Unemployment is a problem many countries are facing and that too at substantial rates. Currently, the unemployment rate in India is around 8%. There are a total of around 406 million employees or workers above the age of 15 and a total of around 31 million people are unemployed. Some of these 31 million are graduates who are qualified enough to get decent paying jobs but companies don’t have a lot of vacancies so the colleges fail to give placements to students. Sometimes the quality of education isn’t good enough for students to get good results. This problem is linked with the teachers not getting paid enough. Due to increased competition, students have to work extra hard in internships or jobs that offer less or no salary. That’s also why labour participation of the youth has decreased and that of people above the age of 40 has increased.
There are other causes also. One of the main causes is restrictions and complexity of labour laws. These laws create issues related to wages, work hours, social security, etc. Another issue is that the number of labour intensive jobs is decreasing. Due to the advancement in technology, fewer labourers are needed. One man can do the job of ten people by using a machine. The agricultural sector experiences seasonal unemployment which means workers would be employed for some duration of the year and they remain unemployed for the rest of the year. Disguised unemployment is also a problem which decreases productivity and causes financial problems for the farmers. Along with unemployment, underemployment is also a problem. It is seen in many organizations, especially government organisations, that there is less pay, poor infrastructure, less facilities. This is troublesome mainly for female employees. Already, there is low labour participation of women because of patriarchy and when they do get a job; they face problems like harassment, dirty toilets, no facilities to maintain menstrual hygiene, being paid less than men, etc. It is sad that all these problems not only exist in rural but also urban areas. In rural areas, it is due to less development and in the urban areas, due to increased competition and high quality requirement. The skills of an educated person are wasted in companies where they get less pay. These people get less than they deserve, which leads to dissatisfaction and low motivation to find jobs. That is why the amount of people seeking jobs is also decreasing.
It is rational to question what the government is doing to decrease the unemployment rate. In the past, there were a lot of schemes made by the government to create new jobs but it didn’t make that great of an impact as we’ve seen gradual increase in the unemployment rate since the start of the 21st century. The government hasn’t released the results of the surveys done; they are in denial. With the current population rate, we could reach 20-30% in the future if we don’t take action now. We need a strategy to overcome this problem or it will go extreme and possibly affect economy which is already going down.
Being a citizen of a country doesn’t just mean being a legal resident, there are a lot of responsibilities that come with it. Our ancestors were apes, living in a chaotic world. Now we are living in a civilized society; we have truly come a long way. Being a part of this society is a privilege as it offers peace, order and humanity. It gives you identity, status, respect, etc. But these things only come if you contribute to the society as well. Society as a unit can function properly only when the individuals living in it maintain peace and order. Each individual should respect the rights and liberties that he/she has been given and be proud of being a part of society. As a citizen, it is your duty to abide by the rules and regulations that have been set to avoid chaos. It is important to be informed and vigilant. Mankind has successfully achieved civilization because we didn’t just evolve physically, we also evolved psychologically. We have come to the realization that the only way to survive is to live together in peace.
But that being said, it is the 21st century and chaos exists in every society in the world. This chaos exists because people are greedy for money, power, status, etc. These people overlook law and order to satisfy their needs. These people don’t care about the repercussions they will cause to the society and the people living in them. Some people intentionally create chaos and destruction and innocent people face the consequences. In such times, it isn’t enough to just be informed and vigilant. Citizens should take a step to contribute to their country and help the people residing in it. A lot of countries are dealing with poverty, unemployment, bad economy, violence on women and many other issues; countries where governments are fooling the public using mass media to deviate people’s attention away from these issues. When you’re living under such a government, it is important to criticize it but stupid to rely on it. At such times, the public has to show unity in solving such problems.
In this modern era, an ordinary man/woman can do a lot to contribute. Social media is a good tool to have a voice against any transgressions that affect you. You have a voice and can criticize anyone you want. If you are fighting for a good cause there are always good people out there to support you. This public power comes from the frustration of the people towards corrupt politicians and dishonest governments. This fraternity comes from the people’s belief of a better tomorrow. This unity comes from the progressive nature of the people who believe in tackling close-mindedness and focusing on development. Citizens need to promote this progressive nature to end problems like sexism, feminism, racism, caste discrimination, classism, etc. The behaviour of people needs to be monitored to avoid hatred on the basis of any kind of differences. The behaviour of an individual is the result of the environment or the circumstances he/she grows up in. So we need to improve the environment and better the circumstances to make good individuals and responsible citizens.
Not all of us are born in families where parents raise good individuals. Not all of us have friends who respect everyone and don’t discriminate. We have to be educated enough to acknowledge our differences and live together. We have to be aware and knowledgeable about current affairs and be intellectual enough to distinguish between right and wrong. We have to debate with people who are regressive and conservative. We have to make sure that the people around us are contributing towards society. We as citizens should abide by the law and be aware of our actions as they could affect others. We as individuals should learn from our mistakes and work towards a better future. We should always keep improving ourselves and others so that the next generation will be better than us lead a good lifestyle.
Late Shri Jay Prakash Singh (Papaji) founded the school on the 1st of January, 2003 which was also his 53rd birthday. Hence, it was fitting to celebrate the Annual Day on the same day, every year. But the school stopped celebrating the annual day in 2017, due to the sad demise of Papaji as he was the heart and soul of Sir J.P. Group of Institutions. But this year, Papaji’s son and the General Secretary of the Sir J.P. GOI, Shri Rajesh J. Singh decided to resume the annual day celebration. He believed that it wouldn’t be fair to the students as well as the teachers. On every annual day, the teachers and the students would pour their heart out and showcase their talent to the fullest. It was something everyone looked forward to and worked extremely hard to make the event as grand as possible. He believed that Papaji wouldn’t be happy if we stop the progress of the students. Therefore, this time, a lot of young minds were given a chance to express their creativity and unleash their potential. This responsibility was given to Mr. Siddhant Singh, a student himself. He is Papaji’s grandson and the Managing Director of the school. He appointed a lot of students under the guidance of his college friends.
This year, the theme was “Pollution”. The motive was to create awareness and to display the horrible situation of the environment. This message was spread in the form of art. All the decorations were made by the “Best out of Waste Formula”, by the students under the guidance of Ms.Yashi Kochhar. This promoted the concept of reusing is an integral part of pollution control. Materials like paper, plastic were used to create beautiful decorative items. A fashion show was organized by Janvi Miss, in which all the costumes were made out of reusable materials. There was a dance choreographed by Rita Miss on the topic of “Air Pollution”. On top of that, Teena Miss gave a very thought provoking speech about the air pollution in Delhi. All of these performances gave a very strong message to the audience regarding the condition of the world. It’s very progressive of the school to look at events as an opportunity to talk about such crucial topics in an entertaining manner.
Apart from the theme, there were a lot of eye-catching performances which were choreographed by some teachers. There was a mix of regional cinema, hip-hop, folk dance, cultural dance, Bollywood, etc. Two of the performances were in a dance-cum-act format. One of them was about violence on women and the other one was about the brave troops of our nation. However dance is not the best art form to spread messages or talk about important topics. Therefore, to create more of an impact, there were two dramas organized; one about rape and the other about tobacco addiction. To spice it up, there was a flash mob choreographed by Pramod Sir which took everyone by surprise. There was also a singing performance which was taught by Rekha Miss. It was amazing to see the teachers direct such beautiful performances. They proved that teaching is not their only skill and their talent was inspiring for the students.
Aside from all the entertainment, Mangal Sir, the Principal gave an annual report which summarized all the wonderful highlights of the year and discussed future plans. To end this glamorous event, Siddhant Sir gave a heartwarming vote of thanks. The event was a big success considering it was resumed after three years. It was a huge stress buster for everyone. It seemed that everyone’s hardwork paid off. I am sure that if Papaji watched this event, he must have been overwhelmed by the love, support and enthusiasm that the people of the school showed. Providing education is not the only purpose of the school, but also remembering the values, principles that Papaji had as well as carrying forward the traditions of the school. Hopefully, these values help the students in achieving whatever they want with hardwork and goodwill.
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants in the form of chemical substances or energy such as noise, heat or light into the environment that causes adverse change. A lot of people think that pollution started because of the Industrial Revolution, but it started way before. In the ancient times, man used to light fires in the caves to cook food and this started polluting the environment. In fact, “soot” found on the ceilings of the caves is evidence of extreme levels of pollution. Though this was pollution caused by humans. There were natural causes also like volcanoes, forest fires, etc. Approximately after 1000 A.D., humans started using coal as fuel. It was used in forging metal and was the leading cause of pollution at the time. Then, during the Industrial Revolution, this problem turned into a worldwide crisis. In the 17th century, the emergence of industries across the world seriously contaminated air and water and threatened human lives as well as wildlife. Due to air pollution, people started having respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, throat inflammation, chest pain, congestion, etc. Noise pollution causes hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, sleep disturbance, etc. Water pollution causes diarrhea, vomiting, skin diseases, respiratory problems, etc.
It was very important to spread awareness about pollution in the general public because the damage was so bad, that the government alone couldn’t clean the environment. Though, the government did make efforts that made some impact. In the 19th century, the US government passed the Clean Air Act (1970) and the Clean Water Act (1972) for pollution control. Rules and regulations were included in these acts with regard to emissions of pollutants from automobiles, industries, factories, etc. These acts allow emission of pollutants but up to a certain limit. Whenever a company manufactures a product, it must not cross the limit to maintain pollution control. Many other efforts were made by many governments of the world, but the pollution was at such a large scale that could not reduce pollution substantially. Therefore, it was necessary to create awareness.
Organizations like United Nations Environment Program, Green Peace, Delhi Greens, etc. have made a lot of contributions in cleaning the environment and spreading awareness. Sir J.P. High School has also taken a small step to discuss pollution control. Its 16th Annual Day is going to be celebrated on the 1st of January, 2020. This Annual Day will have “Pollution” as their theme. The goal is to educate students about pollution control and how it could be achieved. We have used the “Best out of Waste” formula and created all the decorations by using recyclable materials. Of course, it would be injustice to disclose more details about the event, but the efforts made by the school are aiming to discuss the seriousness of the problem and the importance to save the environment now to have a safe future.
Education is the process of learning in an institution like school, college or university to acquire knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits. The word “education” is derived from the Latin word “ēducātiō” which means breeding or bringing up. The primary methods of education are teaching, training, storytelling and discussion. The invention of schools, colleges started in the 16th century. Before that, education was simply teaching children about culture or rather making them adapt to a culture which will mould their values, beliefs, principles as they grow into adulthood. But as time passed, a lot of cultures started emerging with the rise in population. People started travelling in different parts of the world and learned about other cultures that were based on religion, region, ideologies, etc. People had a lot of differences depending on their upbringing, and they would have differences in values, beliefs, opinions, behavior, language, way of living, etc. Education was a way to bring these cultures together by studying them, practicing them, adapting to them, and maintain peace with the people of other cultures. This went on for thousands of years until formal education started in institutions like schools, colleges, universities. In these institutions, not only history, but also subjects like literature, geography and science were being taught. The whole idea of formal education was providing knowledge about the world and using it for the betterment and development of society.
The perception of education has changed over the years. Earlier, education was regarded very highly by the society. In rural areas, education was a privilege and people had more respect for the educated than the non-educated. The villagers who used to come to the city were looked downed upon and made fun of. There was a lot of discrimination as the society shamed the poor and the illiterate. But now the perspective of education has changed. Education is no more a privilege; it has become a basic need. In both rural and urban areas, it is possible for every child to get education. Every citizen has the right to education and hence there are government schools, public schools, etc in rural areas as well. There is no doubt that due to the increase in schools, competition has also increased. Currently competition is the point of discussion. Now, it’s not about whether the parents can afford education for their child, but about what quality of education they can afford. Parents want their child to beat this competition by studying well and securing their future by getting a job with decent pay. This is where a lot of pressure is put upon on children to meet their parents’ expectations. In the race of marks and grades, most of the students forget about their dreams, aspirations and end up doing dissatisfactory 9-5 jobs. In this race, the essence of education, which is learning, is lost. The rest of the students who get to chase their dreams are obstructed by the competition and the education system itself. It is necessary to narrow down the subjects for students so that they can only study what they need to study. The syllabus should only contain the topics that will educate them in the field they want to work in. Subjects unrelated to the field of choice should be removed to save the students’ time and effort. Currently, the structure is designed for the student to study every part of every topic that is considered to be “general knowledge”. The students fail to focus on their passion and are forced to study subjects unimportant to them to either pass or earn a good average in their exams. Therefore, in today’s day and age, if you want to chase your dream, you have to work on it by yourself along with completing your education. My father always says,
“Education is just a platform, you can become anything you want if you work on it on your own.”
Though there are some students who don’t get to choose the field they want to work in. Sometimes, the parents don’t approve of the field and they force the child to pursue mainstream careers like becoming an engineer, doctor, CA, etc. Other times, the child itself is confused about what he/she wants to do. In such a case, proper guidance is essential. Career guidance counselors can really help you to find out your abilities, capabilities and align them with your interests to choose a career that won’t bore you for the rest of your life. They will also make the parents understand that forcing the child to pursue a career of their choice will leave him/her working for something that will probably never make them happy. Guidance counselors will provide you knowledge about the field you want to choose and guide you in pursuing the career of your choice. They will tell you what opportunities and obstacles would come your way if you choose a particular field. It will give you an assurance that the child will be ready and prepared for his/her future.
A lot of changes could be made in the methods of providing education. Along with teaching, training should be valued greatly so that students can gain practical knowledge and experience. Sitting in a class, listening to the teacher is not enough for humans to learn and remember concepts. In colleges and universities, training is given equal importance because as soon the students graduate from these institutions they have to start working. However in schools, this is not the case. 90% of our school lives have been spent in the classrooms. The rest 10% are real life projects, extracurricular activities, industrial visits, field visits, etc. Young people have open minds waiting to be influenced. Most of the values, beliefs of adults are shaped by the experiences they had or the knowledge they gained in their childhood. Therefore, at least 30-40% of the school syllabus should include training. That is why Sir J.P. High School carries out a lot of activities on trending topics, important issues to keep the students informed, aware and “woke” in the real world. The aim of the school is providing quality education at low costs to develop progressive students. This process of developing progressive students includes educating the students how to contribute to society with the knowledge and intelligence they have. Even mischievous students will turn into responsible adults. Teaching the students to do good work at a young age would turn them into good individuals and good citizens of the country.
The way the system works, the focus shifts more on providing knowledge rather than learning. The main purpose of education is learning. People with higher intelligence learn quicker and gain more knowledge. But the syllabus and the teaching process should be in such a way that all students benefit from it. If we focus on improving the intelligence of an individual rather than just filling his/her mind with knowledge, then more people would learn better. A human brain can only store some information at a time. Therefore, most of the knowledge we have gained, slowly gets stored in the back of our minds. However intelligence is something which can be gained and maintained for a longer term. Hence when students graduate and step into the world of jobs, businesses, etc the intelligence that they’ve sculptured over time is more useful than the knowledge they’ve gained. It leads to working in a smarter and functional manner. Usually the more intelligent people do great things and provide groundbreaking contributions to the world and become leaders, pioneers, discoverers, etc whereas the rest of the unintelligent become mere admirers or followers working their 9-5 jobs.
India is a developing country yet there are some topics that are considered a taboo. A girl/woman of a conservative household avoids speaking about their periods to the men in the family. If a family is progressive, then it is easier for men to help out their wife, daughter or sister when they are on their period. But not all girls grow up in a family where the father or the brother would go to the medical store and buy a sanitary napkin or a sanitary pad. Usually, a mother educates her daughter about menstruation and teaches her how to use a sanitary product. Earlier, this kind of education wasn’t given in school. But even after a few changes in the syllabus, there were no facilities in the schools regarding menstrual hygiene. 42% of Indian women can’t afford sanitary products and have to use a piece of cloth which can cause UTIs and harmful diseases like cervical cancer.
Sir J.P. High School (Kharodi, Malad West) collaborated with an organization called Blissful Women to install a sanitary pad vending machine in the girls’ washroom. Blissful Women is a company founded by Ms. Mansi Sampat and Mr. Divij Shah that manufactures a sanitary pad vending machine along with a disposal machine in early 2019 and have installed the machines in Gokhale School, Saint John’s School, etc. At the start of November, they came to the school with the idea of the installation and Mrs. Sunita Singh, the Head of the institution, immediately agreed to execute this idea and gave confirmation in 2 days. They installed the machines in the following week and they called a gynaecologist to give a lecture in the school. This lecture was for the girls of 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th std. In this lecture, The gynaecologist and Ms. Mansi taught the students about menstrual cycle, bleeding, pregnancy, menopause, etc. Later, they explained about menstrual disorders, infections and diseases. After the lecture, the teachers took the girls to the washroom to give a demonstration of the machines.
The vending machine has a slot in which you have to insert a ₹5 coin and press one of the two red buttons. Then in a couple of seconds, you get a sanitary napkin. And after you’re done using the product, you have to go to the disposal machine. There is a small window which you have to open and put the napkin in, then you press a red button and the napkin will be burned in 4 minutes. It is pretty cheap and also time convenient. This will save the trouble of going to the medical store in case of an emergency. The only trouble you’ll have is finding ₹5 coins. But we still encourage the students to carry a couple of pads with them in case the machine breaks down. And as there is a proper disposal system it isn’t affecting the environment in any way. The money collected in the machine is used to restock the napkins.
As soon as a girl enters teenage, her body starts changing hormonally and physically. If a school is progressive enough to have a hygienic sanitary pad vending machine installed, girls won’t have to worry about their periods when they leave for school. Even the parents will feel some kind of assurance knowing that the school has this facility. Most of the workplaces in India don’t have any facilities for menstrual hygiene. Therefore it’s extremely important to have such facilities in schools as the girls would learn properly how to use sanitary products and when they become women they’ll be equipped to deal with workplaces that don’t provide facilities for menstrual hygiene.
Mercedes-Benz was the first luxury automobile brand to enter the Indian market back in 1994 and is still maintaining its class in spite of increased competition. Mercedes-Benz India currently has the widest network reach for any luxury car maker in India: in 47 cities with 96 outlets. One of those outlets, Landmark Cars – Mercedes-Benz Showroom & Dealer, which is the third dealer partner of Mercedes-Benz India, collaborated with Sir J.P. High School to educate the students about automobiles and the safety instructions while driving them. The students of 8th std of the Kharodi branch of Sir J.P. High School visited the Landmark Mercedes showroom in Kandivali on the 16th of November, 2019. It was the first time for Sir J.P. High School to organize a field visit in a car showroom and that too was possible because of Siddhant Singh, the Managing Director of the school. He is very much into cars, especially Mercedes. In fact, he owns a Mercedes-Benz C-Class and he had bought it a few months ago from the same showroom. He wanted to introduce the students to the luxuries that the world has to offer as most of the students in the school are underprivileged. The school has provided admissions for free or very low fees. He wanted the students to aim high in life so they can afford such luxuries in the future.
The three divisions of 8th std arrived at the place with a few teachers and other faculties. The sales executives gave a tour to the students, one division at a time. They taught the students about the types of automobiles, types of cars (sedans, SUVs, and coupes) and how the cars are manufactured and distributed. They showed each and every car and explained all of its features. They also explained how the cars were priced and distributed across the world. Later, they gave an informative lesson about the safety features and electronics installed in the cars and also the rules and etiquettes one has to follow while driving a car. All this knowledge about driving a car and how to be safe while driving will be very useful for them in the future when they get a driving licence and buy a car. It would make them a cautious driver and an informed citizen.
In a school, with so many subjects including 10-20 chapters in each subject, it is impossible to cover everything. By doing more such field visits or other innovative ways of providing education, the students will be interested to learn in such ways rather than learning by sitting in a class for hours. Sir J.P. High School wants to educate the students in fun ways so they can gain practical knowledge and it will also take their mind off projects, exams, etc. Many people think that good infrastructure, good location, good environment are what make a good school. But the goodness of a school should be determined by the quality of education, carrying out progressive activities and providing the knowledge that will help the students when they graduate from the school and face the real world, instead of becoming a slave of the society and government.
Umesh Makarana is a dancer who lives in Charkop, Mumbai. He’s skilled in the dance form Krump and is practicing it for a couple of years. His dad passed away 13 years ago, and since then his mom Neeta Devi had been his whole world. Sadly, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer recently and he cannot afford the treatment. Currently, Umesh alone is the sole bread earner of the family. He earns through cash prizes from dance competitions and battles.
To help and support Umesh, Siddhant Singh, Managing Director of ‘Sir J.P. High School’ (Kharodi, Malad), along with his college friends Pramod Saroj, Anukul Thete, Aziz Sisawala, Sarvesh Vayangankar, Gaurav Krishnan, Mihir Kansara, Tanaya Sane, Anuja Sakpal organised a fundraiser called “Save A Soul”. Pramod, a member of the famous dance group called ‘Khadihood’ is the reason this fundraiser came to the table for discussion. He decided use dance to help people and do good in the society. This fundraiser was in form of a dance battle including three styles:- Krump, Rep Your Style, Girls Rep Your Style. It was held on 7th November, 2019 at ‘The Talent Studios’ (Andheri). Gaurav’s father owns the studio and was generous enough to sponsor for this event as soon as he heard it was for a good cause.
About 50 people came to the event, 20-25 of them were dancers who particpated including Umesh. Few of them even participated in two styles. Rest of them were viewers. The judges for Krump were Rajiv Chakravorty (Killa B), Apurva Sawant (Slaughter); the judges for Rep Your Style were Deep Das (Deep Soul), Anushi Singh and Sairaj (Basick); and lastly the judge for Girls Rep Your Style was Anushi Singh. Before the battle started, the deejays JC and Ranjan Patel (Groove J) were giving some sick beats to the dancers to warm up till the judges arrived. After an hour or so, the emcee Bhupesh Sawant (Crazy Rock) started the event. It was a knockout battle and the event started with Rep Your Style, followed by Girls Rep Your Style and ended with Krump.
All the dancers gave excellent performances. The competition was so intense that the judges had a hard time deciding the winners. In Krump, the winner was Saurab Banerjee (Bleed) and the runner up was Pranil Ghadge (Wolcano); in Girls Rep Your Style, the winner was Dhara; and in Rep Your Style, the winner was Mohit Jain (360) and the runner was Harsh Parmar (Improper). The organizers and the judges awarded the winners with trophies. The emcee said some kind words for Umesh and Umesh thanked everyone for coming and supporting him. And lastly, all the judges were given a thank you gift and the event ended with a feeling of goodness and warmth.
7th November was a day full of talented dancers, laughter, love, positivity and all of that for a good cause. Sir J.P. High School thanked Khadihood for their constant support for this event and also thanked The Talent Studios for sponsoring the venue. A group of non dancers coming together to help someone from the dance community shows that we can achieve anything with love and respect despite our differences.
Sir J.P. High School 