Nilanjana Chakraborty, June and Usha Uthup sign the message board at the launch of Shiksha?s new scheme. Picture by Pabitra Das

As a children?s education programme, Shiksha successfully entered its second year, with Proctor and Gamble (P&G) and Child Rights and You (CRY) undertaking a new initiative in their goal of education for all children. The project has also drawn support from Sony Entertainment, which will promote Shiksha through its television shows and other broadcasts, including Indian Idol and Deal Ya No Deal.

Armed with fresh innovations to raise money, P&G pledged a minimum of Rs 1 crore to Shiksha in the next year at the launch of the new scheme. During April, May and June of this year, if shoppers buy a large pack of P&G products like Ariel, Pantene and Pampers, the proceeds will go to Shiksha. In turn, Shiksha will distribute the money to education-centric programmes.

Explained P.B. Kumar, P&G district manager of West Bengal: ?We want to improve the environment and society of our consumers? Inspired by consumers? contributions in 2005, we have made Shiksha an annual initiative and it remains a one-of-a-kind project.?

Mohua Chatterjee of CRY explained the nature of the NGO?s work and the projects that it funds, citing the 11,000 children who were kept in education in 109 villages nationwide, in 21 states. She added: ?Children pay the highest price for all our failures as a nation and as a society. Don?t the 75 million of our children who are hungry, and the hundred million who do not get an education, deserve at least as much attention and action??

Some celebrities certainly agreed, with a few long-term supporters of Shiksha and CRY attending the launch of it?s second year. Actress June was keen on the support Shiksha gives to the girl child. ?Women are soft targets, and the way to improve the situation is through education. Not everyone has to be a graduate, as there are so many more opportunities these days. Shiksha is a very noble cause that I urge everyone to back.?

Jewellery designer Nilanjana Chakraborty and singer Usha Uthup joined her. ?It may seem like a drop in the ocean, but the drop is the ocean,? is how Uthup summed up the significance of the contributions to Shiksha.

Patrick Pringle

happenings here and there

Valle balle: Danseuse Dona Ganguly judged the choreography competition at Iempact, the Institute of Engineering & Management fest, held in association with The Telegraph, at Nazrul Mancha on Thursday. Pictures by Aranya Sen

Conflict conclave

The first-year students of our human rights department were invited to Delhi for a three-day seminar on Peace and Conflict Resolution at Jamia Millia Islamia. The director of the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Radha Kumar, introduced us to the subject.

Mike O? Brien from the International Community of the Red Cross, Prof A.R. Vijapur of the Ford Foundation of Dalit Studies and Nayena Bose from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees interacted with us. We learnt about issues varying from the role played by multi-lateral institutions in conflict resolution to humanitarian agencies in conflict, and also about music in inter-cultural exchange. The importance of world views in conflict transformation and the difficulties faced by social workers in remote and sensitive areas were also discussed in detail along with examples.

Mariya Salim,
1st yr political science (hons), Loreto College

 

 

Numbers know-how

School mathematics is a subject most students dread. What is needed is the right ambience to learn the subject. Relating math to real life through various activities would help to interest the children. With this aim, the Central Board of Secondary Education is encouraging setting up of mathematics laboratories in schools.

One such laboratory was set up on 700 sq ft of space in Birla High School, conforming to the layout and design suggested by the Board. At present, classes VI to IX are using the lab, while Class X will have access to it later this year. The lab can accommodate 40 students at a time and is equipped with a white board, four computers, a combo apparatus containing LCD projector, CD writer and learning kits ordered from Ramanujam Museum, Chennai.

The students who used to fear math class earlier now breathe a sigh of relief in the laboratory, building models based on the fundamental rules of numbers.

For the past year, the math lab has also been a favourite haunt of the members of the school math club, which serves as a confidence-building platform to showcase fascinating facts about the subject and encourage the children to inculcate a positive attitude and aptitude for it.

 

Tips for teachers

Before the commencement of the new academic session, The Heritage School organised extensive workshops for its teachers at various levels. The sessions were conducted by Vikramshila Education Resource Society, in collaboration with Wipro Applying Thought in Schools.

The programme focused on the issues of learning difficulties and learning disabilities amongst students that are a cause of concern. It is estimated that nearly 10 per cent of school-goers experience some form of learning difficulty which gets aggravated as they grow up.

Providing tips on class management techniques and handling of different students in the same classroom, the sessions helped teachers better understand their attitude towards assessing children appropriately.

Separate workshops on improving reading, writing and pronunciation skills of the students were also held.

The Diary

During my childhood days in Calcutta, a government milk card was an essential asset. I remember my mother taking out the card from its carefully-wrapped plastic case every morning. It would entitle her to buy two bottles of Haringhata milk for my brother and myself. She had little faith in the dubious ?ditch-water? sold by the local goalas.

As I grew older, smart blue-and-white booths opened up, which sold quality milk from push-button slot machines, morning and afternoon. In addition, there were plastic packets of full-cream milk. Every evening, my brother would go to the ?smart booth? to get milk in a large stainless steel carrier. Nowadays, there is a wide range of milk products in the market, from cottage cheese to yoghurt and flavoured milk.

Studying in Anand, I pay a small tribute to Verghese Kurien. He was a man with a vision. He still is, I believe.

So, every time you buy a polypack of milk or get your daily half-litre from the slot machine, spare a thought for the the man who made it all possible ? White Revolution and Operation Flood. That too, during a time when pasteurised milk was a luxury even to the urban affluent class.

It?s a pity that he has been brought down so harshly. Nevertheless, I rest easy in the knowledge that even a little girl in a bustee in my hometown has access to quality milk at a reasonable price. It was not so in my childhood.

Sajani Mrinalini Dutta,
Anand Agricultural University, Gujarat