And for a Friday in Mumbai, after the Foundation Day at Sagar Residential School, 2 hours from Delhi…. some thoughts on Education…..
School Education is the basic building block of any Nation and we have come a long way. Sagar School a CBSE affiliated 500 students fully Boarding school nestled in 165 Acres of Green landscape in Alwar, Rajasthan.
Influenced by Values and Cultures of India, Europe and West Asia, the Founder Dr. Sagar envisioned the School to merge the finest global educational practices. Each Sagarian is encouraged to become Confident, Inquisitive and independent minded while acquiring the virtues of Excellence, discipline and respect. I recommended for Upper Middle class Families…. the best value for money.
At the Worli Municipal School in Mumbai, where only the lower middle class and poor go, I see the same sparkle in the kids. They all want to excel in keeping with the times. The municilpal schools offer English Medium, Marathi Medium and other Vernaculars. But you guess all parents prefer only English Medium. Just look at the numbers…. 4.5 lakh schools in Mumbai alone.
The challenge for us is to bring the same standards and Quality of education in Govt and Municipal schools as in Private Schools. This is where my friend Dileep Ranjekar with Phillantropist Azim Premji is doing yeomen service. The Premji Foundation prepares Education and Development Sector Professionals who can contribute to a just, equitable and Humane Society.
As a Nation, we have come a long way. In 1947 our life expectancy was 31 years…. now 71, our literacy was 18{aff5a224634bf574f692c8c7d068a0713fecca4ea38a30d3005107227dbb12e7}…. now 76{aff5a224634bf574f692c8c7d068a0713fecca4ea38a30d3005107227dbb12e7}. But we have only just begun. Let each one of us do our small bit for a Govt School in our neighbourhood and make it Corruption free. Let us build our Nation the Literate way, the educated way and the Ethical SEEGOS Way.