Once an abode of learning, India, today, has the largest population of illiterates in the world. It is an irony that the land of the Vedas is one of the countries with the high illiteracy levels.
Spread and diffusion of literacy are associated with the essential feature of today’s civilization. There is a relationship between literacy and productivity and overall quality of human life on the other.
India is developing but at a very slow rate, this is not the fault of only a corrupt system; it is due to this problem of illiteracy also. Literacy enables a person to think rationally, to be understanding, to be more responsible and to take good decisions. It is said that Democracy is of the people, for the people and by the people, but there is no use if people can not make the right choice for their betterment.
A unique initiative to address the problem of illiteracy in India is taken. An NGO, GURIA, under the leadership of Ajeet Singh and some enterprising people have launched ‘school on boat’ for providing education to the children of the economically backward community who could not otherwise enroll in schools. Boys and girls are being provided informal education on the boat at the Rajghat. It is considered a stepping stone in the world of learning, the children spend two hours after their regular school day and study, play or revise without any pressures or tensions. It is magical to see these students doing their lessons on waves. It is a floating dream indeed! Hope floats on waves of Ganga here.
Though this initiative is a long leap in creating a stimulating environment for the children, this boat school has tremendous potential left there to be tapped.This angelic initiative needs a magical transformation and without the popular support it is almost impossible. The magical transformation includes a makeover of the interiors, a library, educational toys, stationery, a computer and a painting kit.
This transformation will help to upgrade the ‘classrooms’ to provide ideal learning environment to these children. Providing them the necessary books, CDs, computers, and toys will also be a welcome step. All the inputs you may think will help in taking these schools to ‘flying’ levels. We can help to connect these schools to the rest of the learning world by providing them with high-speed internet connection.
If this experiment is successful in Varanasi, similar efforts can be replicated and recreated across the country ensuring a far better future for India.
Varanasi boat school initiative needs better infrastructure than today.These wonderful schools need India’s support. Our support can give the children of the Ganga the learning environment they deserve.Help them to fly on waves and new highs in their careers.
Contribute generously in the Journey of Doing Right and create hope for the future like I was filled with hope.Will You?
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