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Jahid Akhter Sheikh
- Development Sector Professional
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Jahid, from Gandhi Fellow batch-09 Bageshwar successfully initiated Kapkot’s 1st Inter-School & Community get-together. 5 Government Primary School Head Teachers were motivated to club their school’s together with a purpose of bridging the gaps between these schools and their communities. Also, this initiative encouraged identification of hidden talent among students and celebrating it. Let’s get to know more about his journey…
What were your thoughts & experiences that lead you towards this initiative?
How often have we heard people saying that children are the manifestation of the almighty on earth and they live in an entirely different world which is beautifully sketched in their mind. In the span of 4 years, I have had the opportunity to work with the children of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and by now I have started believing that if one wishes to live their childhood once again, there is nothing better that immersing oneself with children. Well, for once I was puzzled and amazed by the education system of the mountains, a dividing contrast from their hilly counterparts. Working as a Gandhi Fellow in Uttarakhand Government Primary Schools, I realized that the children are natural learners, self-sufficient & self-aware. Also they are in tune with themselves.
all the students performing nukkad natak Baal Mela Performances
Students performing Nukkad Natak at Baal Mela.
Quoting one example of my journey that bears a resemblance of my own experiences in childhood and that motivated me to make a larger than life impact on the lives of my stakeholders, my children and most importantly myself. I have become the man that I am today because of the platform I was blessed with and the encouragement that I received from both my parents, teachers and the community folk.
Encouragement at an early age is important!
As I recall my schooling days the celebration of Independence & Republic day was marked by enthusiasm and I particularly loved participating in front of the congregation that boosted my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. But in contradiction the celebrations in the mountains were bland because of factors like lack of connectivity, resources ,infrastructure and most importantly the strength of the staff and the students owing to the unfortunate demography of the terrain marked by the sparse population inhabiting the mountains. I simply wanted to give them an experience of the joy one gets by performing in front of a said audience and receiving appreciation in return.
Nice thought! How did you plan this big event? As the villages are very scattered & distanced from each other?
children taking a banner and going on a small rally Community Awareness & Invitation Rally
Children taking a banner and going on a rally for Community Awareness & Invitating people for the rally.
So with my regular interventions in the schools, I built an understanding among my Head Teachers on the importance of communal & collaborative learning along with continuous rapport building. It went the same with these communities. Through our regular community immersions and mini-stays I could build a healthy relationship with the important stakeholders, who later encouraged the villagers to help me in this thought. This gave me a space to organize HT meetings where everybody discussed why is it important to bring all the students and not only the regular participants in one platform of talent showcasing, building & learning. Throughout these meetings, teachers shared their personal life experiences and together we convinced and motivated each other to club schools together for an Inter-School Competition where not only the participants but other children will come together too. It was equally important to engage community in this event to encourage parents participation and appreciation.
Of Course! Also can you put some light over your personal objectives?
Identification of skills.
Initially teachers planned several competitions for students, but soon they also started believing in my belief, that this platform can be used to identify the hidden talent of every other child who doesn’t generally perform.
My objective was encouraging active audience participation & hidden talent identification by the Teachers.
The motive behind encouraging the communities to come together at one platform was also that it will give us more scope of discussion on relevant issues. Soon teachers started making plans of what all competitions as well activities will keep everybody engaged and participated. Simultaneously they would identify what does every child finds joy in doing, which will later encourage them in teaching these students.This altogether had a huge scope of SMC activation.
How much is setting such ideas recommended?
Setting up such committees has been a recommendation of nearly all previous education commissions and policies. Also according to RTE Act 2009, Section 21, Parents must be involved in meaningful manner in the schools and are recognized as primary stakeholders (scroll down to see a bunch of reading references on the same).
That sounds interesting! We’d like to know more about what happened during the event?
Baal Mela Projects.
Sure! It was a great learning & memorable experience. Baal Mela of course was a celebrated event, I could see energy among all the children, they were all actively participating in various activities like drawing, painting, cinematography, street plays, singing and dancing. We could cover many social issues through children’s participation. Through multiple activities children and teachers had shared messages on alcoholism, drug abuse, poor sanitation, child education especially girl child education and more. Through their cultural dance and speech they were showing everyone an image of them being a responsible citizen. Their creativity had no bounds, with different project models on railway station, train, truck, car, computer, mobile, gas-cylinder, environment, social issues and more they were eradicating the rural stereotypes.
That’s great! So how do you feel about it?
Gandhi Fellow discussing Baal Mela in Bageshwar
I can proudly boast of the fact that Teachers & the community were very happy & supportive. I feel great, I guess this is a huge learning for my future endeavors. Lastly, I’m going to take back along with me the best days of my life.Also, I hope that the readers would gain lot of insights and get motivated to do greater & better things for the development among children, everywhere.
What were your thoughts & experiences that lead you towards this initiative?
How often have we heard people saying that children are the manifestation of the almighty on earth and they live in an entirely different world which is beautifully sketched in their mind. In the span of 4 years, I have had the opportunity to work with the children of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and by now I have started believing that if one wishes to live their childhood once again, there is nothing better that immersing oneself with children. Well, for once I was puzzled and amazed by the education system of the mountains, a dividing contrast from their hilly counterparts. Working as a Gandhi Fellow in Uttarakhand Government Primary Schools, I realized that the children are natural learners, self-sufficient & self-aware. Also they are in tune with themselves.
all the students performing nukkad natak Baal Mela Performances
Students performing Nukkad Natak at Baal Mela.
Quoting one example of my journey that bears a resemblance of my own experiences in childhood and that motivated me to make a larger than life impact on the lives of my stakeholders, my children and most importantly myself. I have become the man that I am today because of the platform I was blessed with and the encouragement that I received from both my parents, teachers and the community folk.
Encouragement at an early age is important!
As I recall my schooling days the celebration of Independence & Republic day was marked by enthusiasm and I particularly loved participating in front of the congregation that boosted my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. But in contradiction the celebrations in the mountains were bland because of factors like lack of connectivity, resources ,infrastructure and most importantly the strength of the staff and the students owing to the unfortunate demography of the terrain marked by the sparse population inhabiting the mountains. I simply wanted to give them an experience of the joy one gets by performing in front of a said audience and receiving appreciation in return.
Nice thought! How did you plan this big event? As the villages are very scattered & distanced from each other?
children taking a banner and going on a small rally Community Awareness & Invitation Rally
Children taking a banner and going on a rally for Community Awareness & Invitating people for the rally.
So with my regular interventions in the schools, I built an understanding among my Head Teachers on the importance of communal & collaborative learning along with continuous rapport building. It went the same with these communities. Through our regular community immersions and mini-stays I could build a healthy relationship with the important stakeholders, who later encouraged the villagers to help me in this thought. This gave me a space to organize HT meetings where everybody discussed why is it important to bring all the students and not only the regular participants in one platform of talent showcasing, building & learning. Throughout these meetings, teachers shared their personal life experiences and together we convinced and motivated each other to club schools together for an Inter-School Competition where not only the participants but other children will come together too. It was equally important to engage community in this event to encourage parents participation and appreciation.
Of Course! Also can you put some light over your personal objectives?
Identification of skills.
Initially teachers planned several competitions for students, but soon they also started believing in my belief, that this platform can be used to identify the hidden talent of every other child who doesn’t generally perform.
My objective was encouraging active audience participation & hidden talent identification by the Teachers.
The motive behind encouraging the communities to come together at one platform was also that it will give us more scope of discussion on relevant issues. Soon teachers started making plans of what all competitions as well activities will keep everybody engaged and participated. Simultaneously they would identify what does every child finds joy in doing, which will later encourage them in teaching these students.This altogether had a huge scope of SMC activation.
How much is setting such ideas recommended?
Setting up such committees has been a recommendation of nearly all previous education commissions and policies. Also according to RTE Act 2009, Section 21, Parents must be involved in meaningful manner in the schools and are recognized as primary stakeholders (scroll down to see a bunch of reading references on the same).
That sounds interesting! We’d like to know more about what happened during the event?
Baal Mela Projects.
Sure! It was a great learning & memorable experience. Baal Mela of course was a celebrated event, I could see energy among all the children, they were all actively participating in various activities like drawing, painting, cinematography, street plays, singing and dancing. We could cover many social issues through children’s participation. Through multiple activities children and teachers had shared messages on alcoholism, drug abuse, poor sanitation, child education especially girl child education and more. Through their cultural dance and speech they were showing everyone an image of them being a responsible citizen. Their creativity had no bounds, with different project models on railway station, train, truck, car, computer, mobile, gas-cylinder, environment, social issues and more they were eradicating the rural stereotypes.
That’s great! So how do you feel about it?
Gandhi Fellow discussing Baal Mela in Bageshwar
I can proudly boast of the fact that Teachers & the community were very happy & supportive. I feel great, I guess this is a huge learning for my future endeavors. Lastly, I’m going to take back along with me the best days of my life.Also, I hope that the readers would gain lot of insights and get motivated to do greater & better things for the development among children, everywhere.
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