Agrasar Bachpan

Creating safe, caring learning spaces free from fear and violence.

Building Emotionally Safe Learning Environments

Agrasar Bachpan works to end corporal punishment and build emotionally safe classrooms where every child feels respected, heard, and supported. By engaging children, parents, and teachers, the programme replaces fear-based discipline with empathy, emotional understanding, and care.

Why It Matters

Corporal punishment remains a deeply rooted practice in many schools and homes, often accepted as “discipline.” But this normalized violence harms children’s emotional well-being, confidence, and ability to learn. Agrasar Bachpan challenges these norms, promoting positive discipline and emotional literacy as foundations for meaningful education.

The Alarming Reality of School Violence and in community

of school-going children get physically punished by their teachers
(Government data)

of children experience corporal punishment (Physical Punishment, Mental Harassment, or Discrimination) at school. (NCPCR)

children in a large proportion of government schools are beaten up on a daily basis in Gurugram. – Choking Childhood Report

Children Accept “Justified” Beating
Believe physical punishment with a reason is acceptable and necessary for learning

Parents Approve School Punishment
Vast majority of parents support corporal punishment in educational settings

Parents Use It at Home
Three-quarters of parents admit to using corporal punishment with their own children

Want It to Stop
Despite accepting the practice, most children desire a complete end to physical punishment.

Beaten at Home

Children report experiencing corporal punishment in their family environments.

Why Disadvantaged Children Face Greater Risk?

Family Stress
Limited resources and time for child supervision

Migrant Background
Prejudice and discrimination compound vulnerability

Government Schools
Under-resourced institutions with absent governance

Social Norms
Cultural beliefs that children “need to be broken” for betterment

Corporal punishment may seem like a quick discipline solution, but research reveals a troubling reality: even mild physical punishment carries an inbuilt risk of escalation.

Parents who begin with “light” discipline face heightened risk of perpetrating severe maltreatment as boundaries gradually shift.

Developmental Harm

Impaired cognitive and socio-emotional development, poor educational outcomes, and compromised mental health across all cultures and countries.

Physical & Mental Health

Linked to physical ill-health, mental health challenges, increased aggression, and higher likelihood of perpetrating violence later in life.

Rights Violation

Violates children’s fundamental rights to physical integrity, human dignity, health, development, and freedom from cruel or degrading treatment.

The elimination of violence against children is central to UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.2.

How We Work

Our model focuses on strengthening the relationships around a child - parents, teachers, and peers - to create sustained emotional safety.

How We Do

Based on the globally accepted CASEL framework, Agrasar bachpan uses SEL as a tool to develop emotional resilience in children and a supporting ecosystem for their well-being.

Teacher Engagement:
Teacher’s orientation and workshop

Child Engagement:
Student workshops (age-banded)

Parent Engagement:
SMC meetings & parent workshops

01 ASSESS

Baseline survey of safety practices and perceptions in schools of intervention

02
DESIGN

“Safe Schools kit” (guides, posters, reporting flowcharts) contextualized to the community of intervention.

03
ENABLE

Training of Parents & Teachers on child wellbeing and positive disciplining

04
REVIEW

Post-pilot evaluation, feedback collection, and learning synthesis

05 REFINE AND SCALE

Program refinement based on evidence and classroom realities + feeds back into the next assessment cycle

Learning Centre

Agrasar Bachpan Learning Centre – Devilal

The centre follows a Mainstreaming and Bridge approach: children are supported through documentation, foundational learning, and age-appropriate catch-up so they can re-enter formal government schools with a real chance of staying enrolled.

Two of our learning centres - Sikanderpur and Devilal - are at different stages right now. Devilal continues to run as it has. Sikanderpur, though, has now been handed over to the community it serves. That's a deliberate choice. A centre run by the people who use it every day has a better chance of lasting well beyond any single program cycle or funding period. It's part of how we think about sustainability at Agrasar - not just building something, but building something that can stand on its own. We'll be watching closely to see what this transition teaches us, and how it might shape our approach at our other centres too.

To date, the approach has mainstreamed 257 + children back into formal education.