Educating One And All

Well, this post is totally inspired by my new work profile : that of a lecturer. Venturing into a new line of work has made me think about the education system and the number of people who are fortunate enough to make use of it. The remaining, especially those who in no manner can afford it, remain illiterate.

Observation:
First and foremost, the problem arises as people don't have enough money to buy their way to even Primary schools. Though the government has started a number of municipal schools, the system suffers from lack of teachers as well as students willing to study when they can probably earn by begging/adhoc jobs.

Well, obviously, everyone does not have a socialistic approach to life, and truthfully, it is quite difficult to devote one's life to the upliftment of the society.

Suggestion:
I feel that Primary/Basic education is really not that difficult to impart. Students enrolled in all types of undergraduate and graduate programme (Be it Arts, Science, Engineering Medicine or Law) can be used to impart basic knowledge of different spectrum to children. Even a voluntary contribution of 1 hr per person per week to educate a child is a good amount. In an engineering college with a 4 yr degree programme and an intake of 500 could mean 2000 hrs per week, which is a HUGE amount if all are willing for this. (But that is being too optimistic)To add, if the students are taught during the college hours, it would give college students too some incentive to be part of a revolutionizing process.

What I am proposing is groups of say 5 universities/colleges to get together depending on the their location, identify and adopt a group of 50 students amongst them, and then proceed to teach them the basics of education, using the help of their own students. 50 students divided amongst 5 colleges can even be given enough old clothing, and perhaps a one time meal as well, which could be incentive enough for the children to come to study.

I am not saying this would be easy. Identifying potential students, connecting to them, managing the whole process, is definitely going to be very difficult. But basic education can definitely be imparted to all those who don't know how to read/write. This would surely go a long way in improving the literacy level of our country and making people more aware on a variety of issues.

This idea again is not new. A lot of work is being done by Volunteers of National Service Scheme (NSS). IIT Madras is doing quite a commendable work on this. However, it is just a few individuals who are trying to help the poor in this regard. Most of us are not even aware of schemes such as NSS, and even if we are, have no guidance how to go about helping. Making something like this available at college /university level would really help students connect to needy people via these Universities and partner NGOs. The Government's 'Education for all' (Sarv Siksha Abhiyaan) is a similar step wherein a number of schools have been set up with Governmental aid. Also, a similar programme called Teach India has also been launched (on the lines of Teach America). However, in all these, the participation of already established educational institutions is quite negligible and the involvement of college students is negligible. They definitely can contribute and make a huge difference, not only by teaching others, but in the way they perceive the society after experiencing the difficulties while teaching a child.

To conclude, I strongly feel that each one of us, who has had the privilege of receiving education, should help someone else too get it.