Irish couples keen to adopt Indian kids
Irish couples keen to adopt Indian kids
DC | Pramila Krishnan | 6 hours 52 min ago
Frances Fitzgerald.
Chennai: Several Irish parents wish to adopt Indian children now. The Irish government has approached the Indian government to devise time-bound and hassle-free adoption procedures.
Frances Fitzgerald, the first Ireland minister for child and youth affairs, has interacted with Krishna Tirath, Union women and child development ministry and officials in the Central Adoption Resource Authority about the adoption norms.
Fitzgerald was in Chennai for the St. Patricks day celebration and spoke to Deccan Chronicle about India-Ireland relations relating to child welfare.
“I am thrilled and excited about children in India. Both in India and Ireland, families play a major role in raising children. Though India and Ireland are miles apart, our citizens connect with India due to similar social and cultural values. We value Indian traditions and so our people are interested in adopting Indian children,” explained Fitzgerald. She added that many Irish parents were also ready to adopt special children from India.
Talking about childcare initiatives in Ireland, Fitzgerald said, “We provide free, universal education for children, aged 3-12 years. Our school education is skill-based and we do not allow rote-learning methods among our children. I was amazed when I heard about the free noon meal scheme implemented in schools in India. We have a similar scheme, but it is available only in the disadvantaged areas,” she said.
Stating that tackling child sexual abuse had become a major challenge in her island nation, Fitzgerald said, “I read about the Delhi gang rape incident and the mass awakening in India regarding violence against women. In the case of our country, we have drafted a legislation now to give confidence to people to report child sexual abuse in their family or neighbourhood.”