Hard work always pay a good dividend

While attending a workshop conducted to make the new educational leaders aware about the methods which will help them to perform better in their respective schools in the interest of the students and the teachers, they were given a case study in which the head of a school was told to have taken the help of the students and the staff of the school for the purpose of doing some work in the school, because the school was short of funds. Most of the participants applauded the efforts of the head and all the people involved in the noble task which helped many students later on. Many people felt that it served two purposes. One, it helped the school to manage the deficit of the funds and second the children learnt dignity of labour. In our city itself we have one great educationist and human being who changed the concept of education by introducing an idea of self help which leads to helping others. The people who studied there and are doing very well in their profession, give credit to this concept which made them not only disciplined but also to work as a team and not to feel shy of doing any work when there was a need.  Both the examples reflect the thoughts of our father of nation, who did everything possible to remove the inequality from the society and he was the one who introduced the concept of doing the work self and not necessarily depend upon others.

But at the same time look at today’s situation. Most of the people are dependent on others help and they are finding it difficult to do their own work either due to the paucity of the time or they consider the work to be menial to do the same themselves. Whatever is the situation but that definitely does not help the individual. One great person (I think he was Einstein)  wrote once that he felt very happy when he was not extended  any help by other people because that forced him to do the work himself and during the process he himself learnt more than what he would have done otherwise. In the present day scenario, the things are altogether different. In one particular section of the society, the children are born with all the facilities available to them. Right from the childhood they are extended all possible help and over a period of time they become habitual of that. The parents of such children feel that when they have all the resources, then why their children should not get any advantage of that. They may be right but this does not really do good to the children because the habit of doing work self does not get developed and also they do not learn the importance of such work. This  puts the children in mental set-up of superiority over others because they might not have the help of others to get their work done. I agree that the children should not be exposed too much to the hazardous work which might be harmful to their health and growth. But this is true for all the children and not only for a particular class. Some people ask that they are not allowed to do difficult task then how will they learn to face such tasks in future? In this dilemma, the children of the present age are finding themselves inadequate to efface such challenges and whenever they come across they feel defeated to face the same. Also this dependency is making to seek help of others at the earliest possible opportunity because they do not even try something found difficult by them. In the schools also the same is being felt by many parents and the teachers but as the attitude and the meaning of education to have changing for most due to the free market and economy driven attitude of all this is ignored either directly or is done through the media by citing the examples which might not be quoted in the right context. The reach of media is such that any report makes an immediate impact and the reactions flow in plenty. The children have started seeking the help of the tutors even for completing their home assignment. The home assignment is an activity given to the children so that they can make use the learning accomplished during the school hours. But here also they are not allowed to learn to do the work self. I do not know how much this does to the children but, the parents feel great the work of the child is complete and there would be no remark or call from the teacher or the school. When it comes to after school tuitions, this has become almost the fashion and the people feel proud of sharing that their child was going for so many tuitions. More is the number, better would be the reputation of the parents and the family. This helps very few children but harms most of them because this tendency makes them to be casual in the class. This culture of the tuitions is harming the children and parents both. Though no proper study has been done but if the same is carried out, I think major cause of indiscipline among the children would be tuition or the coaching centers. I understand some people may not agree but ,a few children shared with their teachers that they remain casual in the class because they feel the same will be done in the tuition center in the evening. It is not only the discipline which gets affected in the process but also the habit of facing the problems self. They become dependent on the tutors and the teachers so much that they hardly solve any problem themselves. This is once again due to the two reasons; I mentioned above, paucity of the time and the easy help available to them. The teachings pertaining to face the hard task is not done in isolation or in a few days or months but is life long process right from the childhood till the end of the life. Those who develop a positive attitude of facing the challenges themselves, succeed in life more than the other group of the people. The children should be exposed to all kinds of the opportunities to learn the lessons to face the life in a more confident manner. They should not be made into passive human beings, who succumb to small pressures. This should start from the family and the schools should continue the same. The children should be extended help and the support at the right time and to the right extent only. Let us really help our children by making them strong enough to fight for themselves. All those people who became great were not because of the help of the parents and teachers only but because of their hard work and habit of taking calculated risks and facing the consequences boldly. This will be a great service to the cause of better future of our children in this ever growing and challenging world.There is nothing in the world that cannot be conquered through grit and determination.So,we as the elders of the society should teach our children the lessons of self-reliance.