Education is vital for all of us on this planet.
There is a ray of hope given any situation if you are educated. Gone are the days when it wasn't necessary for women or girls to be educated. It instills in us the confidence to lead the life that we want to.
We would need to break the barrier of caste, gender or any other thing. Another issue that we face in India is lack of resources, schools, classrooms and teachers etc.
Lot of NGOs' are working in rural areas to encourage educating girl child and prevent dropouts that are at an alarming rate. Our constitution states that everyone till the age of fourteen years have the right to "free and compulsory" education. However, the funds are unable to compete with the growing population. Also retention of students and teachers in the rural areas especially is quite challenging.
Initiatives like Teach India would go a long way in sharing the knowledge we possess. Something as flexible as this would help our generation to contribute to educating others in need. What is the use of being knowledge if you don't share it with others? So, I pledge to start small this year and also write about my experiences. I'm really looking forward to this!
I totally agree with you on this one. We as women are actually in a better position to help this cause, God has gifted us with the role of care givers. What better way to use this gift, than to give the gift of knowledge to underprivileged girls. The definition of literacy as defined by government sources is one who can read and write their name. This definition itself needs to be changed. Reading and writing your name does not make one literate. Literacy by itself has broader dimensions. Till the old definition is amended, I don't see the government doing much, so ultimately it is up to us. What can we do to contribute? Every individual imagines that she alone cannot make a difference...but we forget the "POWER OF ONE". Many examples are there right in front of us but I guess we turn a blind eye cause we feel comfortable shrugging off our responsibilities by saying "What can I alone do" going a step further we say "At least i think about it" but we need to realize that today we start as one...going forward if the cause is worthy we will be able to motivate many to join hands with us. Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King....all started alone...but look what they achieved. They too could have said "What can I achieve alone"I guess the difference between us and them is that they broke the shackles and dared to walk alone. As they always say "Lions walk alone, its sheep which go in herds". These men and women were true lion hearts. So it is up to us whether we want to be lions or sheep.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree we should start small & cant rely completely on the govt. I loved what you said about Lions and Sheep :-)
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