{"id":266,"date":"2020-02-03T13:13:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T13:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/?p=266"},"modified":"2020-02-03T13:13:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T13:13:55","slug":"a-practical-new-year-resolution-abdul-kalam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/2020\/02\/03\/a-practical-new-year-resolution-abdul-kalam\/","title":{"rendered":"A Practical New Year Resolution &#8211; Abdul Kalam"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/6\/6e\/A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam.jpg\/500px-A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"319\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A nation-wide survey has brought out findings which are, if not \nshocking, not very complimentary to the state of elementary education in\n India, which is aiming to put every child in school by the year 2010. \nThe survey was conducted by an NGO in Mumbai, Pratham, for the Planning \nCommission. Now, for some figures. The survey, confined to two age \ngroups\u20137years to 10 and 11 to 14 years\u2013and conducted in a cross-section \nof nearly 30 districts in as many States, shows that one-sixth of the \nnumber of girls joining schools at the beginning of the academic year \ndrop out within a few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On an average, one-fourth of the number of students\u2013both girls and  boys\u2013are not able to write down a full sentence by themselves, not even  when it is dictated. The survey had tested children\u2019s abilities in  writing, reading, and arithmetic. In Allahabad and Lucknow districts of  Uttar Pradesh, nearly 80 per cent of children between 7 and 10 years,  studying in government-run schools, could not read. The situation in  private schools is only marginally better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The country, which eradicated scourges like small pox and malaria, and  is on the threshold of similar success against polio, is fighting yet  another\u2013illiteracy. We have to view the survey findings against this  backdrop. Success may be far away, but that does not mean that we can  delay taking efforts any longer. Any resolve in this regard need not  wait for an auspicious hour or day. However, now that we are about to  usher in a New Year, let us take advantage of its shade and decide that  in 2005 and in the following five years, we will first prevent  drop-outs, and then revamp the educational system at least to help  children acquire functional literacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are reminded of our President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam\u2019s exhortation:  Each one teach one. Nothing can be simpler or more straight forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Abdul Kalam<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>A nation-wide survey has brought out findings which are, if not shocking, not very complimentary to the state of elementary education in India, which is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,9,13,38],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english","tag-abdul","tag-chandamama","tag-english","tag-kalam"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267,"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chandamama.in\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}