Andhra Pradesh

Mass campaign to ‘educate parents’

ELAMANCHILI (Visakhapatnam district): Children are the future of a nation. Unfortunately a number of school-going children, not only in cities and towns but also in villages, are increasingly indulging in vices and neglecting their studies. Parents, who always have big dreams for their child’s future, feel that their task is over once their kids are admitted to school.

They do not spend quality time with their children at home. While mothers are content with watching mindless TV serials, fathers are more interested in utilising their free time in discussing politics and consuming liquor. They are, however, unmindful of the fact that their actions have a strong influence on the young minds.

Little girls of BCT Model High School drove home this point through a skit, here on Monday. They impressed parents and representatives of NGO s with their skills. “The first guru (teacher) of a child is her/his mother, the second is the father and the third guru in the teacher. All the three are failing in their duties,” BCT Founder B.V. Parameswara Rao said at a meeting organised to create awareness among parents on the issue.

He decided to launch the awareness campaign in a big way in the villages of the district after going through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and World Bank reports on education. There are only four teachers on an average at many Government schools. Of them, only two teachers attend the school on any given day as the other two would be on leave. The schools function for only 120 days a year. “We have decided to launch door-to-door campaigns in all the villages of the district in association with various voluntary organisations to educate parents on the issue. The NGOs concerned would conduct the campaign in the villages in their vicinity and, if possible, in the adjoining villages,” Mr. Parameswara Rao told The Hindu.

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