Education, Careers & Professional News
Singing For Education
Singing For Education
On Sunday at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards Playhouse, Ashok Pandey and Sushil Baweja played Geet, Ghazal and popular film songs at a concert in an effort to raise money to educate Indias tribal children.
They are so generous to come sing, said Mitali Babsi, a member of the Indian Association. The concert is free, and they are very good singers.
Pandey and Baweja are renowned musicians in India, but they came not for funds for themselves, but donations for their country. They were in Huntington for the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, which means one-teacher school. The charity functions from those who make one-dollar-a-day donations.
This foundation is forming outdoor schools for children ages 4 to 15 for free. They learn nonformal education encompassing reading, writing, math, personal health and hygiene, and moral values. The goal is to stop illiteracy and to help Indian children overcome social stereotypes and prejudices so they have the confidence to succeed.
According to the Ekal Vidyalaya Web site, the illiteracy rate in India is 65.4 percent. Even worse off is the position of tribal India, which has a literacy rate below 30 percent.
This is a fight against illiteracy, Babsi said. Every child should be able to read.
The charity is aiming to eradicate illiteracy from rural and tribal India by 2011. To date, Ekal Vidyalaya is a movement of more than 13,000 teachers, 2,500 voluntary workers, 20 field organizations (scattered in 20 Indian states) and six support agencies.
The teachers of the tribal children were once locally educated youths of the organization. They are taught to teach literacy in a fun way, by storytelling, dramas and folk songs.
Those who attended the Indian concert had a chance to watch a video on the improvements the organization has helped make in India.
Literacy will be enlightened, said Tapan Babsi, president of the Indian Association. Children will go on to higher education.
Marshall Universitys interim president, Michael Farrell, said he is humbled to have such cultural events at the university.
We have become the focal point for a group of citizens who want to come together, Farrell said. It is our responsibility to reach out and my pledge (for Marshall University) to continue to be the host of such activities.