Representatives of ‘Trinita’ visit Beech House School

Representatives of ‘Trinita’ who visited Beech House School

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Beech House School was delighted to welcome two visiting representatives of ‘Trinita’ - an Indian society based in Kolkata, which works with marginalised young people, especially young and adolescent girls.

Anthony and Shampa were staying with the Rev’d Mark Coleman, who kindly introduced them to us at Beech House.

During the morning, the pair met with pupils from Upper Prep during their RE lessons.

They explained how, for thousands of children and adolescents across India being able to attend school each day is merely a dream, despite the government’s policy of education for all to the age of fourteen.

Many of the young people the Society works with are working in informal industrial settings - often as char wallahs - or in the leather industry.

Some have come from the countryside looking for work as their parents cannot afford to feed and clothe them; others have been kidnapped or trafficked to work in domestic service or small-scale industrial workshops.

Working conditions are often dangerous or even hazardous and their hours are long; a 16-18 hour day is not unusual for many young people in such situations.

The Society ‘rescues’ such children and houses / feeds them as well as providing the opportunity for them to receive basic education and acquire skills which will enable them to progress into better-paid and regulated employment.

Our pupils were invited to support the Society’s petition and campaign for all children in India to be granted their basic human rights - including the right to education.

Later in the day, our visitors joined Mrs Gillett and her GCSE pupils in class to learn about traditional English educational methods and observe how we prepare our students for external examinations.