Knowledge is the most fundamental and important part of human life. Knowledge of subjects, knowledge of your culture, knowledge of how things work, what is right and what is wrong, every kind of knowledge is clubbed together to make us who we are. In order to live a fulfilling life, knowledge is essential. But where do we gain this knowledge? Is it just available in our society or do we need someone to teach us everything? We know there is no end of information available around us, but does more information mean more knowledge or confusion? In order to answer all these questions and make sense of the world, we need education.
Education helps us gain a perspective toward the world. It gives us social and moral standing. It helps us to understand the various processes that take place around us. Since it is something everyone shares regardless of their origin, it helps us interact with people around the world. Education opens the doorway to a better life. Our skills are developed, our critical thinking skills are enhanced and our decision-making power is enhanced, all of which are useful at every stage and on every journey of our lives. It gives us the strength and power to dive deeper to understand the world and to understand ourselves better.
The Constitution of India mandates primary education for children 6-14 years of age. Clearly, education is a necessity for everyone. However, education can mean different things to different people. For a child belonging to a rich business family, education might be necessary to uphold the pride of parents and the business. For a child belonging to a poor family in some remote corner of the country, education might be the key to escaping the vicious cycle of poverty and working for the betterment of his community. For some, it might be a mere source of income whereas, for others, it might be to make themselves and their family proud. Thus, The purpose of education is multifaceted, and each means is imperative for the development of the individual.
The importance of education has led to a number of studies on the cause and a multitude of research papers focussing on different aspects of education. One thing that all studies agree on is that a number of children are deprived of education. Even though it is a necessity and is constitutionally mandated, it is inaccessible to a lot of people, especially to the ones belonging to socially and economically backward societies. Hence, the government has launched a number of schemes to help people gain easy access to education and to achieve the universality of education. Government schemes like Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, National Scheme of Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education, Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage, Scheme of Vocational Education, National Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme, etc. have affected the number of children going to school to some extent. In spite of this, hundreds of thousands of kids miss out on this basic need due to factors such as a lack of awareness, parents’ unwillingness to send their children to school, financial challenges, and childcare issues. The only way these problems can be tackled and the universality of education can be gained is with the cooperation of citizens and the Government. For this reason, a number of non-governmental organizations have taken up the initiative to raise awareness as well as funds for children’s education.
Hamari Pahachan is one such NGO. Founded by international chess player Tarun Mathur in 2015, Hamari Pahachan has been relentlessly working to increase the expanse of education in India. With their persistent efforts, they have created a vast network of members, interns, and volunteers. They have launched a number of initiatives like Sukhad, which promotes menstrual cleanliness, Drishti, which promotes disadvantaged children’s education, and the skill-development initiative, which aids underprivileged women in becoming independent, etc.
The goal of the Drishti initiative of Hamari Pahchan is to bridge the gap between privileged and underprivileged children. They aim to inculcate basic life skills and empower children to grab sufficient opportunities for a bright future. For this purpose, weekly classes are conducted by Hamari Pahachan along with distribution drives for stationery items, vocational training programs, and personality development programs. As a result, they have been able to educate 11,250+ children and have conducted 3000+ distribution drives.
If all the actors and stakeholders come together to fight for the cause, then it won’t take long for us to reach an India full of educated and knowledgeable people if more and more people come forward to fight for the cause. In a society where parents strive to provide their children with the best education possible, where children are eager to study and work hard to attain an education, and where government initiatives actually yield results and are not in vain. Taking action is as simple as coming together, cooperating, accepting that we are privileged or underprivileged, and getting ready to help or to be helped. If we are able to bring awareness in every corner of the country and bring every underprivileged under the purview of the government schemes, the universality of education will no longer seem like a far-fetched goal. Therefore, let’s take action to fight for ‘education for all’, let’s come together to help the underprivileged gain access to education, and let’s all stand shoulder to shoulder to make education more inclusive!