Illiteracy : A Demon

Illiteracy for our country is a great cause of concern, as it hinders the development of the country. There is a strong link between illiteracy and unemployement. Until and unless people are not literate enough, they will always be hunting for good employement opportunities like madmen. Less employement leads to less contribution to the country's GDP which eventually affects the growth and development of the country..
In my opinion , the Government should take necesary actions to reduce and gradually eradicate illiteracy amongst the masses. Workshops should be held , especially in the rural areas, to convey to the people the importance of education and the impact it will have on the country. They should be told about the bright future that will be in store for their children if they get them educated. Illiteracy is also rampant amongst the older people. Campaign among the illiterate adults, therefore is also a crying necessity. Adult education has found a place in different schemes and projects of Government. But much ground has not yet been covered to set up primary education. This segment has to be given top priority. Even we as responsible citizens of India should contribute towards battling this so-called war with illiteracy. Our motto should be "Each One Teach One", if we are to become a developed nation. In the words of the President of The United States of America, Baarack Obama, " Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change we seek.."
   AND the time for change is now; we are ready for it, are you...?????

                                                                               - Bhaavya Panjabi

The biggest enemy of an EDUCATED MIND

The biggest enemy of an educated mind is a mind prejudiced by caste, creed and gender. Keeping this in mind, I will share with you some instances that depict how education has changed our mindsets and brought about integrity.

While boarding the bus at my school , it usually makes me happy to notice that the girls are made to board the bus first, while the boys patiently wait behind. 

Looking through some class lists, you'll  find that there are equal no. of boys and girls studying in the classes and sometimes, the girls are outnumbering the boys!

If you enter my class during the lunch break, you’ll find me enjoying idli and dosa from my South Indian friend Meera’s lunch box ,while she is engaged in savoring my mother’s Rajma chawal and chole puri. In every class, we have children from different parts of the country, studying together for 7 hours a day, realizing how similar they are despite their differences. 

In the school where I studied when I was 12 years old, I used to play volleyball with a girl named Mariam, who was from Iran. She had to cover her body and head completely when in public places.but found it difficult to do so with our uniform. The school had a special uniform tailored only for her with long sleeves and long legs! 

We have so many teams at school for different sports. Children are selected only by their merit and not by their caste or creed. This way, they learn to work as a team, a team full of different children moving towards a similar goal, basket or score.

                                                                                                                                                     - Arushi Sharma
                                           

                                   

Studying is no child's play!

Adarsh, a student of class 11th, was deeply engrossed in reading his newly bought novel. To his surprise, he found his father standing right beside him, giving him “the look”. “Adarsh, how many times do I have to tell you? These novels you keep on reading are not going to give you any marks. Read your textbooks, son. It’ll help you.” Adarsh frankly replied “But dad, these textbooks are hardly as interesting as these novels! If only I could learn the types of business organizations as easily as I learn the lyrics of a song.”

We have many fathers like that of Adarsh in our country, don’t we? A message for all the parents : Doing something apart from that in the syllabus is no waste of time as long as it is something productive. Knowledge, of any kind, never goes waste. There’s a message for our educational board too. The education that is being provided in our country should aim at becoming more practical and involving than mere rote learning from age old printed textbooks. Else, there’s no choice left for students but to indulge themselves into the more interesting, out of the syllabus activities.

                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                - Arushi Sharma