Rifa Deka
It is true that girls with dreams grow up to be women with vision and it is very important to educate the girl child, especially in the Indian society where girls fall prey to various social issues. Girls in this part of the world, were once treated as liabilities who only added extra burden to the lives of their parents, not only in rural but also in urban areas. Boys on the other hand were always looked upon as assets and future bread earners of the family.
In the 21st century, we know full well that girls are no less than boys in any front and we must thank and acknowledge the efforts of individuals and organizations who have worked tirelessly towards the goal of saving and educating the girl child to make India a more developed country not only Infrastructure and technology wise but also at the social front.
“I firmly believe in nurturing and imbibing innocent young children with great values so that they retain their basic trust in humanity”, says Florence Handique Rabha, Assistant Professor and Head of Electronic Media and Anchoring at Royal School of Communications & Media, Royal Global University, Guwahati. She has been running her own Kindergarten school – Scholar’s Home Public School, for the last twenty-three years in Maligaon, Guwahati where she is the Principal. Apart from being an educationist, Florence is a television anchor who has presented & anchored for more than one thousand five hundred English news bulletins, hosted about four hundred talk shows in her fourteen years of association with electronic media since 2004 and also acted in many Assamese plays, serials and films. Besides this, she has had fantastic stints as a Radio Jockey and has also authored a book “Celebrating Womanhood” based on her television shows on some remarkable women from Assam.
She believes in leading by example and says that through her first-hand experience at Scholar’s Home Public School, Florence has discovered the joys of being with pure and innocent young children. For her, this feeling of joy is like being next to God as they provide her with enough reasons to smile. In a world where children form the most delicate and vulnerable fragment of our society, it is vital that children be taught the importance of contributing towards the development of the society. “Every child has to realize their duty towards the family and own self” says Florence.
Her school, Scholars Home Public School has an education trust called the SHE TRUST which has been supporting the education of needy girls from humble families since the year 2014. It is with the intention of encouraging the education of needy girls her Scholars Home Education Trust (SHE Trust) has been founded. All contribution made to this trust is utilized for providing a secure platform for at least the minimum basic education to girl students belonging to poor backgrounds. The trust takes responsibility for the first two years of schooling at Scholars Home Public School, and for classes I to X and further education, the sponsors have to remain in regular touch with the Managing Trustee and the volunteers. The trust seeks invaluable help of all citizens of the city in this noble venture.
Educating a girl is so much more than just giving her access to knowledge. It is about giving her enough opportunities of equal access to healthcare, employment, legal rights and every aspect of the society which she was previously deprived of. According to UNESCO, if all women had a secondary education, at least 12 million children on this planet would be saved from stunted growth and malnutrition. This is just an example of the ripple effect that educating the girl child can create.
As per provisional reports of Census India, the female literacy rate in Guwahati city stood at 88.50% as against a male literacy rate of 94.24% in 2011. Initiatives like the SHE Trust and various other drives carried out by numerous organizations across the state of Assam have helped improve the scenario by promoting education among females. There are many other organizations that seek the invaluable help of citizens from across the state in their noble ventures, to empower young girls and give wings to those who dream of flying high.
