Children in India - Out of Vision and Perspective

It has now become clear that the contemptible condition of the health services in the State owes to lack of adequate budget and inequitable distribution of the available budget. In Madhya Pradesh, one of the largest states in India, only Rs 65 per child is allocated for the children per year. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are those States where children are given dishes made of eggs, banana and coconut as nutritious food and the total arrangement of complete health care is available at anganwadi level. This led to the malnutrition rate dropping down to half in these States. These southern States also ensured in a planned manner that not only the women are given information on nutrition and domestic health but that the anganwadi workers and Asha workers are in continuous touch with them and keep holding discussions. In the Mitanin programme of Chhattisgarh too, it was ensured that the ailments like Diarrhea, Malaria and worms (in stomach) are treated at village level and if necessary, the children are referred to bigger government hospitals. This too helped in reduction of infant mortality rates. We have 44 percent population categorized as children, but we have no platform and accountable forum created by the state for sheltering children's right to development, protection, participation and survival.

The problem in context of MP is that here a lot of thoughts were generated but results were not achieved and the infrastructure was played with dangerously. In MP, the local health systems have been totally demolished. Services of 60000 traditional midwives were stopped without making any alternative arrangements that directly affected the health of pregnant women and newborn children. The question is whether or not these traditional midwives would have been given intensive training to become health provider rather than totally eradicating them from the system? On other hand, the state and central governments are not making budgetary allocations for creating new systems for child health.

Since last three to four years, a new analysis is being put forth that the new doctors do not want to go to rural areas, although their remuneration has been hiked to Rs 30000 and other benefits are also being provided. Now the question that should be asked is that why would the young doctors, who spent as much Rs 25 lakh - most of it on loan at interest rate of 14 pc -work in the government system? A mystification is being created that youth do not want to go to rural areas, but the fact is that the government itself allowed the private health sector and private medical education to become unrestrained. Now health is not 'service' but 'market' and children are the biggest sufferers because they are not in a position to impact family or State structure. They are thus bound to face the impact of all policies and the banes and benefits of the market-oriented system and most of them perish. It is a contradictory situation that while the private hospitals are operative for 24 hours even for emergency services, the dreams of the government to run the sub-health centres and primary health centers for 24 hours remain buried in systemic red-tapism.

Government displays its prioritization for any public issue through budgetary allocation. The complete apathy of government towards children's health has been laid bare by an analysis of the State's budget by the Centre for Budget Governance and Accountability. The study shows that the MP government spends only 0.1 pc of its gross domestic produce (GDP) on children's health and this negligible budget allocation itself raises serious question on the policy intentions of the State Government. According to the budget allocations of 2006-07, 79.7 pc of the budget allocated for children is spend on education, while merely 2 was spend on health.

Under the planned expenditure head of the State, in year 1997-98, Rs 38.3 crores was allocated for children's health, which remained just Rs 38.1 crore in 2006-07 budget estimates, instead of increasing. The planned expenditure for tribal groups has remained zero. This is the reason that the infant mortality rate in tribal groups is one and half times more than the State average.

Looking at the complete picture, in year 2005-06, the State and central governments allocated Rs 156.8 crores from 2.48 crore children (44 pc of State population), which means that Rs 63.3 per children for one year. It is clear that children's health is not a priority for the government. Out of total allocation of Rs 4647.7 crores, only 3.4 pc - meaning the lowest pc - was allocated for health purposes.

Presently, on the policy level, there are efforts to bring health under service sector and link it with insurance sector. The ruling Congress at Centre had also advocated bringing all citizens under purview of health insurance in its election manifesto, but the question is whether the insured family (especially if it is poor and deprived) could get an entry into private hospital. The experiences till now suggest that rather than treatment, they get insults and abuses. Insurance sector is profit-oriented sector, whereas health sector demands total freedom from intention of profit. The health insurance scheme could be a success only if the nationalized insurance companies are ready to take responsibility of health insurance and government bears the expenditure. The private health market and the private insurance sector would only further demolish that 77 percent section of society, which according to the Arjun Sengupta report, runs its life at less than Rs 20 per day.

It's a basic principal of a pro-people governance system that state at all levels must ensure a monitoring and management information system to register the contemporary situation of the society. In Madhya Pradesh, we still do not have a mechanism where a common person could have an access to the data and information to know the realities. Then only actions to handle field problems and challenges be designed and implemented. Along with non-availability of field data, state has not shown any interest in making any step towards the formation of a platform, where voices of children by themselves could be raised and addressed. The entire perspective within the state is divided into age classifications (Women and Child Development Department is responsible for the Children under the age of 6, the it goes to the School Education), problem framework, kind of needs and violations, Vulnerabilities There are proofs of the extremely non-committed attitude of the state Government towards children's health and it is clear that the needs of children and their right to life have not at all been felt by our socio-political system.

Sachin Kumar Jain

Tennessee Health Insurance Has A New Way To Help Children Succeed In School

In Tennessee, health insurance is beginning to provide more help for children. While the latest coverage doesn't go into effect until the first of 2012, Tennessee health insurance policies that are issued or renewed after January 1, 2012 will offer help with hearing aids for children.

Tennessee Legislature Passes Hearing Aid Assistance For Children

The bill that provides that benefit, which passed 82-12, covers the first hearing aid and a new one every three years until a child becomes 18 based on certification from an audiologist or doctor that the child's hearing has deteriorated significantly.

Despite pressure from the National Federation of Independent Business to kill the bill, few members voted against it: Republican representatives Mark White, Vance Dennis and Andy Holt were among those opposing the bill.

The National Federation of Independent Business had emailed all the legislators requesting that they oppose the bill accompanied by a threat to notify the group's members before the next election about reps. who voted for it.

Minimal Increase In Tennessee Health Insurance Premiums Is Expected

The bill's sponsor, Republican Richard Montgomery, said the new benefit will only increase Tennessee health insurance premiums by a couple of cents, at most. That's a small price to pay to help children succeed in school.

Even mild hearing loss can cause significant educational problems. It's not uncommon for children to be born with inner ear problems that produce minimal hearing loss, but ear infection is the most common cause of such minimal hearing loss. Learning disabilities frequently follow a series of middle ear infections that occur over a period ranging from six months to a year. Since a small loss in hearing may pass unnoticed during a regular screening at school, not all children are properly diagnosed to get the help they need.

Health Insurance For Tennessee Will Offer More Help With Health Care Reform

There's even more assistance in the future for Tennessee's next generation. Every year before the Affordable Care Act became law, families were denied Tennessee health insurance coverage for their children who had an illness or a pre-existing condition. Health care reform prevents insurance companies from refusing to cover children under age 19 who have pre-existing conditions. In addition, insurers will no longer be permitted to exclude certain benefits that relate to a child's pre-existing condition.

Another provision of health care reform allows parents to keep young adult children on their Tennessee health insurance policy until the child's 26th birthday, as long as the child is not offered coverage through employment.

Changes For Tennessee Insurance Prices Are Coming In The Future

While Tennessee did receive a temporary one-year waiver so Tennessee insurance plans can continue to provide substandard benefits, plans are still required to meet the minimal national coverage standards at a later date. With many plans currently providing state citizens less coverage than the Affordable Care Act mandates, the waiver was deemed necessary to prevent workers from losing the only health plan currently available to them.

By 2014, the state is still required to have a Tennessee insurance exchange that offers standardized coverage. Another provision of health care reform provides government subsidies to give people with low incomes access to health care coverage.

Until then, the best way to keep premium costs low is to run Tennessee insurance quotes on a range of health plans offered by different insurance companies. The Internet makes that possible by offering online information from both insurers and independent brokers, which let you see quotes from multiple insurance companies with just one search.

By Wiley Long - President, eTNHealthinsurance.com - Tennessee's leading independent online health insurance agency specializing in individual and family Tennessee Health Insurance plans. Get an online Tennessee Health Insurance quote, compare plans, apply online, and save!

The School Math Curriculum - How Children Learn Maths - Number 2

Many parents worry that teaching math through play and the medium of Cuisenaire Rods will somehow confuse their child if the school he/she attends adopts a more formal or different approach. The fact is that it is universal math concepts that are being taught using the rods to provide children with a deeper understanding of the structure of number and our number system than would otherwise be possible. These concerns are of course irrelevant if you are homeschooling your children.

This approach teaches universal math concepts in a way that is totally child-centered. Children discover math is creative and fun. Concepts are discovered through play, games and open-ended challenges. Sometimes the hardest part for parents to accept is that 'maths is fun'. As a consequence children will always associate Math with a pleasurable, creative and constructive experience that they enjoyed.

This is often a world away from the memories of most of us.

This method is designed to complement the way children learn best and because of this children's learning is invariably accelerated compared to children exposed to more traditional and formal methods. Children are naturally kinesthetic/tactile learners and this reflects the dominant methodology which is truly multi-sensory as visual and auditory learners are also well provided for.

Math need no longer be a source of stress and conflict in the home.

Math related surveys consistently reveal that Math is probably the most hated subject on the school curriculum. One of the most iconic figures of the 20th Century - Barbie's - first words were '"Math is tough" following concerns raised in the US regarding the lack of math achievement by girls. The National Network For Child Care posed the question "What Can We Do?" in their newsletter. Back in 1982 a major report 'Mathematics Counts' was produced as result of a committee of enquiry into the teaching of Mathematics in schools in the UK under the chairmanship of Dr W H Cockroft. Some of the findings were alarming. When adults were interviewed the report observed how "... even an apparently simple and straightforward piece of mathematics could induce feelings of anxiety, helplessness, fear and even guilt..."

I question how much has changed.

A positive introduction to Math is absolutely crucial and what better way than through play? Just give the rods to a child of any age and he/she will do what they do best - play. Play is one of the most powerful motivational forces in the world. Learning should always be fun - structured, but fun. Most of our learning is non-conscious and incidental. For example children who use the rods regularly will 'know' their number bonds to 10 at a very early age without having to 'count' on their fingers.

Play is the harvesting of experience that will feed the growth of the child's understanding and further development. Play creates a positive learning environment. Directed activities can be introduced alongside Free Play to reflect children's particular interests. There are no limits to the possibilities. For example children can be asked to:

Create a star ship.

Build Cinderella's Palace

Produce a mosaic floor pattern etc.

It can be useful to keep a digital camera handy as children are often very reluctant to break up their creations. In fact it is a very good idea to treat their constructions as you did when they painted their first picture, as unique works of art. Photographs can also serve as a record of your child's progress. Play stimulates that most important attribute of the brain - our imagination.

Next Post: Incidental Learning

Before retirement Phil Rowlands was a primary school headteacher in the UK for 27 years. He has a deep interest in brain-based-research particularly with regard to how it impacts on children's learning and is the author of several leaning programs including the early years math program 'Ensure Your Child Succeeds At Math' For more information on the program and a free trial of the accomanying software visit http://www.helpyourchildsucceed.com/mathbook.htm