To Fulfill their Potential

The whole idea of writing this post came from the conversation I had with a friend some time back. She had visited our school and to her astonishment most of the teachers had the same or similar comments on the present day kids; that they find it hard to concentrate on something for a mere five minutes. The kids of the Lower Primary can’t get to learn the multiplication tables just because of the concentration levels that they possess. And most of them have this say that it getting worsened year by year.

Much of the reason for this phenomenon can be attributed to our technological advancement or easy technology that our generation has got access to. Who has got time and patience for learning mathematical tables when each and every data they want are available at their fingertips at 3G speed? It was with such amusement that I noticed my cousin’s two year old daughter using an iPad. Well, she’s got an iPad for herself to keep her entertained. And also she uses any other Android mobile with ease. So that is the level of technology that they’re exposed to.

I’m not taking a stand here, not because it wouldn’t be an easy thing to do but because it would be too hypocritical to do so. I too rely a lot on technology and I too first check for the PDF version of something to read than check it in the library. But I surely would like to comment on the kind of childhood I’ve had. It indeed was a different time. Holidays and vacations were meant only for playing with friends and reading. Cricket during summer and football during the rains. And as any kids of the 90s, Balarama and Tinkle Digest were the favourite reads. And for the TV show, it was Shaktiman in DD. Yes, that was it. Things were simpler then.

Time has passed and also we’ve had some great technological advancement and then there is this generalised notion that it is making the kids gloomy, more secluded and less social. Many have voiced their concerns over this matter on various platforms and in different occasions. But since I’ve started volunteering for Rhythm of Nation NGO, I’ve felt that there are much bigger things to be concerned about.

During the ProjectLOL campaign (e-literacy program) of RON at St.Anne’s Orphanage Thrissur, I encountered with a sixth standard girl who couldn’t read any of the icons on the desktop. Whether it is My Computer or My Documents, she just couldn’t read a single word. And so I asked her to write down the alphabets. She really had a problem with that. The alphabets in small letters and capital letters were mixed up, a few of them were missing and the order too wasn’t right. And that was a problem with the basics. No; she wasn’t someone with any kind of learning disorders. She would easily catch up the concept and ideas of MS Office Word and MS Office PowerPoint, but she just couldn’t read. Maybe none of her teachers in school had taken care of. When I asked her how the English classes were taken in school, she replied that the teacher comes and reads the text book and leaves. I felt sorry for her. And I just couldn’t cope up with the whole idea of this system. Throughout my schooling I had been blessed with such great teachers, who had taken care of not just education but also our moral upbringing and I just couldn’t digest the fact that these kids were receiving such poor education.

I discussed this matter with my cousin and he had a similar story to tell. He had been helping his neighbour with Mathematics for his 12^th standard board exam. There was just nearly a month for the exam and when my cousin started with the classes, he got to know that he had a problem with the basics since he wasn’t getting the concept of any of the topics that were being taught. So he first put down a few addition problems for him, which he solved. Then he put down a few subtraction problems. He found out that his neighbour who was awaiting his board exams a few weeks later had a problem with basic mathematics. He couldn’t subtract a number from another number when the unit digit of the first number was less than the second one. He was wondering how he had reached class Plus Two after all.

When we started the next ProjectLOL campaign at Sevasadan Orphange, we had this idea of helping them with basic English along the e-literacy program. Here too, we got to know that the sixth standards had problems with reading even simple words such as house or leaf. So we started teaching them a few words each day. And one day we were teaching them the meaning of our National Anthem, word by word, viz. Jana- people; Gana- group; Mana- mind, etc. I was teaching the seventh standard kids. They had heard the words people and group, but it was for the first time that they were hearing the word mind. It wasn’t their problem. It was and it is the problem of the system. They were unaware of what was happening around them and they were unaware of the importance of education.

If such a system continues, it would create a bunch of demoralised youth unable to act according to their conscience. When these people later realise that all these years of school education had done nothing good to them, it would be so disturbing and without receiving proper help from the people around them, they can’t get through it. I hereby request all those who are reading this post to spend at least two or three hours a week to volunteer at a nearby orphanage, helping them out with any of the subjects you like. Thank you. :)

A candid moment with RON volunteers after the completion of ProjectLOL at Sevasadan.

NOTE: I was travelling through Bangalore a few months back. It was evening time and I was commuting by bus. On reaching one of the stops, a kid of about 14 years old got in sat next to me. He was wearing a shabby shirt and his trousers had quite an amount of stains. He looked very much tired and he asked me something in Kannada (Kannada itself I presume). I didn’t know his language and didn’t know what to tell. I then replied him in English: “Sorry, I don’t know your language”. I felt ashamed of myself, seeing what happened next.

He: “Are you going to Majestic?” 

Me: “Yes.” 

He: “Please wake me up when the bus reaches there.” 

Me: “Okay.”  

I felt so ashamed of myself that I underestimated his ability to converse in English. To put it, that is the kind of worth and power you receive with good education. :)