“Vidya dadati vinayam, Vinayadyati patratam
Patratvaddhanamapnoti dhanaddharmam tatah sukham”
- Verse 6, Hitopadesh
“Knowledge makes us humble. Humility begets worthiness. Worthiness creates wealth and enrichment. Enrichment leads to right conduct and contentment.”
This Sanskrit quote from the Hindu scripture, Hitopadesh sums up the essence and the goal of knowledge. This speaks volume of the purpose of education in Indian knowledge system.
India that is BHARAT – is more than just a name. It carries the essence of its land, rich history and represents a quest for knowledge, growth, and enlightenment. The literal meaning of Bharat is One that chases light/ knowledge. Knowledge and education have always been the foundation of Indian tradition of knowledge. It is a fact not unknown that India was the epicenter of education, a hub of knowledge, a ‘Vishwa-guru’ i.e., a global teacher. Education and knowledge were the soul of ancient India where the world-renowned universities such as Nalanda, Takshashila and Vikramshila were the hub of cultural and intellectual exchange. There are documented evidences of the Chinese scholars who spent several years in Nalanda University, studying logic, Sanskrit grammar, and principles of Buddhism.
An Unpleasant Turn -
The essential aim and nature of knowledge is to liberate. Hindu scripture, Visnhu Puran in book 1, chapter 19, verse 41 mentions, “Sa vidya ya vimuktaye,” which translates to, Knowledge is what that liberates. But is the modern idea and model of education and knowledge truly liberating? In spite of a rich intellectual history what altered the conditions of Indian knowledge system? Well, that is another question. But it does beg the answer to the question that despite of the technological advancements, when India is exploring the Mars, corners of the Moon, and preparing to explore the Sun, there are still more than 50% children in India with no access to standard education and half of them are completely deprived of education.
Unfortunately, in the present time education has been turned into a filthy business, an affair for rich, privileged, and aristocrats who can afford the hefty school fees to ensure a quality education for their children. Education has been turned into a web of business, market, and a machine to mint money.
Now the question arises, "what is it that constitutes a nation" ? There are undoubtedly many factors and among many an important component is, its citizens. From east to the west and north to the south, every single individual living in the land of India deserves a quality education. But in today's greed driven world, dreaming of a nation where every child has access to education equates a utopic world. It is not possible, or in other words, is not made possible and behind it not one but many factors are responsible, some of them include, caste-based divisions, political influence, illiteracy, poverty, inadequate resources and so on.
Children’s right activist Kailash Satyarthi, who won Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to eradicate child labor explains in an interview with Times of India that how he was intrigued by a young child who was forced to polish the shoes of the pedestrians, to earn a living. Upon being asked the reason of not going to the school he replied, “Babuji you are born to go to the school but we are born to live like this.” Similarly, Akash Tandon, the founder of an NGO, Pehchaan The Street School, narrates that witnessing young children in Delhi with tender hands and shoulders working as child labor, the children who are forced to beg in the streets saddened him and inspired him to work for them, teach them and ensure a better future for them.
The Indian Streets and Education -
The streets of India are crowded with the children rag-picking, begging, or working as child labors. They carry family responsibilities in their shoulders, worry about supporting their family financially and meeting their ends meet leading their life contrary to the privileged children of their age who live in an air-conditioned room, play video games, make friends, and go to the schools. For the underprivileged parents, instead of sending their children to schools, the fight for survival becomes an important question and they choose to 'survive'. While being unsure about next meal, money and bread becomes their priority instead of schools.
The role of a parent becomes very crucial in deciding and shaping the future of their child, but factors like illiteracy and ignorance of parents towards education turns out to be top-most reasons for not sending their children to the school.
It is a high time that education sector needs proper attention. The increasing rate of illiteracy among children is alarming. Beyond classroom and traditional learning methods, the innovative and creative methods need to be adopted to attract the children and develop their interest in studies. Efforts made at individual levels, are the need of the hours if we want to witness a changed, new and better face of India. Several efforts are being made by an NGO, running in Delhi NCR region, called Pehchaan The Street School.
Pehchaan The Street School’s Role in Bringing Changes –
Pehchaan The Street School is an NGO that started with an aim to make education affordable and accessible to every individual, that could open the doors to the opportunities for the underprivileged children. Education is indeed the most powerful weapon and Pehchaan The Street School firmly believes in this idea. With the aim of making education accessible to every underprivileged child, Pehchaan The Street School runs its centre in various places in Delhi NCR region. Akash Tandon, the founder of Pehchaan The street School shares that "Our objective was holistic - to enable these children to build a career out of their strengths."
He further says that, "We focus on nurturing their passions alongside academics. Our informal setup fosters confidence and communication, leading to visible transformations in behavior,"
The name of the organization defines its goals, that is to give pehchaan, or identity to the underprivileged children who, because of various reasons, are deprived of education, let alone quality education. The literal meaning of Pehchaan is “identity” and this organization aims at making collective and collaborative efforts to uplift the underprivileged section of the society.
Delhi, the capital city of India has the second most number of slums. It is an irony that Delhi on one hand, is home to rich and powerful people, including the politicians but also shelters the most underprivileged sections of the society whose everyday struggle for survival and basic needs is never-ending. Hence there are two faces of Delhi, and the shiny face tries to hide the dark reality, making the lives of underprivileged even more challenging. The glittering side attempts to subdue the dark reality, unaware that pushing the underprivileged into dark does not solve their problems and issues, rather intensify them.
To eradicate the gap between poor and rich, Pehchaan The Street School started its innovative venture to provide education to the underprivileged children at their ease, and hence it became a street school, a school that runs under the open and vast sky. Negating the traditional classroom teaching method, Pehchaan The Street School runs on the streets and ensures a holistic development of every child. The teaching includes, life skill trainings, community services including health care facilities, and aiming at the overall development of a child to help them break the vicious cycle of poverty. Mr Akash says, "In slums, exclusion is a shared experience. By showering attention, we aim to change mindsets,"
Education at Pehchaan The Street School do not have a sole aim of making children read or write, but they aim at a holistic development of their children and imparting the skills and ability to become leaders. It is necessary to impart the skills and ability to “question,” because the aim is not to create robots, but the changemakers. The ability to question is one of the crucial qualities of an efficient leader. It is necessary to change the ways of thinking, speaking and imagining because these are the factors that decide the perspective of an individual towards himself and the society. Can we imagine the birth of Aristotle or Kant, if they did not dare to question the set norms and ideas, challenged and created new pathways ? No. Hence, Pehchaan The Street School aims at making the children think out the box, challenge their circumstances and come out with flying colors by challenging all odds.
Pehchaan The street School operates through several ways such as volunteering and partnership, that align perfectly with its goals, aims, objectives and vision. The partnership in various sectors ensures the effective success of its visions.
• By collaborating with educational institutions, such as universities, government and private schools, education consultancies, its aim is to frame an advanced and updated curriculum that could carter the holistic development of the children. Through these partnership, new and innovative learning ideas and methods are integrated in the classes that helps the students and the tutors equally. While the workshops and guest lectures help in bridging the gap between theory and practical, the tutors get to know about the tools and techniques of delivering the ideas to the children. Companies help the children acquire skill training programs to improve the quality of their life.
• Pehchaan The Street School, by collaborating with the policy makers and government authorities, fosters a sense of security among the students and teachers by navigating the bureaucratic challenges. Additionally, the policies and engagement of local authorities help in getting access to resources, improving the infrastructure, education standards and provides social-welfare programs.
• Corporate Social Responsibility plays a crucial role in shaping the present and ensuring a better future of any society and its people. The companies are financially supporting Pehchaan The Street School’s initiative to make education inclusive for all. The corporates fund the infrastructural development, learning material, and funds the workshops for skill development training programs for the students and teachers. Companies such as Academy of Pastry and Culinary Art India frequently provides meal boxes to the children of Pehchaan The Street School. Pearplet collaborated with it to provide the creative pantry organization products.
• By collaborating with other NGOs, Pehchaan The Street School supports the underprivileged section of the society. Various healthcare camps are organized, and tailored support is provided to every child by addressing their needs, requirement and circumstances. Collaboration with NGO also fosters a sense of responsibility among other people of the society in uplifting the underprivileged section. It includes the community to make collective efforts for the betterment of the underprivileged section of the society.
A New Day: Stories of Transformation at Pehchaan The Street School–
Arjun, an underprivileged boy who grew up in the streets on Delhi spent his early childhood begging in the streets, and rag-picking. His life took a beautiful turn when he came in contact with the volunteers of Pehchaan The Street School. Once deprived of basic resources, struggling to meet his ends, he was enrolled Pehchaan The Street School. The tutors made him excel in writing, reading and after months of hard work and perseverance, he was prepared to enroll in a college. Today, Arjun who battled his circumstances and defeated all odds is well-read young man who aspires to become a teacher and transform the lives of the underprivileged children.
Deepak never dared to dream because of his financial and familial situations. Life was hard and burdensome to him when he spent his life in the crowded streets. His life took a dramatic turn when he came in contact with Pehchaan The Street School. His detachment from schools made him hesitant, he felt underconfident and skipped classes. Volunteers and teachers at Pehchaan The Street School showered him with love, care and he soon felt a sense of belongingness. He learnt to read, write and today helps several young kids in learning and attending schools.
The lives of women and girls is comparatively harder than the male counterpart. Meera was one of the living examples of those women who had to suffer domestic violence, and emotional neglect. She was expected to marry and like all other girls. But her life transformed after she joined Pehchaan The Street School. She not only studied but dreams of becoming a social worker to help women like her in breaking the stereotypical roles of women and help them shape their stories. She is an advocate for girl’s right and dreams of seeing every girl empowered.
Rising India -
Skills, intelligence, and creativity are not beholden to any social, economic, or cultural background. A lotus blooms in murky water, which does not affect its beauty or charisma, and rose blooms amidst the thorns. In dearth of opportunities and resources, many young and capable minds of India were earlier unable to come out of the vicious cycle of destitution, poverty, and deprivation of resources. By fighting all odds and challenging their destiny, the children of Pehchaan The Street School are writing the stories of their bright and golden future, standing tall and firm in front of the storm of challenges.
Pehchaan The Street School has transformed the lives of 1500 children and is in a continuous process of doing so. It firmly believes in the idea that ONLY we are the authors of our lives. Pehchaan The Street School helps the underprivileged section in building and shaping their identity, and write a story that they want, not what is imposed on them.