios will be distributed to all schools for listening to the programme.
• Out of school adolescents will be reached through the teen’s clubs/ youth clubs of NYK net work.
• The programmes will be produced by the adolescents themselves with the help of experts  in different sections like,  education, health, art & culture, sports and recreation, science  and technology, training and employment, employability skills, life  skills, career opportunities, gender related issues, etc.
• The teachers in the reception area of the FM Community Radio Station will be trained as facilitators to reach the programme to the adolescents.
• The activities relating to community intervention, career guidance will be linked with Community Radio Station activity for value additions.
• The programmes produced for the CRS will be carried to unreached areas by using the video conferencing facility and mobile video conferencing van of RGNIYD.
• Moreover the possibility of linkage with other Community Radio Station FM facilities in the locality and across the country and AIR will be explored for more coverage.
• The Community Radio Station will be installed under the supervision and guidance of AIR Resources of Prasar Bharati Corporation.
• The training for the personnel will be provided by AIR Resources.
• Resource support of the programme will be provided by the National Adolescent Resource Centre.

IV. Community Intervention Programmes

The development plan for the adolescents needs to be planned by taking into consideration the situation of adolescents, the difficult circumstances and the pressures in which the adolescents emerge, and the challenges for adolescent development and empowerment. With very little power or freedom available, all kinds of control on them, lack of access to opportunities for education, nutrition, health, skills, etc; a state of mental confusion in the process of growing up, diverse and huge expectations, a variety of allurements, the new vision for adolescents needs to be informed by the current global, national and local scenarios as they play out. The 11th Plan goal of “Strategic initiatives for inclusive development” is to be met by empowering the powerful regenerative force of 230million adolescents to reach their full potential. The key principles to be followed for developing programmes for adolescents are:

• Recognition of adolescents as individuals with their own rights, aspirations and concerns, thus emphasizing the paradigm shift away from the welfare approach to rights and empowerment oriented approach
• Acknowledging adolescents as equal partners (and not mere beneficiaries) in their development and empowerment, and establishing an appropriate framework for their involvement and participation in all aspects of their lives, including programme development, design, implementation and monitoring
• Recognizing adolescents are not a homogenous group
• Recognizing them as valuable assets, expanding opportunities and choices for them and facilitating their access to knowledge, information, skills and services in a friendly and supportive environment, would be necessary, in order to help them reach their full potential
• Recognizing adolescents as instruments of change in the nation’s development by not only exercising their rights but also discharging their duties as responsible citizens.

The programmes and activities for adolescents needs to be developed with focus on these aspects. At present no programme model is available in the community, which fulfills the key principles enshrined. Hence RGNIYD plans to take up a holistic programme for adolescent development as a pilot project, to be implemented in two blocks of two districts in Tamilnadu. The programme will be implemented in one block each in Kancheepuram and Vellore districts of Tamilnadu. The target group is all the adolescents in the identified blocks, including in-school and out of school adolescents.

Partners of the project at district level are: Panchayati Raj Institutions, High Schools and Higher Secondary schools especially in Government and Government aided sector, CBOs like youth clubs, mahila mandals, self help groups, libraries, NGOs, civil society organizations, professional organizations, various sectoral departments, etc.

Proposed activities are:

• Need assessment using PLA technique
• Capacity building of NGOs/CBOs/NYK Youth Clubs
• Skill development programmes
• Life skill training programme
• Career mela
• Formation and activation of Teens Clubs
• Developing IEC materials
• Production of short films
• Mobile video conferencing van programmes
• Programmes of Community Radio Station
• Project management.

Detailed work plan will be prepared after need assessment.

V. Core Life Skill Training

Life skills are defined as the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and changes of everyday life (WHO). Life skills empower adolescents through information, education ad services that enable them to make informed choices in their personal and public life, thus promoting creative and responsible behaviour for their personal growth and national development. A number of government and non-government organizations as well as international agencies have taken up the work of promoting life skills education. Life skills have often been looked at only from the reproductive health perspective and as a means of addressing specific issues related to adolescent’s sexuality, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse or problems of adolescents that need to be fixed. Some NGOs have made efforts to broad base their life skills interventions to address issues of identity and social concerns that directly impact adolescents particularly related to caste and communal conflict and addressing violence within self and society. Life skills development must also be seen in the context of preparing adolescents for livelihood. A composite approach to life skills, that embeds within it concerns of health, livelihood and social development offers a holistic framework for adolescent development.

At present a holistic module for life skill development is not available. Hence RGNIYD proposes to formulate a holistic module by reviewing the existing modules on life skill development, enabling the agencies to conduct the training programme on life skill development with the financial assistance of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India. The life skill training module developed by different NGOs, institutions and government agencies will be collected and revisited with the help of experts in the field of Life Skill development training. A three day workshop will be conducted for the same and a module will be developed.  The module will be translated into Hindi and to regional languages also.

VI. Capacity Building Programmes

The objective of the programme is to strengthen the capacity of the officers of implementing agencies of the adolescent health and development project like NYKS, NSS, NGOs, CBOs and RGNIYD. The officials and project staff of these agencies will be trained with the help of the National Adolescent Resource Team. The important programmes are:

• Orientation of 90 NYKS managers like Zonal Directors, Regional Coordinators, District Youth Coordinators and National Project Officers for 2 days
• Training of 63 District Project Officers and 6 Zonal Project Officers for 10 days
• Training to district level NSS Programme Coordinators for quiz in 8 batches.

VII. Networking of Resource Institutions

Umpteen number agencies and NGOs are working in the field of adolescent health and development. Whereas some NGOs are doing good work, others are only in papers. The organizations devoting their time and energy for the cause needs to be documented properly. Networking of NGOs working on adolescent issues will enable the planners to take a considered opinion about the schemes for adolescents. The missing links and gaps in various programmes for adolescents, the reach of programmes across the country and in various communities also can be ascertained by networking of institutions. Hence RGNIYD has proposed to facilitate the networking of agencies working in the field of adolescent development in the country. The proposed activities are:

• Collection and collation of the profile of the Institutions and NGOs working in the field of adolescents across the country and to identify the genuine resource agencies to be networked at national level, one from each state and UT.
• Orientation meeting of the identified resource Institutions for 2 days for 35 institutions.