“The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country,” said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, whose birthday the country celebrates as Children’s Day. In connection with National Children’s Day, which falls on 14th November, Teach For India, joining hands with Kids Education Revolution, is celebrating Children’s Day Week from 14th November to 20th November, to bring out stories of student leadership across the country.
With more than 4000+Teach For India Alumni reaching out to more than 33 million children – that’s 1 in 10 children in India, the organisation identifies children who stand out as change agents, taking initiatives at various levels of the system from schools, communities to governance and policy. As India faces its own challenges on many socio-economic, and environmental fronts, its youth offer a ray of hope.
Here are two young leaders from Hyderabad who are making a difference to an environmental and a social problem in their own ways:
- Bharat Kumar – Meet Bharat Kumar from Khushbow Vidya Niketan in Hyderabad, who strives to change people’s mindsets in order to clean and maintain his school and community. By creating a magnetic dustbin out of upcycled materials and educating others about the consequences of littering, he hopes to make a positive difference in his environment. His journey so far has taught him an important lesson: if we take initiative, we will inevitably see results.
- Safoora Siddiqua – An 8th grader from Hyderabad, duplicated India’s parliamentary system in her school with the aim to build leadership skills in her peers. They worked on transferring all the responsibility of school management to this student body. Safoora, who was elected as the Prime Minister, worked with her “ministers” towards responsibilities such as syllabus tracking, notebook corrections, event management and managing discipline.
- Anil S – An 8th grader from Hyderabad, used sport as a medium to shatter gender stereotypes in his community. He started a project called Ultimate Frisbee, where he trained 100 children from his school and community to give equal opportunity to girls and boys. He even held ‘Spirit Circles’, a reflective space for the players to engage in after their session, in order to share their experiences and feedback related to the game. They are currently the best team in Hyderabad and are working towards competitions in Chennai and Bengaluru.
