At the panel discussion. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The principal of Sailendra Sircar Vidyalaya, Dr Sahadev Banerjee, summarised the observations of many educators at the panel discussion organised by The Telegraph on April 28 when he said: ?Our children lag behind in administrative services due to a lack of knowledge of English.?

Held at The Bengal Chamber of Commerce, the discussion focused on the ?Role of educators in creating all-rounders for the future?. Though the heads of the institutions who attended the meet had vastly different problems at hand, they were unanimous on the all-important role of teachers in creating an interest in any subject amongst students.

Pushpa Sharma, headmistress of SS Jalan Balika Vidyalaya, stressed on an educated family background as the key to success for today?s youngsters. On the other hand, the panelists also blamed parents for exerting excessive pressure on their children by expecting them ?to be Sourav Ganguly, Newton and Manna De, all combined in one?.

Krishna Chowdhury, principal of Mitra Balika Vidyalaya, suggested a solution to the problem. Convincing the teachers of state-run schools to make an extra effort, she said, could make the difference. K.A. Sedat, headmaster of The Park Institution, also put forth another side of the coin.

He insisted that merits of teachers often remain underutilised due to the sharply deteriorating student quality in vernacular schools. He also blamed the ever-growing number of schools for the trend.

However, all agreed that the students of vernacular schools face difficulty due to deficiency in English.

Stuti Agarwal

happenings here and there

Chill-out zone: What better way to beat the afternoon heat than treat yourself to a chilled orange bar. The ice cream stall at Milaap, the fest at St Thomas? Girls?, had a young crowd in uniforms hankering after the ice lollies throughout the day. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Crusade cry

CRY launched its new anti-child labour campaign at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre on April 28. To mark the beginning of the campaign, there was a screening of a film addressing the subject. It was made by CRY volunteers, all of whom were young people ? from school to college and even MBA students.

?This film is a first, because it was made entirely by volunteers. They raised the funds, shot the film and recorded the soundtrack all by themselves,? said Trina Chakrabarti, assistant manager of Youth and Volunteer Action at CRY.

The film, titled Siraaj, took a look at the lives of the children of unemployed jute mill workers in Kamarhati. The movie illustrated the fact that the root of child labour is the poor economic situation of the parents.

The film featured children who earned only around Rs 25 per week, many of whom were unaware that they were working illegally.

The lack of education opportunities in Kamarhati was also highlighted, with many children unable to go to school because of a lack of resources and infrastructure. ?With our new campaign, we want to raise more awareness about this national problem,? said Chakrabarti, who also pointed out that ?Bengal has a particularly bad problem with child labour, as children either migrate or are trafficked from other states to work here?.

Child labour is also allowed to exist through numerous legal loopholes within the nation?s judicial system. To tackle this aspect, CRY distributed its new Child Labour Manifesto, which calls for changes in the terminology of what child labour is, in national legislation.

?At the moment, it is up to the police to prove that somebody is under-age, and in order to raid a premises suspected of supporting child labour, one must obtain a warrant. Such laws severely impede any progress being made in tackling the issue,? said CRY volunteer and second-year law student Vibhu Sharma.

At the same event, there was also a reprise of an earlier exhibition, called Contact ? Black and White, comprising photographs by kids on child labour. In conjunction with the manifesto, CRY will also be conducting a signature campaign. After enough signatures are collected, they will be presented to the appropriate authorities.

Patrick Pringle