Introducing Social Responsibility for School Children
Inculcating a sense of Social Responsibility in the very young…
NEEV facilitates the students of Hill Top School – Jamshedpur to contribute to the society.
Background
In the modern industrialized world, the children are expected to spend all their time and energy in building up careers for their future. They are taught to compete with each other and to work for creating better growth opportunities for their own lives.
The schools are obliged to cater to the demands of parents to make their children perform high in academics and in extra curricular. In this scenario, it is commendable when a school’s administration takes initiative to encourage and support its students to take up activities which will not contribute directly to the betterment of their career opportunities, but to the betterment of people around them.
“Introducing Social Responsibility for School Children” facilitated by NEEV Charitable Trust
This program that has been planned between NEEV and Hill Top School, involves students of Std 7th and 8th of Hill Top School visiting the project sites of NEEV and contributing in the ways they can. It has been planned that for 4 first Saturdays of this academic year, about 80 students of Hill Top School will visit different project sites of NEEV and join hands with NEEV in taking good quality education to all sections of the society.
Activities on the First Day of the Program
On 2nd of April, Saturday, 80 students of Std 7 and 8 of Hill Top School went to three different project sites of NEEV to teach the school students and the rural women.
At Neev Public School…
40 of the students accompanied with their teacher Mini Paul, went to Neev Public School. They further divided themselves in two groups.
One of the groups conducted English, Maths and Geography quizzes for the students of Std 3, 4 and 5 of Neev Public School. The students were divided in teams and scores were recorded on the board. The winning team at last posed for a photograph with the Hill Top students. The students from Hill top School also taught poetry to the students of Neev Public School.
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The other group spent time in Kindergarten teaching the small children rhymes and action songs in English. They also prepared colourful charts of the rhymes and displayed them on the board. The little kids enjoyed singing new poems with didis from Hill Top School and also sang some poems which they had learnt in their own school.
The children from both the schools enjoyed being with each other. As Mrs. Mini Paul, teacher of Hill Top School shared later, the time flew past very fast and her students still wanted to do many more activities with the students of Neev Public School. Since the inter school program is planned for 4 Saturdays, the students hoped that they will get to stay for a longer duration at Neev Public School in their next trip.
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At the Community Hall in Village Garurabasa…
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To begin with Managing Trustee of NEEV, Shikha Jain oriented the students about the purpose of this activity. She said that most of these women were pushed into taking up responsibilities like taking care of sibling or cooking from the tender age of 5-6 years, and they have never been to school. Even if they would like to, there is hardly any possibility of anyone spending time with them patiently teaching them to write. It is today that many of them will be holding a pencil and copy for the first time. She encouraged the students to teach the women with utmost sincerity and realize that they are doing noble work by helping them fulfill their dream of being able to sign their names instead of putting thumb impressions while depositing or withdrawing money from bank.
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In an instant, the whole room came alive with intense activity. The students of Hill Top School distributed copies and pencils to the women and each of them took responsibility of teaching two women. The young teachers sat beside their old students and wrote the students names on the first page of their notebooks, which the women tried to copy. Some of the women who already knew some Hindi, learnt to write their names in English. Soon everyone was deeply engrossed in teaching or learning. It was amazing to see the keen concentration of the old haggard faces on the copies in front of them, struggling to draw the letters right and their young teachers trying to goad them to complete the work when they thought of giving up.
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Soon it was time to leave, and Anju Ma’am started calling the students to collect at one corner. However, some students would not leave unless they had taught their student woman to really write her name. One of the students told aloud that all women should repeat what they have learnt in their copies at home and show the same when their teachers return the next time.
It was an absolutely amazing sight. Both students and teachers, playing roles just contrary to what they are used to, and yet so perfect in their performance! Looking at the interest of
rural women in learning to read and write, NEEV team is planning to reinforce this program, and continue it regularly.
At the Soap Unit in Village Hurlung…
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Another 20 students of std 7 and 8 of Hill Top School reached the soap unit in Village Hurlung to teach about 25 rural girls and women how to sign their names in Hindi. They had brought along pencils and notebooks, flash cards, which they used as their teaching material. Some of the girls here were already in studying in Hindi Medium Schools and wanted to learn English.
Sangita Sarkar, Project Director of NEEV, organized the class. It was fun for everyone and some of the students of Hill Top School requested Sangita to call them again for another teaching session. The soap staff had some happy moments learning new words in English and using the Flash cards.
Conclusion
The first day of the program” Introducingl Social Responsibility for School Children” led us to a beautiful discovery – of young learning spirits still alight within the old haggard bodies, and of mature and caring beings thriving in the tender bodies of 12 year olds!
Somvari –shall now sign her cheque book instead of putting her Left Thumb Impression!
NEEV 