Monday, 18 December 2017

Small Steps But Giant Strides



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“The transformation which is to occur in the functioning of society, will certainly depend to a great extent on the effectiveness of the preparations the youth make for the world they will inherit”[i] Universal House of Justice, 1985 bahai.org/en/t/c/SCH/sch-41.html

Present youth are the ones who will inherit the earth if the older generations leave anything worthy for them. We leave them with despair, disasters and hardly have them prepared to face the challenges. We must ask how we prepare the youth for the world. The crisis ridden world is filled with materialism, consumerism and spreading nihilism. Over a decade into the 21st century and world has already seen 46 percent increase in weather disasters, dozens of wars, conflict, catastrophe and environmental hazards. The condition of the world is steadily growing worse. In spite of the scientific advances each day 30,000 children die from preventable diseases according to UNICEF[i].Some 80% of all urban areas have air pollution levels above what is considered healthy by the World Health Organization (WHO). The world beholds the disintegration of very structure of the civilization through irresponsible models of industrialization, economic plans, unprecedented anxiety and confusion which destroys natural resources, leads to growing poverty, violence and hopelessness.

The crux of the problem is lack of education which is afflicting our world so severely. When human beings forget their commitment to moral principles, disintegration happens. When moral values, voice of conscience and discipline become lax, the sense of decency and shame becomes numb. The evidence of this is the widespread corruption in public and private institutions.

The youth can move the world and contribute significantly to the advancement of civilization. Spiritual values, positive attitudes and skills are within the grasp of dedicated and knowledgeable teachers who mould and shape the minds of the young. The youth should be competent enough to face the pressing challenges of the world and provide moral leadership for their contemporaries.( school assembly picture enclosed)

[i] UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html

DRS International School has made giant strides to achieve its vision in successive years of practicing innovative methods in Value Education, Life Skills, Gender Sensitivity and various co curricular activities. John W Gardner has emphasized the importance of building a vision on shared principles. He states; “A vision relevant for us today will build on values deeply embedded in human history and in our own tradition. The materials of which we build the vision will be the moral strivings of the species, today and in the distant past.”[i] We feel that our shared vision must incorporate universal principles and attitudes clubbed with action for the emergence of global citizens. Syllabi that integrate knowledge, attitude, continuous action and reflection through innovative methods must internalize universal human values for every child.

[i]Gardner, john W, On Leadership , The Free press,1990

To create sustainable communities that contribute to the advancement of civilization DRSIS students take action locally and internationally as they believe in global citizenship. In an attempt to have empathy for environment students learned about the life of coal miners and the harsh conditions they must go through to provide us the luxury of electricity(Coal miner’s picture enclosed). They took an oath and tried their best to conserve energy. Consequently they checked the electricity bill of the school over few months of taking action that gave them a boost of seeing their small action with giant rewards of almost 50% reduction in electricity bill.

Learning moved forward in leaps and bounds through an international video conference on climate change which was due to the school registration for the British Council International Schools Award. Interacting with students of different countries proved a valuable learning opportunity as many concepts had to be delved deep during the video conference on “Urgent Action on Climate Change”. As a sustainable community DRSIS tried variety of approaches to reduce, reuse and recycle in order to conserve the planet. The compost pit project proved a worthy effort when they could see the recycling of garbage into compost. Compost pit was also an avenue for using the kitchen waste into compost rich in micro and macro nutrients for plants. Children learned the process and helped in making the mixture. They also learned the components and chemicals that go in it. The second of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goal (No Hunger) became more evident when they learned about hunger during the video conference on Food Security. They interacted with students from Taiwan, Brazil and Egypt to know about their problems as well as looking at some international recipes. They actually tried to value food in the school canteen by reducing wastage.( compost pit picture enclosed)

Empathy for environment must be taken by all not only the super hero and extra ordinary. Small actions by small people have great effect. Students challenged their critical and creative thinking skills during an activity by creating your own super hero for protecting the environment in a comic strip. Saanvi the student of grade eight said, “to save the environment you don’t have to be a super hero. Everyone is a hero when they care and be good”(comic strip picture enclosed). Even the smallest person can contribute to save the environment, said Amulya in the comic strip with an ant sized hero.

[1] Universal House of Justice, 1985 bahai.org/en/t/c/SCH/sch-41.html

[1] UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html

[1]Gardner, john W, On Leadership , The Free press,1990

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