UNICEF, ICC, CII-YI plan support for girls in Assam’s tea gardens, flood-hit areas

Guwahati, Oct 13 (PTI) UNICEF India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and CII–Young Indians (CII–YI) on Monday adopted a roadmap to help girls in Assam’s tea gardens and flood-prone areas with education, safety, and job-related skills.

The roadmap focuses on helping girls stay in school, especially during floods, and transition smoothly to livelihoods.

The plan also encourages companies to use their CSR funds to support state-led programmes instead of running separate initiatives.

Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, in his address, emphasised the state's focus on 'Foundation first, then skills — with continuity by design'.

He urged partners to align CSR resources with government delivery so that demand-side schemes translate into measurable foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) gains and retention.

UNICEF India's Deputy Representative Arjan de Wagt emphasised two accelerators — Foundational Learning and Numeracy (FLN) and skilling-to-work.

He highlighted evidence-backed "cash-PLUS" delivery supports such as teaching at the right level, teacher coaching, mother-tongue materials, and pre-positioned continuity kits for flood months.

"We double up our strengths if CSR supports the system side of learning, and not parallel programmes," he pointed out.

Former cricketer and ICC ambassador Jhulan Goswami rallied families and fans to the ICC × UNICEF "Promise to Children" pledge, urging supporters to help keep girls in school through floods and finals—and to take the message forward with #PromiseToChildren.

Two panel discussions were held on improving education in tea garden and flood-affected areas.

Speakers called for more support for mothers’ education, better midday meals, catch-up classes, and use of digital and play-based learning tools. PTI DG DG MNB