Dimapur, Nov. 11 (EMN): Tetso College and Unity College of Teachers Education in Dimapur observed National Education Day with various intellectual and literary events to mark the Day, which is the birthday anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of India.
The two institutions issued separate press releases on Monday informing about the programmes they conducted.
Tetso College organised an elocution competition on the topic ‘Right to Education’ on Monday in the college’s auditorium. Students from all the classes participated in the event, the college stated.
National Education Day is celebrated on November 11 every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of India, who served from August 15 1947 to February 2 1958.
The students were allotted a time limit of five minutes each to speak on the topic ‘Right to Education.’ Inato Aye, BBA 4th semester student, was declared the winner. Sungjemlila Longkumer, BA 2nd semester student, was declared the runner-up. They were awarded certificates, the organisers stated.
According to the press release, Aye said in his speech that the government of India had enacted the Right to Education Act on August 4 2009 to provide free and compulsory education for children between the ages 6-14 years. It emphasised on free education without the payment of cash for students whose parents cannot afford school fees.
Claiming the Act to be a ‘success,’ the student was stated to have highlighted statistics pertaining to 2016 that only 3.3 % of children in the targeted age bracket were out of school in the rural areas.
“Acknowledging that the Right to Education is one of the most important rights, Inato pointed out that the only thing holding back the students was because they tend to view education as studying of heavy textbooks and lengthy notes and the fear of not being able to achieve good grades,” the press release stated.
“The main purpose of education is to build your skills, potential and living in a time of technological advancement, you have access to every technology which has greatly influenced the education system. In other words, ‘learning is fun’ has taken a step ahead,” the student stated, according to the press release.
As for Longkumer, she felt that although the Act was implemented ten years ago, not much could be done as there were children who were still deprived of elementary education. Recalling that it was a historic day for the nation when the Act was enforced, she was stated to have quoted the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who stated ‘we are committed to ensuring free and compulsory education to all children of 6-14 years of age irrespective of caste, class or gender.’
The speaker, according to the press release, questioned the commitment saying, “Why is the government not keeping up with its commitment? Because I still see many of my brothers and sisters hungry for education but deprived of education.” Nevertheless, she expressed optimism for that the country’s literacy rate had grown from just 12% at the time of independence to 74.04% according to the 2011 Census.
“My country is growing, my country is improving. My only prayer remains that the Right to Education does not simply remain as dead letters in the book of the law or in the Constitution of India,” the press release quoted her as having remarked.
Unity College of Teacher Education also commemorated the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, commemorated as National Education Day. The college conducted an essay competition on the topic ‘nation’s commitment to all the aspects of education with special reference to National Education Policy, 2019,’ the college stated in its press release.
The top three prizes for the best essay were won by Thronlem Konyak of 1st semester, Visheli Sema of 3rd semester, and Vinotoli V Chishi of 1st semester, the press release stated.
