Education these days is neither imparted nor received as education but as a commercial commodity, today a child who can afford the cost of education receives it while the other is devoid of it just because he is not financially well off. Our country India is called a young country. Yes, a young country, because 50% of the population comprises of kids and youngsters. Can’t we imagine the drastic changes and the rapid development that can be brought about through these young people? Yes, of course, we can. But, sorrowfully, 32% of our total population still lies in the darkness, the darkness of illiteracy. We may understand that these 32% can not make much difference as their productivity; their skills are no match compared to the literate population. On top of that, someone who is rich gets better quality education in the so-called 'elite schools' while the others are not lucky enough receive inferior schools with poor infrastructure and the rest of the population who barely make both ends meet are virtually denied the right to education and these people may resort to criminal activities due to the lack of options and opportunities. If these people do take up a criminal life, have we ever thought about whom would their crimes be directed against? The simple answer to this would be - against us, in this same society where we all live. We are giving rise to a generation that has hate, anger and ill-feelings in them due to caste, class and status differences. We can barely imagine the consequences of this aggression and the abyss that we are heading towards. A major point that needs our attention now is the fact that not all the educated people are performing as we expect them to. Are the educated people really fulfilling their duties as is required of them? Are they contributing anything to the society or instead taking back what is already here? Let us analyze the statistics- according to page number 13 of Business India August 1997 issue, the monetary worth of all the crimes committed by illiterate people between the years 1965- 1997 amounted to a total of Rs. 3626 crores while a single educated person cost the nation Rs. 3971 crores by a scam! My project overall raises the following four questions- Do you feel the same-  All those who are unable to get education may commit crime in the future and that will be directed against us and our society?  Majority of the educated people, excelling in their respective professional lives are not contributing as much to the society as they are expected to. Isn't it our responsibility-  To Educate every person so that he/she may become a good citizen.  To provide such educational training to our youngsters that makes them responsible and patriotic citizens.  "To make education the biggest issue” so that Education takes the center stage and is made the priority even by the government and then we will surely develop as education itself is the sole solution to every problem. I chose this project topic because I strongly feel that Education is the sole solution to every problem. If we provide quality education to one and all, we may surely hope to make tomorrow a better day and tomorrow’s world a better place to live in. But, we in India have kept on raising concerns over various problems such as child marriage, global warming, dowry, ozone depletion, people devoid of rights, environmental degradation, but never ever have we raised concern over Education. And, even in Education at times, we have talked of Girl Child education while on the other we have discussed illiteracy but we never talk of education as such. This was the reason I chose this project. I have been working for the cause of Education since I was in Class V through Oxygen… a movement. So, this is why I went ahead with a project as such. And we may imagine that when children themselves start talking and questioning their elders and their education system, how aware the society will become? So, the situation is quite demanding now that we make education the biggest issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY WHOLE PROJECT----- As far as our collective responsibilities are concerned, I feel that we as a group must move forward to one aim that is to realize the dreams of having a unified world, a world where we may experience peaceful coexistence. I strongly feel that our collective responsibility is that we have make the ones who have access to all rights realize their responsibilities and we shall have to fight for the rights of the deprived. We should also look forward to sustainable development, besides establishing human dignity and dignity of labour in the world. We must use our natural resources judiciously and must remember that, “Nature can sustain man’s need but never at all, a man’s greed. At the end a few lines of my poem which was published in a local daily, “WRITE A LETTER, START A GROUP, OR DO SOMETHING THAT SEEMS SMALL, FOR WHATEVER IS DONE FOR MOTHER EARTH IS GOOD FOR US ALL.” CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1. PERSONAL PROFILE Name : Sharad Vivek Sagar Age : 16 years School’s Name : St. Dominic Savio’s High School Date of Birth : 24th of October, 1991 Strengths : Individuality, Leadership, Feeling for the society, Academics, Patriotism, Perform brilliantly in stress conditions, All rounder, Deep thinker, Good Character, My belief in God, Hard work. Weaknesses : Can not see something wrong taking place or kids being downplayed, the word “WEAKNESS” Hobbies : Surfing the net, Skimming through various novels (English and Hindi) and Harry Potter encyclopedias, Reading poems of ‘Dinkar’ and Bachchan, Writing short poems and stories. Achievements : Member, The National Society of High School Scholars Own a personal website, http://sharad_vivek.tripod.com Winner of Apna Sapna Sundar Patna (Eng) (unique public speaking event including a project) Please Find Attached a list on the next page. LIFE TO ME IS LIKE PLAYING A VIOLIN IN PUBLIC AND LEARNING THE INSTRUMENT AS THE SHOW GOES ON. 2. PROJECT PROFILE Our country India is called a young country. Yes, a young country, because 50% of the population comprises of kids and youngsters. Can’t we imagine the drastic changes and the rapid development that can be brought about through these young people? Yes, of course, we can. But, sorrowfully, 32% of our total population still lies in the darkness, the darkness of illiteracy. We may understand that these 32% can not make much difference as their productivity; their skills are no match compared to the literate population. Education these days is neither imparted nor received as education but as a commercial commodity. Today a child who can afford the cost of education receives it while the other is devoid of it just because he is not financially well off. On top of that, someone who is rich gets better quality education in the so-called 'elite schools' while the others are not lucky enough receive inferior schools with poor infrastructure and the rest of the population who barely make both ends meet are virtually denied the right to education and these people may resort to criminal activities due to the lack of options and opportunities. If these people do take up a criminal life, have we ever thought about whom would their crimes be directed against? The simple answer to this would be - against us, in this same society where we all live. We are giving rise to a generation that has hate, anger and ill-feelings in them due to caste, class and status differences. We can barely imagine the consequences of this aggression and the abyss that we are heading towards. A major point that needs our attention now is the fact that not all the educated people are performing as we expect them to. Are the educated people really fulfilling their duties as is required of them? Are they contributing anything to the society or instead taking back what is already here? Let us analyze the statistics- according to page number 13 of Business India August 1997 issue, the monetary worth of all the crimes committed by illiterate people between the years 1965- 1997 amounted to a total of Rs. 3626 crores while a single educated person cost the nation Rs. 3971 crores by a scam! My project overall raises the following four questions- Do you feel the same-  All those who are unable to get education may commit crime in the future and that will be directed against us and our society?  Majority of the educated people, excelling in their respective professional lives are not contributing as much to the society as they are expected to. Isn't it our responsibility-  To Educate every person so that he/she may become a good citizen.  To provide such educational training to our youngsters that makes them responsible and patriotic citizens.  "To make education the biggest issue” so that Education takes the center stage and is made the priority even by the government and then we will surely develop as education itself is the sole solution to every problem. I chose this project topic because I strongly feel that Education is the sole solution to every problem. If we provide quality education to one and all, we may surely hope to make tomorrow a better day and tomorrow’s world a better place to live in. But, we in India have kept on raising concerns over various problems such as child marriage, global warming, dowry, ozone depletion, people devoid of rights, environmental degradation, but never ever have we raised concern over Education. And, even in Education at times, we have talked of Girl Child education while on the other we have discussed illiteracy but we never talk of education as such. This was the reason I chose this project. Moreover, I feel that what so ever other sub topics which fall under the main topic or the theme ‘Our Responsibility’, ranging from social to environmental can be accomplished or realized through Education. So, why not choose education as my theme? And furthermore, the most solid reason for choosing this as the project topic was that I have been working for the cause of Education since I was in Class V through Oxygen… a movement. So, this is why I went ahead with a project as such. And we may imagine that when children themselves start talking and questioning their elders and their education system, how aware the society will become? So, the situation is quite demanding now that we make education the biggest issue. CHAPTER-2: DESIGN OF THE STUDY 1. ISSUE/PROBLEM/CORE AREA OF THE PROJECT The project basically focuses at the following problems-  We are unable to send all our children to school that means that we are depriving them not only from their constitutional rights but their human rights as well. We need to at least bring all children to schools.  Then the quality of half the schools we have provided to these children especially in a state like mine are miserable. The govt. schools lack infrastructure and are just serving the purpose of literacy mission i.e. to headcount the number of people who can manage to at least write their name and read names. Do we need to call that education?  Well, two flaws of the education system are mentioned above. But let us talk of the children whom we are teaching in high quality schools, our so called elite schools having high level infrastructure. What are they doing? Are they contributing anything to the society? Despite being professionally wonderful these people are performing terribly, majority of them are indulged in bribery, taking dowry, and in brief most of them are corrupt. Even after being IAS, IPS officers if our so called educated people land behind bars, then the whole cause of education system fails. I have been talking throughout of Education being the sole solution but Education system itself becomes a problem then what can more sorrowful than this. Perhaps, it is the biggest social problem today. ‘Bachche man ke sachche’, we are all aware of this beautiful song. We believe that every child is born pure, with no hatred and no ill feelings against anyone, but growing up in this society he begins to change and shed his childhood innocence. He starts differentiating himself from others and moulds himself according to the existing system. He becomes a part of the system, only to find out later that the system he belonged to is a corrupt one. He tries to change his ways and might be successful in doing so but what about the ‘system’? Who will change the system? Is not every one suffering because of it? It is our duty to try and change the system so that no one else suffers because of it in the future. What happens when something is wrong? and what happens when no one knows, something is wrong? This is what is exactly happening all around. I am concerned about the present. I am concerned about the education I am my friends are being given. I want to sit along with my poor brethren to study. But will the system allow me to? Can we not not have a school, a school of India rather a school of poor or rich? Can we not have kids of India, rather poor kids and rich kids? We have several problems facing our country today, for example unemployment, corruption, casteism, regionalism, child labour, child marriage, pollution and intellectual bankruptcy, but education is the sole solution to all these problems. Sadly, though, we never let education take the center stage in our list of concerns. If our system provides good education to each and every child and if every child attends school, will there be any scope for child labour? Issues such as child marriage would automatically vanish from society. No one would remain unemployed after receiving vocational education and social menaces such as casteism, regionalism and corruption would be rooted out if children are imparted such education that teaches love for all, derives inspiration from morals and stands for honesty and truth. With an education that stresses upon the need for judicious use of available resources, children would never grow up to harm the environment since these values would be deeply rooted in their hearts and souls. 2. AIM & OBJECTIVE The aims and Objectives of the project are-  To aware people about the cause of Education.  To prepare a child-friendly environment.  Making people realize that children are being deprived of both their constitutional and human right.  To make people responsible about the issue.  To make the government take education as the priority and make it feel responsible.  To establish a feeling about children as ‘children of my country’.  To ensure at least UEE- Universal Elementary Education for all.  To make this society a better place to live in. The scopes of the project were-  To raise the awareness level of the people.  To look into the condition of our government schools.  To involve more and more people.  To make every individual feel, “Yes, I am there” for the country 3. METHODOLOGY 1. Prepared a Pamphlet “Making Education the biggest issue: Our Responsibility” so as to create awareness on the issue and distributed it among children and adults. 2. Prepared two separate questionnaires to conduct surveys amongst children and adults (the cross section of the society) about their feeling on the Education System. 3. Prepared a Questionnaire so as to Survey the Government Schools. 4. Covered 10 Govt. Schools of Patna- i. Interacted with the Principals ii. Interacted with the Students and Teachers. iii. Interviewed the Principal and filled the government schools’ questionnaire 5. Interacted with elders and children of slums 6. Worked with NGOs. 7. Hosted various ceremonies and discussions regarding the projects. 8. Addressed the assemblies of a few schools. 9. Addressed slum gatherings, talked about the benefits of education, exchanged their problems. 10. Met and interviewed children working as street vendors, rag pickers and other child labours. 11. Met various people including principals, head of organizations as Nidan, Bal Sakha, UNICEF, Oxygen etc. besides various media personnel. 12. Prepared an action plan to be taken up by the Govt. of India and Bihar. 13. Made the Project go GLOBAL by hosting it online on my website- http://sharad_vivek.tripod.com 14. Circulated chain mails about the project along with the link to the webpage-http://sharad_vivek.tripod.com/id30.html . And a lot more things that I may include in my project in the later half. THE LAST THING IS THAT I DID NOT LET THIS PROJECT REMAIN A PROJECT BECAUSE IT IS MY MISSION. AND THE MISSION GOES ON. 4. SAMPLING PLAN For the first Survey: Sources of Data Collection: 1. Prominent Government Schools of Patna. Sample Size : 10 Prominent Government Schools Sample Area : State Capital Patna For the Second Survey: Sources of Data Collection: 1. Students from Class 6 to Class 12 2. The cross section of the society including educated ladies, housewife, service men, business men, doctors, engineers, media personnel and a lot more. Sample Size : 100 children and 100 adults Sample Area : State Capital Patna 5. IMPLEMENTATION 1. MEETING WITH A.D.M. CHILD LABOUR COMMISSION My first meeting regarding the project was with ADM, Child Labour Commission Mr. V N Sinha. He first of all burst out at the talk of exceptions. He was of firm belief that exceptions can not become regularities and so we need to provide at least minimum basic requirements to all. He also laid emphasis on the eradication of poverty so as to spread education. The interesting fact is that though he is the ADM, of the department but even then he could not tell me the name of the school project launched by them for the child labours properly, he told me, “These are NLPC schools or something like this and I don’t know the full form but I will provide you with a list.” He provided me with he list later and then I came to know that these were the NCLP schools- National Child labour Project Schools. 2. MEETING WITH MR. RATNISH VERMA, PROGRAM & PROJECT MANAGER, NIDAN Then I met the Program and Projects Manager of Nidan, an NGO Mr. Ratnish Verma. Mr. Verma was the in charge there as their Executive Director was abroad. First of all, I had to convince the receptionist for about 5-10 minutes about why I wanted to speak to the then in charge. Finally, I was escorted to his office by a staff and I was pleased by the way Ratnish Sir replied to my question and by the cause they are working for. Nidan works in the field of education with the children who belong to the communities of street vendors and rag pickers. I expressed my desire to interact with the slum communities and he obliged. He told me that he will give me a call when he arranges a community gathering. 3. AN INTERACTION WITH THREE CHILDREN WHO WERE RAG-PICKING The same day while I was returning home I saw three child labours rag picking. The saddest part was that these children were rag picking below a lavish apartment. Seeing these children sitting on rags, and even scavenging the left-overs, a sudden thought crossed my mind. ‘Are these the future of the nation?’ I interacted with these three children. They lived in Mainpura, LCT Ghat, about 5 kms away from the place they were working. When I asked them their names, none of them spoke for their own self rather they prefer telling other’s name. They were named Milanva, Biganva, Tribhuvanva. Actually their names must have been Milan, Bigan and Tribhuvan, but due to the daily habit of being addressed with the suffix ‘va’, these kids have accepted it as a part of their names. 4. MY OVERALL EXPERIENCE AT THE GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS Then started my main part of the project… Survey of Government schools. The first school, I went to, was Government Boys’ High School, Shastrinagar. When I went into the Principal’s chamber and started explaining why I had come in English, he interrupted, gave a scornful look and said in Hindi, “These kinds of businesses are not entertained here. If you have to sell Horlicks, go and approach shopkeepers, Why us?” I then turned down to Hindi and spoke for about 30 minutes so as to convince him and then only could he understand what was it all about? Thankfully, I met two good teachers there who where called by the Principal. Those teachers organized student meetings and all for me. When I spoke to the students everything seemed contradictory, on one hand where Principal told me to write yes in the box for Computer Lab and Science Labs, while on the other the students defined the labs as empty rooms just with labels of Labs painted atop. Moreover, the students said that they had approached the principal quite often so as to ensure their practical but he has always replied that you need not worry for 15marks. It clearly shows that the Principal treats the lab as a medium for 15 marks in board exams rather as a practical study. Finally, before I left the school one of the two teachers who I had met was very impressed with me and took me to the library and gifted a few books to me. I refused as they were library books but he said that there was another copy of the books and thus handed it over to me. The response from the Principal in the rest of the Govt. Schools was fine. And I felt that just due of the lack of options and opportunities the students there are unable to perform well. The students were talented in some schools while in the other I felt that the quality of education was very inferior in the schools as majority of students could not understand or write English. I interacted with five best students of every school. The situation was such that after discussion when I told the students to write their views in English, majority couldn’t write in English. Then, I told them to write in Hindi itself, but to mention it atop “I can not write in English.” But what could be more sorrowful than this that they could not even write this properly. I interacted with the principals, teachers and students at the government schools. I even addressed the assembly of a few schools. Overall it was a good experience for me, visiting the Govt. schools. 5. MY INTERACTION WITH A KID SELLING OLD BOOKS One day while returning from a govt. school, I came across a book shop. Usually, I have a habit of peeping into book shops. But, the unusual thing here was that the shop was of old used books. Even then I went there; I was surprised to selling the books. Moreover, what was more astonishing was that the kid who seemed to around 8 was completing his homework. The kid was at first shy and tried not to speak to me. But I tried and interviewed him and he replied positively. He told me that he used to study in Naveen Vidyalaya in Class 2. So, we need to notice his sheer determination, just if try to put it in the right direction, we may a splendid future. But it’s sorrowful that we are unable to ensure education for all. This boy at least has a school but what about those who have never been to a school. 6. A SCHOOL BEING RUN IN TWO HUTS Yet another situation in which I felt very, very bad was when I was visiting my 10th Government School. It was situated under a pump house. What talk of schools being run in a four room flat, here the school was being run in two huts? The first one being, the office and second one being a classroom. The students were having their Mid-day meal then. I interacted with a few there. What surprised me the most was that after having their Mid-Day Meal, those children went back home. We need to at least ensure the minimum basic facilities for the students. 5. MY EXPERIENCE AT THE FIRST SLUM- ADALATGANJ (EENKH MOHALLA) Meanwhile, I received a call from Nidan, informing me that I have been invited to preside over their community meeting. It was an opportunity for me to go to slums and actually see what the condition out there is. Thus, I readily grabbed it. On one Saturday, I accompanied by my friend Rahul and Mr. Ratnish(Nidan) started off towards the slums. The first slum community I visited was Adalat Ganj (Eenkh Mohalla). Basically these people belonged to the community of sugarcane juice vendors. When I went there the children first of all glared at me and were not willing to speak to me. But first of all I addressed the community gathering and told the people about me and the cause I was working for. I also talked about the importance of education in the community and then in friendly manner I told the people in a friendly manner that it is very easy to talk about importance but may be it is difficult still to send the children to schools, I requested them to share their problems. And then started the flow. One by one… at least 20 troubles were pointed out. The major ones being poverty, the habituation of kids to get up late, unhealthy surroundings… rather unhygienic surrounding of the community and a lot more. I then started talking to one kid and in a few minutes I was crowded by many. I felt their happiness speaking to me and being captured on the camera. These children were between the range of 4-12 years. They had learnt various things in their school that is run in a temple courtyard. I got reminded of Irfan Pathan who used to take his bowling run-ups in Jama Masjid’s courtyard. But a sudden anger crossed me and I felt that do we need to make everyone have a temple’s courtyard or do we need to have schools, fields and other minimum basic requirement. Well, Nidan is doing as much as it can; at least it is teaching something to these children. 7. MY INTERACTION WITH THE TEACHERS Then I interviewed its teachers, the three teachers deputed there and to Mr. Ratnish Verma. These people felt that the first thing they are doing is that they are proving it to the government that these children are willing to study but they are being brought to schools. There are people who just say that slum children don’t want to go to schools but these Nidan individuals have proved it that these kids too want to study. Furthermore, I came to know that these children are not put into different classes rather to make their studies interactive they are put into groups. There are about four groups as such in every slum school and these groups are made according to the level of understanding. So, that the children may remember their group’s name, these are named by children’s vote, like the thing that attracts them the most. The name few groups for example are- Suraj(Sun), Tara(Star), Aakash(Sky) etc. 8. I, IN THE SLUM OF CHINAKOTHI- A SLUM OF RAG PICKERS Then I visited the second slum-Chinakothi. This slum was of rag pickers. There was no community gathering here though, but I visited the groups of children. I felt like crying seeing the condition in which these children were studying. On one side there were pigs grunting and just two-three feet away from that these kids were sitting on the ground and studying. I too, was offered a seat by Ratnish Sir. I sat on a log of wood which was already chopped off and barely had a radius of 10-15 cm. I sat on it and was seeing how these children were studying. And believe it, or not, there were wonderful students. The teacher told me and Ratnish Sir that they have learnt quite a lot in a very short duration. He called them to the board one-by-one and gave them various questions ranging from those of Hindi to sums of Math. Meanwhile, the teacher scolded a student. The reason was he was not wearing a shirt. But, the child very dolefully replied, “Sir, I don’t have a shirt to wear. The one I have is being washed, tomorrow, I’ll wear it.” I felt very sad about the fact that on one hand where we say, we are developing, one the other hand, there are people who don’t have enough clothes to drape themselves. When I went back home, I could feel the pain those students have and moreover, I was troubled by back pain as I sat on the very log of wood for perhaps, half an hour with no support to the back. 9. INTERACTION WITH JOB ZACHARIAH, UNICEF I went to UNICEF and I had the privilege to meet Mr. Job Zachariah, an individual of great knowledge. He feels strongly for the rights of children. Moreover, he is totally against corporal punishment. Talking about, Education as a human right, Job Sir told me about the effects of illiteracy that are prevailing in our state today. I asked him what UNICEF was all about. He explained it to me in depth. He told me how we can control infant mortality rate through education and even provided me with an article of his about Education which has been published in various journals. 10. MEETING WITH THE EDITOR, DAINIK JAGRAN AND OTHER MEDIA PERSONNEL I met the Editor, Dainik Jagran, Mr. Shailendra Dixit. He perhaps, already had a desire for system having a composition of knowledge and values. He exchanged his views with me regarding it and even called a reporter to take my interview. The interview was covered in next days’ Dainik Jagran. There were various other media personnel who felt for the society but they asked me if they get upright, who will guarantee the same amount of respect and salary for them. I told them that a journey of thousand miles begins with a single step. If you are upright then may motivate many more. Some reporters even came to my home and covered my project. -------- There were a lot more instances but due to the unavailability of much space, I am unable to include them here. But, at the end I would like to share the concluding instance, when I met the Dy. CM and handed over the Proposal for Action Plan to be taken up by the Government. 11. MEETING WITH THE DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER, BIHAR When I completed the field work of my project, I went to meet the Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi. I handed over the Proposal for Action Plan to be taken up by the Government of Bihar to him. I also presented the consent letters that I had got filled the cross-sections of the society in front of him. These consent letters stated that the people were dissatisfied with the present education system and the present way in which education was being treated. He was very much convinced by my points and said that he would present my Proposal for Action Plan in front of the Cabinet and later asked about my aim, hobbies and all. He finally wished me a bright future and gave me blessings so as to win the title of Horlicks Wiz Team India, 2007 for Bihar. THE PROPOSAL FOR ACTION PLAN THAT I HANDED OVER TO THE DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER, BIHAR STATED-  Education should become the priority of the Government. We must upgrade the quality of our Government Schools. This can be done by-  Providing good infrastructure in government schools.  Providing such schools under a radius of 1 km. (A school/Km)  We must have a universal set of rules for all the people who are a part of the government schools, which includes our Principals and Teachers too besides our students.  We must strictly implement our rules and regulations.  We have, perhaps, the best plans but we fail to change those into actions effectively.  We must encourage our own ministers, bureaucrats and people as such to send their children to government school, so that they too realize the condition. Everything may change by this.  Life Skills and Vocational Training must be introduced in all government schools.  Quality Teachers must be selected, because the future of a child is shaped up by them.  There is a flaw in the school dress system of the govt. schools according to which money is transferred to the account of the children or their parents. The flaw is that Banks are not ready to open accounts with zero balance.  At least, ensure Elementary Education for all.  Random checking of Govt. Schools must be brought into existence.  The facilities of Computer Lab, Science Lab, Playground etc. must be ensured for all, and the schools which already have these facilities, there these must be made functional.  The schools must be made inclusive; child friendly and education should be made interesting. CHAPTER-3: DETAILS AND ANALYSIS- ‘MAKING EDUCATION THE BIGGEST ISSUE: OUR RESPONSIBILITY’ I first of all thought of my methodology which included preparing pamphlets for creating awareness, questionnaires to document people’s views and questionnaires to conduct surveys in the government schools. I wrote a letters to various organizations to sponsor my project. Air Deccan, Patna agreed to sponsor my project and after that I finalized my strategy. I took the permission of Convener of my movement, Oxygen… a movement, to use the materials for my project. He permitted me. I then chalked out a list of 10 Government Schools of Patna which I planned to cover. I searched the internet to find NGOs working for the cause of Education. I created awareness through my pamphlets and started getting the questionnaire filled by the cross sections of the society. I even hosted my whole project online on my website http://sharad_vivek.tripod.com . I provided my pamphlets and questionnaires online. I also started the circulation of chain mails with my pamphlets’ text version in them. I circulated my pamphlets on a social networking site www.orkut.com as so to make the project go global, because I felt its required to transcend the boundaries of cities and state and think globally. And so did I, I thought globally and acted locally. Since I launched my project online, it’ll continue even after Wiz Kids. My list of activities undertaken is as follows:- 1. Prepared a Pamphlet “Making Education the biggest issue: Our Responsibility” so as to create awareness on the issue and distributed it among children and adults. 2. Prepared two separate questionnaires to conduct surveys amongst children and adults (the cross section of the society) about their feeling on the Education System. 3. Prepared a Questionnaire so as to Survey the Government Schools. 4. Covered 10 Govt. Schools of Patna- i. Interacted with the Principals ii. Interacted with the Students and Teachers. iii. Interviewed the Principal and filled the government schools’ questionnaire 5. Interacted with elders and children of two slums, namely Adalatganj and Chinakothi, in a community meeting. 6. Went to Slum Schools of Nidan, interacted with the children 7. Worked with Nidan, an NGO 8. Addressed the meeting of the teachers working for Nidan. 9. Gave the Program & Projects’ manager Nidan, an advice to make the kids sketch greeting cards which was gladly accepted. 10. Hosted the Scholarship Day(the students were sponsored their school fees through the cards they made), for Oxygen… a movement 11. Hosted a discussion of school students on the topic of the campaign that I have started through my project, ‘We want a change, Its now or never’ 12. Hosted a discussion of school students on the topic, ‘A school of Our Dreams’ 13. Hosted a discussion on the study I conducted of the Government Schools. 14. Addressed the assembly of St. Dominic Savio’s High School. 15. Addressed the students of K B Sahay High School. 16. Hosted a group Discussion in my school which was attended by the Head Boy and the Head Girl. 17. Met the then ADM, Child Labour Comission, Mr. V N Sinha and interviewed him. 18. Met Mr. Sanath Sinha, Chief Co-ordinator, Bal Sakha and Interviewed him. 19. Met Mr. Binod Singh, Convener, Oxygen… amovement, took his support. 20. Addressed slum gatherings, talked about the benefits of education, exchanged their problems. 21. Met and interviewed children working as street vendors, rag pickers and other child labours. 22. Met various people including principals, head of organizations as Nidan, Bal Sakha, UNICEF, Oxygen etc. besides various media personnel. 23. Prepared an action plan to be taken up by the Govt. of India and Bihar. 24. Handed it over to the Dy. Chief Minister. 25. Circulated my pamphlets on www.orkut.com , a social networking site. 26. Made the Project go GLOBAL by hosting it online on my website- http://sharad_vivek.tripod.com under the Horlicks Wiz Kids Section of my navigation bar. The online version includes questionnaires, pamphlets etc. and I received feedbacks too from people of various places. 27. Circulated chain mails about the project in which along with the content of the project the link to the webpage was also included http://sharad_vivek.tripod.com/id30.html . THE LAST THING IS THAT I DID NOT LET THIS PROJECT REMAIN A PROJECT BECAUSE IT IS MY MISSION. AND THE MISSION GOES ON. Possible Solutions: First of all, we need to create awareness in the society. We must encourage students to say NO to the evils of the society. We must make everyone conscious of their human rights. We need to train everyone vocationally and imbibe in them values. The whole system of our education must be value based. We should have an education system which produces individuals with a fine blend of character and competence. In a couple of months, we will be celebrating Republic Day. Yet again there will be promises, pledges, speeches and so-called feeling of patriotism will rise in millions of hearts, yes, millions but unfortunately that remains only for one or two days. The most important thing is that rather trying just to be patriotic we should try to keep or try to keep our national flag high. Undoubtedly, it is the national flag that we are always proud of. But, the utmost need, responsibility or duty that has to be executed by we the people of the Republic of India is that we strive to make India such a country where every citizen is self-sufficient to keep the flag high. How to do this? Just saying something for the sake of it is, of course, quite easy but when it comes to change into action, the almost the whole country sees to it as if it is a Herculean task. For India to be a developed nation we need to educate every individual and that is for sure. But, it always strikes our mind that, “Have we not been educating so many people till now (though it is only about 68 %)?” The clear cut answer is no and a big NO. The thing which we try to call education is mere literacy mission. We can never hope of the tricolor being held high if we just have a billion people good-for-nothing and knowing just how to write their names. The situation is quite demanding now that we provide quality education to every one. Yes, quality education, but this must include quality studies, mental training along with quality physical training. If every child is made to do manual work too, then he will surely understand the dignity of labour and if, unfortunately, in his later life, he fails to get a job he may eke out his living through hand made things. This will surely prevent him from occupying unfair means i.e. sticking to the antisocial lines for his bread and butter. So, every child’s hand must be trained along with his mind as then only he may hold the Indian Flag High. The Stake holder: is whole world, the governments, the Governmental and Non- Governmental Organizations, our media and children themselves besides their schools, educational institutions and their families. Every one in this world holds a responsibility to make education the biggest issue. If we see any kind of violation of rights, whether those are of education or not, it’s the responsibility of ours to try and stop it. The moment we turn a deaf ear to mother earth’s call or to the call of a needy, we prove ourselves to be mere literates and not educated. If we are educated we need to make others so too. Our IAS, IPS officers and other educated people who are in a decision making position, if these people will not take decisions for education of children, how education can spread. We need to start thinking of WE, rather I, ME, MYSELF, and MINE. Let us move forward to a common goal “EDUCATION FOR ALL, an education having a fine blend of knowledge and values.” FINDINGS and ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY The First Survey: of Government Schools: During the Survey of the Government Schools, I found that the condition of the government schools is very sad. Though the schools had a glorious history and there are ample of ex-students from our government schools who are serving as decision makers today. But, the sorry state of the govt. schools is that the children there are not at all satisfied with their schools. Furthermore, the quality of education these children are getting is clearly reflected by my survey. After ineracting with best students of the school, I used to request them to write their views on 'Education' in English. It was shocking that 67% of the Government School students could not write in English. 57% of these wrote in Hindi while the 10% went back to class to bring their pens and didn't return back. Only 33% wrote in English. What is more surprising is that the students who wrote in Hindi, I told them to write on top that 'I can not write in English.' and to my utter, utter astonishment 100% students could not write the above mentioned lines properly. Furthermore, there was not a single student who made less than 3 mistakes while writing either in English or in Hindi. Moreover, my survey revealed that only 50% of the Govt. Schools in my state Capital have Computer Labs, while 40% don't have science labs. Moving into a world which needs practicality, if we are not equipped with facilities for Practical, we may not even dream of an innovative India. Till now, an Olympic individual gold remains a distant dream for us and even then we have failed to change our way. Just imagine when 50% of our schools lack a playground can we even dream of sportspersons, leave aside Olympic medallions. First of all, there are 50% schools with a playground but only 30% have a game' court. Just imagine, then too 90% city schools have a games’ period. We may realize what the students might be doing in games’ period. Games’ Period does not mean only to go out in the field and stand admiring the nature. We still have 20% schools without a Sports Teacher. Well, we need not be shocked by this itself, there is a lot more in store. This is what the principal told me when I was interviewing through the questionnaire. The reality is something different. Interacting with the students I found that none of these was functional. Moreover, there is an interesting figure that 100% of our MLAs, Ex-MLAs, Individuals of Political Stature, Ministers, Bureacrats and famous personalities of Bihar don’t send there children to the government schools. It’s a sorrow that though the schools are of the government but top government officials and the politicians in the government don’t send their own children to these schools. Only 40% of teachers of government schools send their own children to these schools. Moreover, enquiring the students about this, I found that these children don’t come to schools. Their names were just enrolled there so as to get the funds allocated, the dresses and other benefits allotted. So, these are our government schools. Please Find Attached a “Data Sheet of Government Schools”, this is what I compiled after the survey. In the second survey, I concluded that in the so-called educated areas, people are aware of everything, they feel responsible for everything just for the sake of it. But, they don’t feel like doing anything. I get reminded of the famous example by this, that if there is muck outside, you need to get into it and clean it. Overall, the people, and even the students are not satisfied by the Present Education System and by almost everyone who is a part of it. We have people, today, who know everything what is going on. But they don’t do anything. Let us all realize, we need to be responsible, because ‘IF YOU ARE NOT A PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU ARE A PART OF THE PROBLEM.’ Conclusion Education these days is neither imparted nor received; it has become a commercial commodity. Today a child who can afford the cost of education receives it while the other is devoid of it just because he is not financially well off. On top of that, someone who is rich gets better quality education in the so-called ‘elite schools' while the others are not lucky enough and receive inferior schools with poor infrastructure and the rest of the population who barely make both ends meet are virtually denied the right to education and these people may resort to criminal activities due to the lack of options and opportunities. If these people do take up a criminal life, have we ever thought about whom would their crimes be directed against? The simple answer to this would be - against us, in this same society where we all live. We are giving rise to a generation that has hate, anger and ill-feelings in them due to caste, class and status differences. We can barely imagine the consequences of this aggression and the abyss that we are heading towards. It seems that children have become the soft target for abductions and several other violent acts. This practice needs to be stopped to ensure the bright future of our country. Kidnapping does not only exist in the form as we usually perceive it. There is another sort of abduction by which we deprive children of their right to education. By doing so we are distancing them from the numerous opportunities they would have had if they were given a chance to study. We are also hurting the sentiments of the so-called educated children since we provide mere literacy on the name of education to millions of our kids. The most vital element required for survival of living being after Oxygen and water is food grains, produced by farmers. We can provide good education, healthcare facilities, roads, houses, clothes, a just jurisdiction and many more such amenities to hardworking farmers, labourers and common people but its sad to know that so far we haven't been successful in providing them these basic facilities. Our country has to pay an interest of a whopping Rs. 1,33, 945 crores per year on the loans it has taken from the international community. The irony here is that the country again has to take a loan of Rs. 1,51,144 per year. Now the question is that if the condition of common man hasn't changed much, then what was the loan used for? On the other hand we find a single Telgi scam costing Rs. 32,000 crores to the nation and if four such scams occur, they'd amount to the entire sum our country pays as interest each year. It is a point to note that around 13 times the loan that India borrows from outside is deposited in Swiss banks as black money. What condition have we reduced the 'Golden Bird' to? We have several problems facing our country today, for example unemployment, corruption, casteism, regionalism, child labour, child marriage, pollution and intellectual bankruptcy, but education is the sole solution to all these problems. Sadly, though, we never let education take the center stage in our list of concerns. If our system provides good education to each and every child and if every child attends school, will there be any scope for child labour? Issues such as child marriage would automatically vanish from society. No one would remain unemployed after receiving vocational education and social menaces such as casteism, regionalism and corruption would be rooted out if children are imparted such education that teaches love for all, derives inspiration from morals and stands for honesty and truth. With an education that stresses upon the need for judicious use of available resources, children would never grow up to harm the environment since these values would be deeply rooted in their hearts and souls. You all are wise enough to understand and think. You are to decide-what can be your contribution in this work? In this situation we need each and every youth of our country to work together for bringing a revolution. Can you stand for your nation to say- ‘Yes, I am there’?