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Education
is the key to prosperity for
the poor people and the countries
in knowledge based society
and economy. It empowers people
with the requisite skills
to work their way out of poverty.
On the other hand, illiteracy
is among the greatest scourge
afflicting humanity.
In
a special effort to sensitize
policy makers as well as the
local community on the issue
of education and child labour
across the target areas, the
public hearing on the issue
of education was organized
on 30th June 2005, at Gandhi
Peace foundation.
The objective of the mass
hearing was to focus on the
mass accessibility, regional
and gender disparities as
well as the quality of education.
To make Policy makers make
cognizant about the problems,
difficulties and deficiencies
in education and allied issues
like child labour, trafficking,
etc, at the grass root level
at to transit it at National
level through public hearing
The
children from Orissa, Jharkhand,
U.P, M.P and Delhi gave their
testimonies on how poor children
are struggling to obtain education
in spite of numerous difficulties:
lack of schools, the high
cost of education, the poor
quality of government schools
and social discrimination,
among others.
Over
100 -odd testimonies heard
over two hours gave forceful
expression to major areas
of concern: The testimonies
will be heard by a panel of
judges consisting of Atul
Kumar Anjaan, Secretary CPI;
Kailash Satyarthi, President
Global Campaign for Education,
Ashok Aggarwal, Senior Advocate
and Suman NCE..
Manoj
Kumar, studying in class 5h
from Janshar village in Bargargh
district of Orissa presented
a grim picture of the state
of his school. He said, “to
reach his school at a distance
of 2 km a river had to be
crossed and during monsoon
it was impossible to go across
the flooded river. Even at
other times hardly anything
was taught, as the teacher
would come at 11. The drinking
water is very dirty. Exam
fees, cost of books has to
be paid, which is very difficult
for his parents to afford.”Facing
all odds, Manoj is determined
to continue his study after
class 5th in a school 5 kms
from his house.
The situation of school is
no better in the capital city
of Delhi. Sonia, a class 5th
student of Nagar Nigam Prathmik
Vidyalaya in Seelampur said
that the teacher in her class
would come just to take the
attendance and then go and
sit outside, as there is no
ceiling fan. She also said
that understanding her text-books
are difficult as the teacher
never answers her questions.
The
only thing she asks for is
proper teaching in her schools.
Pintu
from Garhwa district in Jharkhand
told everyone that there is
no school in his village.
The nearest school is 5 kms
from his house and so no girl
is sent to school. While the
boys just run away to play
as teachers hardly come to
school. This also makes the
boys and girls to go and work,
as he used to do as a stone
crusher before being brought
by BBA activists to Delhi.
He noted that his dream of
good education was short-lived
as teachers in his school
for a class at 1’o clock
come at 4 and when they come
they read newspapers or get
busy with some government
work. The teacher never teaches
and I don’t ask any
question as I am afraid my
name may be striked-off from
the rolls. But, to avoid any
questioning from the principal,
the teacher assists the students
to cheat and pass the exams.
He said; now after studying
(Pintu is in 6th class today)
he can raise his voice against
any exploitation to him or
others.
Shri
Kailash Satyarthi, emphatically
said, education should empower
the girls and boys and tell
them about their rights. Education
should not be given as a grant
or be the prerogative of the
rich.
He
added, education should be
completely free of any cost,
meaningful, equitable, of
good quality and compulsory
of children upto the age of
14 and for those between the
age of 14-18 years it should
be combined with vocational
training.
Atul
Kumar Anjaan, -after listening
to the testimony of the children
said, Education is a right
not a privilege. He said the
government is responsible
for providing education to
all children and it can not
shirk its responsibility by
telling schools to raise their
own funds. He said that the
panchayat should be made responsible
for free and quality education.
He told the children that
they should demand from their
parents to send them to school.
He noted that BBA and its
work is creating a new India,
a educated India.
For more Information
Contact:
Rakesh 921203778, Sheetal
9212092777, Umesh 9313624842 |
