New Year - Promises And Actions

One more year has gone by and we have entered in a year which takes us closer to the end of the first quarter of the century. There have been discussions and talks of the 21^st century and the skills to face the challenges paused by the changes which are so fast-paced that it is becoming increasingly difficult for the human race to adapt. To do so education has to be given all required focus in the age of AI and ML. The children are to be made aware of the possible advantages and disadvantages of AI and so much dependency on the tools should be avoided because technology might make the brain a bit lethargic. We come across many articles and reports in the newspapers and magazines disturbing the social fabric (for example deepfake and voice-over issues) but seeing the impact of the same in day-to-day life is not that visible. I have written before and repeat the same that the real objective of education is preparing the masses for future challenges which are not only triggered by nature but most of them are man-made. About AI, there is a lot of discussion and not many people are averse but at the same time have some reservations that need to be checked and balanced in a way that it is not able to overpower the human race. Fake issues and cyber-attacks are prevalent and are already causing a lot of chaos. Further advancement in AI might cause more problems. For this values and emotional development of the children is of utmost importance. The schools need to focus on this rather than only the cognitive aspect of the human personality. Recently I watched a film titled 12^th Fail, which is based on the true story of an IPS officer. This is such an inspiring tale that all parents and school-going children must watch. In the movie, the persistence hard work, honesty, and dignity of labour have been taught in such a simple manner that nobody can forget the same in life. But unfortunately, the media would not talk much about it, if this had not been discussed on so-called bad social media the movie would have been lost. Another movie which was released almost the same time, named ANIMAL, was discussed a lot and many appreciated the same. What are we trying to promote in the name of art by promoting ANIMAL and talking least of Sam Bahadur and 12^th fail? The media and the journalists need to introspect and not consider themselves to possess knowledge of everything and get driven only by TRPs and economics. Most of the startups are based on coding, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, ML and likewise and I am not against them. But the problem arises when these become the sole purpose of life. For example, there is a lot of noise that India will become a five trillion economy which is great to envisage but should we not discuss in detail how many million Indians will become healthy and happy? Are only economics and startups adding to the rise and not the quality of life in which happiness, health and quality education index should come at the top? Railway and highway networks are key to taking the five trillion economy but do they make the life of the majority of the people better? And I have serious reservations about the same. The availability of washing machines, refrigerators air conditioners etc., in the villages is playing with the health of the villagers. Till 20-30 years back we hardly came across cases of obesity, BP or sugar in the villages but now you have more than fifty percent rural population suffering from such ailments. There seems to be growth but the happiness index and the collaborative and cooperative lifestyle have been pushed back somewhere. Only making life comfortable should not be the objective of education but living life happily with an approach to preserving nature should be the focus. The environmental issues and global warming etc., cannot be tackled by enabling people to stay home in ACs and using refrigerators for cold water and not the earthen pots as done earlier will rather add to the problem.

Every year when the schools reopen after winter break, there is always confusion about whether these would open as there is fear of cold waves as Delhi NCR and some parts of Rajasthan are badly affected by the same. In these conditions, it is not advisable to expose young children, especially those of the primary classes to severe cold so the schools in the affected areas are closed as required. The decision of the same is left to the local district authorities to take a call based on the local conditions. This is done because of the diverse nature of the nation and the states. So, the thought behind it was perfect but the implementation is subjective because of the lack of any guidelines requiring the closing of the schools. In this scenario, if one district collector declares the holiday, then even those districts where the weather is not that bad follow what has been done in other districts out of necessity. I am in hundred per cent agreement that the health of the kids is most important but keeping them out of the school just because schools in Delhi NCR are closed is a little too much. We have to weigh the loss of education and health and based on that take a call.

On the one hand, we all advocate the importance of hard work and facing the challenges posed by life which are quite unpredictable. Keeping children away from the schools where they get exposure to outdoor activities and other extracurricular activities is not always a wise option but unfortunately, this has become a norm now. Those who should speak for the welfare of the children take pride in depriving them of the opportunities which facilitate them to learn lessons of hard work and face challenges with courage and caution. I would like to share with my readers a real case which I, by chance came to know. I visited a tourist place nearby to my place of work with my friends who came to visit us during this time when the district collector declared holidays for the students of the classes up to VIIIth. This might be alright for the day scholars but not the students of a government-run welfare boarding school who were sent home because of the holiday for the students of these classes. The children of boarding schools can easily follow their routine as they do not need to travel to or from the schools. Then I met a few students who could have benefitted in the school, by having proper meals, physical exercise and education (being in boarding) but were asked to go home. The parents of the child I met are from poor economic and social backgrounds and struggle to make ends meet. The wonderful scheme of the government is nullified by not-so-enthusiastic officials or educators who wish to declare holidays on the pretext of weather conditions. In cities, the children might stay indoors because their parents can afford that but in the villages, many of them go to work outdoors with their parents and get exposed to ` severe cold`. At the risk of repeating the incident, I would like to mention that once I was with a friend in the USA and stayed with him for a few days during the season of bad weather (it would rain heavily and sometimes heavy snowfall). If it had rained heavily or there was snowfall even till early morning the schools would open or remain closed based on the removal of the ice from the roads. This would be announced early in the morning and this was the responsibility of the schools and the parents to check the announcement and the roads would be cleared of snow by the time the buses and the cars were to use them.  It was not left to the schools because the government and education department were so actively involved in the education and welfare of the children daily. But in our country, private schools are portrayed as if they do not care for the welfare of the children and asking children to come to school (even if the weather locally is moderate, be it winter, summer or even during rainy days) is a crime. This all is because many people find solace in not facing the problems but in running away from them. The long-run benefit is in facing the problems and not otherwise. If we expect our children to grow as responsible citizens this cannot happen if they stop facing the challenges. Critical thinking and problem-solving is talked about as one of the most important core skills to be developed, then think out of the box solutions and not the traditional ways of becoming champion of the children`s welfare by keeping them indoors on small pretexts. Most people rightly try to teach children the importance of saving water, nature, the dignity of labour, social and economic equality and facing problems confidently but at the same time, we feel shy of letting them have some hardships.

When in the new year, especially educators, who would have planned something good for their students, start with such uncertainty, all resolutions and pledges take a back seat. Though this article was meant for sharing good things which I came across in the previous year but I was forced to change my thoughts towards raising an important issue concerning all of us. One reason is that I wanted to have the opinions of the teachers and the parents on what they feel about the aforementioned so that concerned and responsible people make decisions accordingly. Our children are most dear to us and we should make all possible efforts to help them become healthy, courageous and confident human beings. Any trillion economy will fail in a short time if the young kids are not made physically and mentally strong enough to deal with the ordeals that life might offer. We Indians are born courageous and strong that is why our ancestors fought from the prisons to get us freedom. and let us strengthen the same. If we make our children physically and mentally weak who would fight in Siachen and Jaisalmer for the security of the country? How would they face the challenges posed by the uncertainties of the future?  So we must enable the children by letting them fight for themselves in any odd situation and achieve the most as per their potential. Asking children to stay home due to even tolerable changes in weather does not help them in the long run. In one of the reputed newspapers, the views of some senior citizens were shared and most of them said that winters were more serious in the past but now the change being sudden is felt more (the weather has also become digital). Most of the kids want to come out and avoid remaining confined to four walls. They are very strong and let us help them become stronger which is the core objective of education. But even if we have to close the schools for genuine reasons then the loss of those days should be compensated by curtailing certain vacations. Also, the government should take a call to declare winter vacations in the first/ second week of January instead of December. The habits formed during formative years stay forever. Having said all this my view is that the toddlers of primary classes should be saved from severe weather and it would always be better to keep them home in such conditions. One more request for the parents to avoid taking children to cinema halls if the movie is rated 'A'. Engage them in positive discussion and try they develop of reading books. For that teachers and adults in the family start reading first. I know all mean good for the children but should avoid depriving the opportunity to become stronger. I wish them the best for their future. I would also like to wish all my readers a very happy, healthy and prosperous year 2024.