literacy can be described best in the words of Kofi Annan “Literacy is…. the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realise their full potential”.
The Indian subcontinent has a population of 1.3 billion and only 80% population is literate. The country has been developing economically through the years ever since the British rule ended. But the economic development may not lead to an empowered nation unless the citizens are literate. The literacy level in 1947 was 12% which has seen a slow progress though the years. It is necessary to understand that only literacy can take India to new heights.
There are various reasons of the widespread illiteracy in India. In certain households where the parents are not educated they consider education a choice and not necessity. Thus, these children do not attain education and comprise of the large number of the uneducated in the country. The other barrier that hinders the education in the poor is the economic instability that prohibits families to invest in education. They prefer to send their wards to work and earn money instead of spending on education. Thus illiteracy passes on from one generation to another.
The consequences of illiteracy directly affect the lives of the uneducated and further hinders the growth of the nation. The problems such as child marriage, lack of family planning and poverty that are undermining the development of the country are mainly caused due to illiteracy. The country’s gender disparity is visible in the records as the number of educated men is way more than women. Women fail to be educated and the absence of literacy makes them inferior to men in the household. They cannot help in making decisions of the household or be aware about social duties like family planning.
The power vested in education can be used to eradicate all the problems the underprivileged in the country are facing. Thus, national level organizations like Smile Foundation are running programmes aimed at the education of the youth. ‘Mission Education’ is a national level programme of Smile Foundation, which is committed to providing basic education and healthcare to underprivileged children. Through efforts of Smile Foundation, 21,346 children were directly provided education through 120 centres in 21 states also the enrolment had equal participation as 50% enrollers were girls.
Initiatives such as this are helping the poor to attain education and become assets to the economy. With an educated youth the country shall prosper even further in the sectors of education, medicine, information technology and sciences not merely in India but at the global stage. The contribution of each literate individual would also help the process to spread education widely in every sector of the society. it is the duty of the privileged to hold hands of the less privileged and help them attain the same stature in the society. Education in the best remedy to the problem of the country as it opens endless doors of opportunities.
Awoman’s body undergoes various changes when she reaches puberty, one such change is menstruation. Despite being a natural process there is a lot of stigma attached to this subject. Women cannot openly discuss about it, men don’t talk about it and as a whole society treats it as a taboo. One of the most important aspects of this entire process is maintaining hygiene. Menstrual hygiene is an important aspect of personal cleanliness and if ignored can lead to a variety of diseases such as reproductive tract infection etc. Due to lack of awareness women in rural areas do not take proper care and often resort to using unsafe means of cleanliness.
There are various conservative religious beliefs which put restrictions on menstruating women and stop them from leaving their houses or going to temples or using measures to maintain cleanliness when they menstruate. Women in rural areas often use dirty clothes, sand or ash in place of sanitary napkins which has a detrimental effect on their health. The shame and taboo attached to the entire subjects make women uncomfortable even to ask for better means from their families to maintain hygiene. According to a survey, this is why the cases of reproductive tract diseases are more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas.
Apart from the shame and the discomfort of talking about menstruation, knowledge and awareness about the existence of products that can be used for hygiene purposes is another factor why women in rural areas don’t use these products. Even where there is awareness the financial inability to buy these products becomes a hurdle. In such cases it is imperative to initiate talks and educate people on the importance of menstrual hygiene.
There are many organisations working on manufacturing low cost sanitary pads for rural women and educating them on the need to use them. In this time when the talks on women empowerment are on rife it is one of the ways to bring women to understand their need to maintain hygiene and fulfil them. It emboldens young girls in rural areas who are the future of the nation to not live under shadows of men and fight for their own needs.
Smile Foundation’s Swabhimaan programme aims to bridge the gap between the necessity of such hygienic measures and the easy access to it. The very core of empowerment of women lies in the roots of freedom and self-respect and access to basic health. It is the duty of every individual to spread awareness, sensitize the common population and work towards the empowerment of the girl child and women. It is time for us to speak about this “less talked about” subject and help in empowering women in true sense of the word.
Throughout the past few years people have raised their voices against various socially unacceptable practices but still a lot of work remains undone. One such practice is CHILD MARRIAGE. As per the Indian law any marriage where either the woman is below 18 years of age or the man is below 21 years of age is regarded as child marriage. Despite the presence of such laws child marriages are prevalent in the rural parts of the country. These conservative practices mess up the future of young children who are forced to live with a relation which is formed against their wishes.
According to some religious faiths the father is said to have wronged his daughter in case she is not married right after attaining puberty. The fear of dowry also instigates the parents to marry their daughters as it is believed that the younger the daughter the lesser the dowry. More often than not due to poverty the parents get their children married hoping to give them better future. Poverty induces the parents to marry their sons so that they can earn something in dowry. In many parts of the country there are community laws in existence which force people to indulge into such practices.
Child marriages devastate the future of young children. In many cases it leads to pregnancy related deaths since young girls are unable to give birth to a child at such a tender age. Even if the mother and the child live the child is likely to die within one year of birth due to problems like low birth weight and malnutrition. Higher fertility rates in child marriages lead to an increase in the population. The people in rural areas find it difficult to earn for a living which makes their children live a life of drudgery. In many child marriages women have to face domestic violence which shatters their confidence and destroys their future.
There are various laws which have been enacted to stop this practice. The need of the hour is to educate people about the existence of such laws so that they can take an action against it if they are subjected to child marriage. The awareness about the effect of early marriages on the lives of children should be penetrated in the rural areas so that people stop these practices.
To give rural children better future and for the development of rural areas it is imperative that these practices cease to exist.
In the threshold of 21st century, skill development has become a buzzword in the developing countries. Following the trend, India being one of the young developing country has put its efforts to increase the percentage of skilled workforce which have been highly fragmented so far. Despite the efforts, there is a huge gap in the Indian job market between the demand and supply of the workforce. A recent study by Economic Survey 2014-15 has quoted that as per the labour Bureau Report 2014, the present skilled workforce in India is only 2 percent, which is much lower when compared to the developed nations. To name a few, the major key issues which have been broadly discussed as driving challenges are – lack of cohesion between formal and vocational education, inadequate training facility and infrastructure, quality of training materials and trainers, etc.
Smile’s Role:
With an aim to address this issue, Smile Foundation launched Smile Twin e- learning Programme (STeP) in the year 2007 which aims at creating a pool of young and independent youth between the age group 18-28 years, who are 10th pass/12th pass/undergraduates, from the marginalized section, through skill enhancement in tandem with market requirements. It is an effort towards bridging the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower in the fast emerging services and retail sectors of modern India.
Since last year more than 24,000 youth have been trained and 16,000 have been placed through operational STeP centers located in Delhi & NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmadabad. Smile caters to more than 500 employers who employ the youth trained under STeP Programme. 55% of the total beneficiaries were women
My Experience:
Smallest of things can make you smile. Making someone happy, helping them earn a living, adding more knowledge to a person’s life is an experience worth cherishing and value forever. When you get to hear the success stories of people you met and worked with, it gives you immense satisfaction and makes you proud of your efforts.
My idea of Skill Development is to raise confidence, boost productivity and provide the right direction to the youth to get entry-level jobs. Development of skills at a young age is very essential to channelize them for proper opportunities.
Nevertheless, every job should be given equal opportunity and emphasis.
Many a times we notice poor children begging on the streets, sitting on pavements or just roaming around. A sense of pity strikes in but hardly do we ever ask ourselves some rational questions about their health, needs and education. These children did not wish for and do not deserve the kind of life they lead. For them life is a struggle for even the basic necessities such as food, clothing etc. Most of these children are malnourished due to lack of proper food.
Education and Health; the most important facets of life are largely ignored. Even one meal a day is a struggle for them. Their right to education is taken away from them because going to school will not fetch them anything. Their parents usually withdraw them from schools to earn some extra money and support their family. This messes up with their education and their careers are just reduced to doing odd jobs for their entire lives.
Here steps in the role of schemes like the MID DAY MEAL. Under the scheme the students in primary and upper primary classes are given free lunch in schools in order to induce more and more students to attend schools. When earning a day’s food is a struggle free lunch at school is motivating enough for the parents to send their children to schools. This ensures that the children get proper education and it also relieves their parents of the responsibility to give their children food.
The food served at schools is prepared keeping in mind the health and nutrition standards. It helps to fight the problem of malnourishment by ensuring that the food has the required nutrients. The scheme helps to increase enrolment of children in schools, improves attendance and the health standards of the children. Not only does the scheme help the children but it also creates employment. Many women are employed for preparing food in schools. In this way it also leads to women empowerment.
The scheme has emerged a game changer largely benefitting the underprivileged people. Through schemes like these and their successful implementation India can triumphantly climb the ladder of social empowerment. It will provide a level playing field to all the sections of the society wherein everyone would be open to opportunities and excel in whatever field one chooses.
Starting from the gurukuls in ancient India to the current IIT’s and IIM’s the educational system in India has gone through a plethora of reforms. While some of the reforms have had a positive outcome some have hampered the learning process. The government has been working on ensuring everyone in the country gets proper education through campaigns like Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan but the quality of education provided in the country has been largely overlooked. The current education system does not focus on the holistic development of an individual. Rather a lot of importance is given to the theoretical aspect of education.
Unnecessary focus on marks, sky high cut offs for colleges and peer pressure are some of the characteristics of education nowadays. Mugging up concepts and spitting them out on an answer sheet is what education has become. There is a little focus on skill development of an individual. Many a times the skills of an individual do not match with the requirements of the actual job market. What use is that degree which cannot even fetch a person a decent job?
The shortcomings in the system call for an action to be taken in this regard. The fault here lies in the initial years of education where passing exams and securing high marks is the only matrix of judging a student. To stop this the teachers at primary and upper primary level should up their game and understand their responsibility towards the children. They should encourage students to think pout of the box and focus on developing an all-round personality. In university level education too more focus should be given to training an individual for the actual job market rather than passing exams.
The current scenario in the education system of the country needs to be revamped which will slowly pave the way for a system which ensures holistic development of an individual, impart practical skills and does not compromise on creativity. The government programmes which focus on imparting education should be extended to enhance the quality of education as well.
These changes would further help in the development of the country by ensuring better jobs for the youth and enabling the country to compete internationally. The future of the country lies in the betterment of the education and it is high time we bring suitable changes in the education which will result in a better India.
To know more about the initiative of Smile Foundation in the field of education,
More often than not we hear or read about stories pertaining to child abuse on internet or in newspapers. Even thinking about what the innocent souls are subjected to makes the heart skip a beat. Child abuse whether sexual or nonsexual is a question mark on humanity. The recent rape case in Kathua grabbed a lot of eyeballs with various celebrities coming out in support of the victim. But there are many more stories or instances like these which do not come in front of the public eye and get the required attention. Moreover the media attention too does not lead to solving the problem. It just acts as a way to boost their ratings. As long as the concerned authorities do not take an action nothing can be done.
Leave apart the outside world the children are not even safe at their homes anymore. Recently a video of a woman beating her child for not completing her homework went viral on social media and there was a lot of outrage against it by activist groups. The fault here lies in the education system which encourages rote learning from the onset of ones education as well as in the parents who fail to understand that the children are to be treated gently and with care.
Any form of child abuse can have severe effects in the lives of children. It can hamper their mental wellbeing as they begin to feel unsure of their own selves. Suffering from abuse can make the children introvert and they begin to have trust issues. It stays with them throughout life and they feel difficulty in making and maintaining relationships. Many children who face sexual abuse start blaming themselves and carry it with them in the form of guilt throughout their lives. Moreover it also destroys their academic career a seeing themselves fail results into various problems like depression, anxiety disorders etc. Scarred for life they usually resort to taking extreme steps such as suicide.
It is high time for the concerned authorities to up their game and take the required steps to curb the problem of child abuse from the society. Physical punishment should be banned in schools and a strict check should be maintained in this regard. Schools should be encouraged to have counselling classes for children where they should be taught the need to report any kind of abuse. Parents should have conversations with their children and should be involved in the lives of their children till they reach a certain age. Strict punishments should be imposed on those who indulge in sexual abuse so that it serves as a lesson for those go against the law. The society should join hands to fight back this social evil to provide a happy and healthy environment to the children.
Smiles Mission Education programme, is crafted with the purpose to provide a safe and secure learning environment to craft the young minds.
More public spending on healthcare. Period! Most of the problems that Indian healthcare is facing currently are primarily due to low government spending on healthcare.
Let’s do a quick comparison of where we stand:
The amount India spends on public health per capita according to a news report is Rs 1,815 is less than the cost of a single consultation at the country’s top private hospitals–or roughly the cost of a meal at many hotels. That comes to Rs 150 per month or Rs 5 per day.
At 2.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP)–India’s public health expenditure is amongst the lowest in the world, lower than most low-income countries which spend a good percent of their GDP on healthcare.
India’s low public-health spending is one reason why patients turn to the private sector for healthcare. India ranks 66th in a group of 189 counties in out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending, as mentioned in National Health Estimates (2018-19).
These costs push millions of Indians below the poverty line every year, according to various studies.
Now Let’s see What the Typical Problems are in Our Current Health System:
1. Skewed Distribution of Health Facilities: While India is one of the preferred destinations for medical tourism, which implies that some of our hospitals can provide world-class treatment at relatively lower costs, we also have hospitals that are understaffed, have insufficient facilities, inadequate medicines’ supply and may not even be able to provide a bed or an ambulance to a patient. For example, rural India contains 75% of the total population but only around 30% of the country’s hospitals, hospital beds and doctors. Imagine the sheer burden put on those rural health facilities and doctors because of this!
2. Lack of Manpower: We face a shortage of trained and skilled doctors, nurses, technicians and other medical staff. Back in 2015, there was a shortfall of 2 million doctors and 4 million nurses in India. It’s common knowledge that many skilled nurses go overseas for higher pay. We need more super specialist doctors but the ones we have are either concentrated in tier-1 cities or working abroad.
There is a shortage of technicians and medical staff in many hospitals which leads to other problems like poor equipment maintenance, limited diagnostic services, etc. The shortage of manpower and the hesitation of existing manpower to work in smaller towns and villages limits the expansion of better medical facilities across the country, thus leading to skewed distribution.
3. Poor Infrastructure: Public health facilities comprise 20% of the Indian primary healthcare system. The majority of the secondary and tertiary care centres come under the private sector. A typical government hospital have limited doctors, nurses, or staff. Such hospitals are often crowded because they are catering to a large population in the surrounding area.
They do not have enough beds (because they’ve excess patients). They’re dirty and unhygienic, they lack security, patient care is unheard of, there may often be a shortage of medicines and consumables, staff may be corrupt and seek bribes from patients, and they may even lack basic utilities like a steady supply of water, electricity, and fuel. Their ambulances may be unavailable due to breakdown or corruption, forcing patients to fend for themselves.
4. Low Penetration of Health Insurance: When public health systems fail, people are forced to turn to private health facilities to avail of treatment. Private health facilities operate to make a profit. There’s a clear demand-supply gap and they utilise the low supply to raise their own prices. This means medical treatment in a private hospital could be a lot more expensive than in a govt. hospital. But since 75% of our population doesn’t have health insurance, they’re forced to pay for their treatment by themselves. And this situation leaves healthcare unaffordable for many people.
5. Low-quality Control: Remember the gaps in the supply side? This leaves healthcare a profitable venture for private players. There is no compulsion for a small new entrant to get an accreditation. People too are neither aware of quality parameters, nor bothered about it. They go to whatever is cheap. And so small, private clinics, hospitals, diagnostic and imaging centres mushroom everywhere with very little monitoring from the government. They do not have to provide any minimum quality. And yet they flourish because they’re affordable. As of 2014, less than 1% of hospitals and diagnostic labs had NABH or NABL accreditation.
So, if the government spends more on public healthcare than it currently is, it can achieve the following:
1. Higher wages would attract skilled doctors and manpower to stay in India 2. Higher wages and better living conditions in smaller towns and villages will enable medical staff and doctors to be able to work there 3. Higher spending will enable public hospitals to acquire medicines and supplies, receive uninterrupted water and electricity supply, maintain the premises and keep it clean and safe, and maintain equipment and ambulances so that they’re functional and available when required 4. More funding for medical and nursing colleges and technical training centers would help increase the existing number of seats or open new colleges in more locations. This would produce more number of skilled medical manpower to cater to the huge demands of our population. 5. With more funding and easy availability of skilled manpower, more public health facilities can be opened so that individual centers are not overcrowded. When the number of patients is manageable, they can be provided beds, medicines and proper care. 6. With more funding, the government can provide free treatment to the poor through the public health system. In addition to free treatment, the government can provide health insurance to the poor so that they can avail of treatment in private hospitals as well.
The government would also have to innovate to make public healthcare more efficient so that it delivers the maximum possible for a given investment. Technology would help automate several processes, thus making healthcare operations less prone to human errors and faster and more accurate.
Technology like telemedicine could increase the reach of public healthcare, and technology like EMR and big data analytics could provide vital insights to governments, policymakers, doctors and all stakeholders to improve public health and deal with epidemics and disease outbreaks. Technology, again requires money.
In addition to funding, the government would have to tighten its regulations regarding healthcare. Stricter regulations regarding quality and an efficient monitoring mechanism will ensure that fake doctors and quacks do not operate. And that even the smallest medical facility, say a lab, provides a minimum assured quality of service at affordable prices.
Regulations would also enforce price control to protect patients.
But before stricter regulations and price control, the government needs to first strengthen the public healthcare system so that the majority of the population can afford and avail assured healthcare of high quality. Because without a strong public health system, the burden of the entire population would fall on the private sector which would not be able to serve the entire population while remaining profitable.
So How Does the Government Spend More Money?
1) For starters, it should allocate more funds to healthcare, in the budget. 2) Central and state governments should be in sync about the funds each is going to allocate and how they’re going to implement programs to improve and strengthen healthcare. Many well-intentioned govt. health initiatives have run against a wall because of irregular or lower funding from the central govt. which put an additional burden on the concerned state govt. 3) Improve the funding mechanism. Fund flow should be regular and adequate. Projects should be clearly defined and target-oriented so that funds can be matched to the results delivered. Funding mechanism should be transparent and the unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and paper pushing reduced so that corruption is eliminated or at least, reduced. 4) Public-private partnerships can help achieve #3, where the government provides the funds, and the project is implemented and run by the private sector. After all, when it comes to project management, processes, best practices and quality control, the private sector far supersedes the public sector. 5) To encourage private spending and participation in improving healthcare, the government shouldn’t rely on the concept of CSR because it’s neither profitable for the private player nor sustainable. Instead, the govt. should provide tax benefits and other incentives to encourage private participation in key areas of healthcare while ensuring sustainability. 6) Health insurance and innovations in funding mechanisms: to ensure that all citizens can avail the best quality healthcare, the govt. should increase health insurance coverage, and introduce co-payments and health savings accounts.
There’re many other solutions for improving healthcare, for example:
1. Encouraging innovation and manufacturing (of medical devices) within the country
2. Spending more on medical research
3. Improving medical, nursing, and technical education as well as upskilling of existing manpower
4. International collaborations: But before we achieve this, it’s imperative that the govt. increases the healthcare funding, and fixes the basic infrastructure first.
We must always nourish leadership abilities of women for their development. They must always be upheld. Women’s lives are improving at a good rate now, girls are being educated, hence literacy rate of women is increasing, their life expectancy is also increasing and they are earning members of the society. Women are making contributions from taking care of their families to bringing an
income into the household. Laws are being made to protect them. To attain a sustainable environment for them we need to improve the provision of health services, make sure they get quality education, promote their employment, ensure the availability of good quality sanitation.
Improving health care may include essential care of newborns, they must be given proper vaccinations and must be kept clean. All health facilities must have proper medications, hygiene and sanitation. The staff providing care must be fully trained to do so. Services must also be provided at home. Women must also be encouraged to have routine check ups.
Educating girls would bring economic development. It also would improve health and well being of families. Education also helps them to protect themselves from trafficking. Literate women can express their concerns towards development and can also bring community change. Education also helps girls to protect themselves from contagious diseases like HIV.
In the labour market, women still face many barriers and are denied the opportunities of employment because of this. Companies must hire more and more women. We must also try to create safe and friendly working conditions for women, they must be confident that they will not have to face sexual harassment. They must be provided equal opportunities as men for better productivity.
Most of the women living in rural areas practice open defecation which affects their overall well being while women who have adequate sanitation have better health. As a result, healthier women work more productively.we can spread awareness through campaigns and we can demand for toilets. Making women aware of the side effects of not having proper sanitation and living in unhygienic conditions could make them worried about their health and they may then take action.
If women are empowered, encouraged for leadership and given equal opportunities as men, economies overall will grow. Women support their households, while taking care of their family and generate income.
India celebrates National Youth Day on 12 January on Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary, also called Swami Vivekananda Jayanti since 1985.This day is celebrated to inspire and encourage the youth to embark on a successful journey.
According to UNESCO, “Youth” is best understood as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood’s independence and awareness of our interdependence as members of a community. Youth is a more fluid category than a fixed age-group. However, age is the easiest way to define this group, particularly in relation to education and employment.
India is a developing country and around 50% of its population is under the age of 25. According to the UN report, India has the largest youth population in the world. So skill development becomes very important. It is a process in which youth of India is enabled and mobilized in a large number to take up outcome based skill training and become employable and earn their livelihood. As they are the future of country it is very important that they have a job or they are doing something productive. It will also eradicate unemployment. There are many reasons for a country like India to invest in the skill development of the youth.
It will eradicate unemployment and poverty.
Increasing capacity & capability of existing system to ensure equitable access to all.
It will promote lifelong learning, maintaining quality and relevance, according to changing requirement particularly of emerging knowledge economy.
It will channelize the vast potential of indigenous man power.
It will transform India into a diversified and internationally-competitive economy.
On July 15, 2015 to enable Indian economy and industry to benefit from the country’s young work force Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
National Skill Development Mission
National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (Prime Minister Skill Development Scheme)
Rural India Skill
Skill Loan Scheme
Though government of India is taking initiative, alone it cannot accomplish this task. It calls for a concerted effort of government, private players and NGOs to address the issue in a comprehensive manner. We need to focus on the skill development of the youth as it is one of the essential element of India’s future economic growth. It will play a defining element in India’s growth story. As aptly quoted by Nelson Mandela -“The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow”.
