Dialogues
Happy Horizons Trust organised the 2nd Shiksha Samvaad event at the Kala Bhawan, Saharsa on the 3rd August in the presence of Shri Manoj Kumar, DPO; Shri Amit Kumar, PO, and Shri Anil Das as the guests of honour. The event was anchored by Shri @Anand Jha sir. The headmasters and principals from high and middle schools in Saharsa district participated in the event, along with the champions who are a beneficiary of the Youth Leadership Development Program, and their parents.
As per the census 2011, data, the literacy rate of Saharsa district was around 53.2% and the female literacy rate was around 40% . The district ranked 29th out of 38 districts in Bihar in education. This is really ironical, because in the same district lies a village that has a lot of IAS and IPS officer families.
Over the years Happy Horizons Trust has been working to improve the quality of education in the schools and engage with the different stakeholders. Over 6 years ago, we started with telling stories to children in the primary schools. Then we launched the Youth Leadership Development Program. Slowly we started to engage with the teachers and then the District Education Office. Later we initiated the Community participation by organising community meets across the groups. so, in a true system design approach, we slowly start to engage with all the stakeholders. This is an integral part of the system design.
The theme for the event was the development of education in the Saharsa district and Koshi region. The teachers play a crucial role in the development of the child and it’s their efforts that have a direct relation to the learning outcomes being achieved in the schools.
The chief guest, Shri Manoj Kumar, appreciated the trust for the Shiksha Samvaad initiative, and put the emphasis that it is important event for the region. He mentioned that education is a key element for the development of the region. He also emphasised on the need for students to think about innovations, and requested the teachers to encourage children to do so. He also spoke about the need for the holistic development of the students.
Shri Amit Kumar, mentioned that an event like this provides a wonderful opportunity for the different stakeholders to come together and engage in health dialogues that can be beneficial for the development of the region.
Champion Ankita Kumari, welcomed the participants with a beautiful Maithili song, and champion Rajlakshmi spoke on behalf of the student community on the role thatt good teacherss and a good environment play towards receiving good education.
The trust also felicitated Shri Anil Das, who had just retired from his services as a government school teacher in June this year and thanked him for his dedicated service to the education in Saharsa. In his acceptance speech, he spoke about the times from when teachers were more dedicated at their tasks and took on more responsibilities towards the development of the child. He also encouraged the teachers present to take students to participate in different competitions around the country, as it provides both exposure and a wonderful learning experience both for the students and the teacher. He was thrilled to have some of his students as part of the audience, who are teachers themselves and have gone on to have wonderful careers.
HHT’s co-founder Kshitiz Anand, spoke about the National Education Policy 2019, and its importance in how education system will change in the coming years. The NEP 2019, is a landmark moment in the history of education in India and it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to participate and make it a success.
Amongst the things discussed were the emphasis on education from 3 years of age, building a strong foundation upto class 5 and then to have programs on skills building by incorporating extracurricular activities n schools. There is also an impetus on improving teacher education in the country.
Mentor and head of Teachers Training program at HHT, Shri Kumar Vikram Aditya shared his experiences from years of training teachers across Bihar. He laid down the importance of thinking about teaching as the most important work and laid down a framework that the teachers could follow.
Project Manager Vinay gave the vote of thanks with the hope that this dialogues will continue even beyond the event and we will get a chance to engage with tteachers and with the supporrtt of the District Education Office, we will bring positive change to the education landscape in the region.
The day ended with the monthly champions meeting anchored by the Project Coordinators at Happy Horizons Trust.
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