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PB Acharya (EM Images)[/caption]
Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov. 12 (EMN): Rotary Club of Dimapur and the Indian National Fellowship Centre (INFC) Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust and Rotary Club of north Bombay inaugurated two facilities namely Mission Million Books and a hearse service on Nov. 12, at the Rotary Centre in Dimapur.
Speaking during the occasion was former governor of Nagaland PB Acharya. He said ‘60 percent’ of educated people are unemployed in Nagaland as there are no opportunities.
‘We must change our education system,’ he said.
‘Academic education is not enough in today’s generation,’ he reminded. ‘Schools and universities must give students practical education about entrepreneurship, industries and commerce.’
Saying that poverty can be eliminated by education, the former governor said speaking in English is not knowledge but the content in the English is knowledge.
Acharya urged the gathering to empower those less privileged. It should be their agenda and teachers should become the game changers, he said. He advised the gathering to spread information about the schemes that are being provided by the government. The programmes will help students financially in schools and universities, he said adding that educated people should learn to give back to the society and teach others especially those in the rural areas.
In other matters, Acharya said Christianity has done great things in Nagaland. ‘Let us also respect every religion,’ he said.
Addressing the gathering, editor of Nagaland Post Geoffery Yaden acknowledged the former governor. Even though he is a former governor, his heart is in Nagaland and the Northeast region, Yaden said. He urged the gathering to ‘read books’ as it does not need electricity, battery or network connection.
Also, the director of Rotary International, Kamal Sanghvi, addressing the event, said economies are based on knowledge. Teachers are the ones who can bring change, he said. ‘One book, one pen, one teacher can change the world,’ he asserted.
‘By 2025, the goal is to eradicate illiteracy in India,’ Sanghvi said. The world moves because of teachers and whatever students are learning in the mainland states the same education can be learned by people in the remote areas through e-learning, Sanghvi said. He added that child development is important and ‘it is our future.’
‘If we do not bridge the gap of adult literacy, we will not achieve 100 percent literacy rate. If a child teaches an adult at home, even the child will get a sense of making the society productive as well as making the adult literate,’ Sanghvi said.
