Measures to boost education for underprivileged students

Nelson Mandela has rightly quoted - “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”

Many eminent leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekanand have also stated the importance of education. Similar to them, I believe that education is the key to the development and growth of an individual and an entire country.

Education not only helps in a country’s growth, but also helps in our personal growth. 

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has also mentioned the ‘QUALITY EDUCATION’ plan in its goals. 

According to the UN SDG, its objective is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

That’s true. However, our present education system has not delivered what is needed for the country to develop completely.

Education is supposed to bring equality and give equal opportunities to everyone. However, this seems to be a far-fetched dream with the changing socio-economic conditions. For instance, today, merely pursuing a graduation degree won’t open up job opportunities as a post-graduation degree would do.

Again, to follow a post-graduate degree, an individual needs to have the means and resources. In this race, the underprivileged who lack resources are often left out. Thus, there is a need to boost our educational system, especially underprivileged students.

Students are the country’s future. Having quality knowledge and excellent skills will help both the individual and country grow. Hence, providing education to them is the most critical aspect.

However, many are deprived financially and therefore are unable to pursue their desired goals. Thus it becomes imperative to boost education for underprivileged students and make their and the country's future brighter.

Measures to boost education for underprivileged students

1] Free sessions for parents/guardians

The first important step is to conduct free sessions for parents of such students. Lack of awareness about the importance of education is a significant factor stopping parents from taking appropriate measures towards their child’s education.

No doubt, in the last few years people have started realising the importance of education and they have started chasing their dreams through education.

But many, especially in rural areas, are still uninformed about it. It is thus crucial to have sessions with parents to let them understand the importance of education. Parents will pass the same knowledge to their children and the coming generations.

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2] Counseling to children

Proper guidance is a must for children and organising a counseling session with them will help them understand how crucial education is.

Moreover, it will also help them to clear the blurred vision related to their career and blow away the smoke of confusion, all in all, this will aid in making a clear career pathway and also make it easier for them to set their own goals and targets.

3] Early childhood education

While guiding parents about the significance of education, it is our responsibility to let them know that early childhood education is crucial rather than starting a career untimely.

Indeed, learning has no age barriers, yet a strong education at an early age will develop confidence from a significantly younger age and help them understand the importance of education.

4] Educational facilities and learning facilities

What if children are aware of the significance of learning but lack access to educational and learning resources? Will our purpose be met? Will we be able to see them succeed? Or will we ever be able to boost education for underprivileged students?

Hence, it becomes crucial to share the importance of education and provide them with educational and learning facilities.

It is important to build better schools and institutes with all the learning essentials such as books, stationery items, and basic facilities. 

5] Increase the pool of teachers and professors

The way a chef is prime in a restaurant, similarly, in schools/institutes, teachers/professors are prime. To increase the pool of efficient teachers and professors, it is necessary to conduct boot camps to train passionate teachers and help them upskill themselves with new methods and approaches.

These training sessions must also inculcate the values of inclusion among teachers to understand the needs of the underprivileged students and teach them accordingly.

6] Skills development programme

To boost education to underprivileged students, we must emphasise on skill development programmes and we must teach new-age skills to help them face the real world. More importantly, basic life skills should be fundamental for underprivileged students. The programmes must prepare students for communication skills, social skills, and practical skills to help them grow in life and career.

7] Personality development programme

Personality development programmes needs to be organised frequently in rural areas to help underprivileged students to develop their personalities. Due to lack of personality challenges, students fear participating in any activity or educational sessions.

Therefore, this becomes a stumbling block between their dreams and goals. It is important to see that nothing holds back the underprivileged students in their career path.

8] Scholarship 

The best way to boost education for underprivileged students is to offer them scholarship programmes. This will erode all the barriers, holding passionate students back and help them fulfill their dreams.

I believe following at least a few of the above measures, if not all, can help boost education opportunities for underprivileged students.