~Madhushekhar Mallarapu
On November 11th of every year, India celebrates National Education Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India. He served from the year 1947 to 1958. On 11th September 2008, it was The Ministry of Human Resource Development decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as National Education Day.
Education is important for every individual and is the only thing that can change the fate of people. In developing countries like India, for some underprivileged and poor children, education is still a fruit that they cannot reach. So, many children remain uneducated which is not good for the future of our country. And in the pandemic, this situation got even worse.
Education during Pandemic
In March 2020, the Government of India had announced the countrywide lockdown to cope with the pandemic. And it became a hurdle to education especially for the poor and underprivileged sections of society. As classes shifted to online mode, many students were not able to attend them because of the cost of the necessary equipment. Many teachers helped people. They inspired many people with their acts of kindness and sacrifice. These are some inspiring stories.
Raghav Sharma
Raghav Sharma is the founder of SKCF an NGO that works for the welfare of children. He and his team impart education to poor children.
He started this NGO in 2016, with great determination expecting nothing from it. During the pandemic, the NGO initiated many programs, like distributing phones, ration, and necessary equipment for education to the underprivileged students.
Subrata Pati
Subrata Pati is a teacher from West Bengal who teaches at two institutions in Kolkata. His village is in West Bengal’s Jangalmahal area, where internet connection is poor. To teach his students through online classes he had to climb a tree near his house. With the help of his friends, he was able to construct a platform with bamboo sticks on the tree. He used to climb every day to teach his children.
Munir Alam
Munir Alam is a mathematics teacher in Kashmir. Due to his empathy towards underprivileged and poor children, he started teaching mathematics in the open air. The only 2G network in Jammu & Kashmir also failed. So, every morning he used to wake up at 4:30 AM and carry his whiteboard to teach the poor children.
Engineers from Tamil Nadu
Engineers from Tamil Nadu and friends Arvind, Vignesh, Bhavanishankar, and Sarathas started teaching tribal people from Thondaiman Oorani a remote hamlet in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu. There are nearly 1500 people in the village. Having a smartphone is a luxury to them. These four friends decided to teach them.
NGOs In the pandemic
NGOs played a key role in managing the pandemic and made education reach many students. SKCF is such an NGO that helped students to reach their goals in the pandemic. It organised and continued many events and projects like Project Aashray, Project Clothes Bring Smile, and Project Udaan, to distribute rations and other kinds of important items like mobile phones, pens etc. And many students and children have benefited from these projects. Vivek was one such student who benefited from the NGO.
He was introduced to the foundation through his cousin who was a student in SKCF. He learned the value of education and also how fun it was to learn. SKCF has teachers who actively participate with students like Vivek, teaching them the value of life and the importance of responsibility and discipline. Throughout his journey, Vivek learned so many things and is looking forward to many more things to learn.
Some so many students are not able to reach the education standards that they deserve. NGOs like SKCF are trying their best to reach out to underprivileged and poor children.
And to elevate the importance of education, our society needs more such NGOs in the future.
Also, read
National Civil Services Day: Celebrating the Steel Frame of India
