Jamia Millia Islamia will soon be setting up a first of its kind resource centre in the country to train foster care workers who will in turn train parents to take better care of children.
The proposed National Resource Centre on Foster Care (NRCFC) will work under the aegis of the university's Centre for Early Childhood Development and Research (CECDR) in collaboration with the UK-based NGO Rainbow Fostering which will provide technical know-how and expertise to take the concept forward.
The announcement of signing of an MoU was made today at a two-day international symposium on 'Family Strengthening: Deconstructing Alternative Practices in the Current Legislative Framework'.
"With India being home to nearly 20 million such children and the numbers expected to increase in future, the country was confronted with an alarming humanitarian situation and it was time that steps were taken to address the problem at hand," Jamia Vice Chancellor Talat Ahmad said.
"This will be a first of its kind centre in a varsity to provide support and assistance for foster caring of orphaned and abandoned children," he added.
The mandate of the newly set-up NRCFC is to train people in foster care by organising workshops, seminars and round tables. The Centre will also run a certificate course on the subject.
Stuti Kacker, Chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), said, "fostering a child is not the same as adopting a child. Fostering is a new concept in India and requires a lot of discussion and deliberation before it is formalised.
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