Karnataka - Bangalore

Students become educators

Staff Reporter

Many of those in city colleges contribute to society despite academic pressures

SAVE WATER: NCC cadets distributing pamphlets to motorists on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Bangalore as part of a campaign to create awareness about rainwater harvesting.

BANGALORE: Stepping into college, most students find the initial days the time to learn, to celebrate their freedom, to breathe in the freshness of independence. A few more months and watch them transform into responsible teenagers, ready to take on the world.

Full of ideas and ideals, some of them don the mantle of future leaders. And if the college atmosphere is welcoming, liberal and encouraging, they will even spread out of the campus to help the city and its residents.

Away from the stifling environs of the school, they open their minds to ideas. Like some students of the Christ College, who recently were literally on the streets, adding meaning to a concept called "Road Safety Week." In association with the college's Department of Psychology, the students got busy creating awareness on safety habits, traffic rules, the advantages of wearing helmets and more. Lined up for the road safety week were street plays, a debate called "The big fight," a talk by Girish Kumar from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences and other events. The objective of the week went something like this: "As an educational institution, it becomes our moral responsibility towards society in general that we mould our students into good responsible citizens," as the college principal, Fr. Thomas C. Mathew put it.

If road safety was the concern of the Psychology Department, the college's No. 2 Coy, 9 Karnataka Battalion NCC cadets were busy campaigning about rainwater harvesting and saving water. Their area of work: M.G. Road-Brigade Road junction. So what if students here are not radical enough to bring down governments and to effect policy changes. Despite their intensely competitive academics and ever-growing anxiety about landing jobs, the students do contribute to society.

Several city-based non-government organisations do get student volunteers, particularly during vacations. And then, there are the National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of the Bangalore University busy round the year with social service schemes in villages.

Students of the PES Institute of Technology had even adopted vast stretches of the Ring Road, planting saplings and nurturing them. If personality development is all about building a rapport with the public, these students would have made their career path a little more smoother.

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