Fair Talks conducted a discussion on the waning national pride among school students with high powered panellists including Secretary of NCERT, Principals and senior officers from the Indian Army.

NEW DELHI, 23 JULY, 2020 (GPN): The recent episode of Fair Talks titled “National Pride And Social Responsibility Among School Students” organised by FairGaze highlighted the need to address the decline of national pride among the students as revealed by the recent survey.

The distinguished panellists included Major General Gajendra Prasad, a decorated officer along with unique experience of heading the NCC wing; Major Harsh Kumar, Secretary, NCERT and a distinguished Army officer; Dr. Stanzin Dawa, Principal of Lamdon Model Senior Secondary School, Ladakh, an experienced educator who has served in many countries; and Ms. Eitu Vij Chopra Co-Founder, REX – Ideas for Action and a famed motivational speaker. The panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Nita Arora, Principal, Sri Venkateshwar International School, Dwarka.

The panelists discussed the result of a survey conducted by FairGaze of the school community, which revealed that over 45% agreed that school students lack national pride while only 28% disagreed with this notion. Though over 88% of those polled agreed that national pride should be inculcated during the schooling years, 46% opined that schools lack activities that promote national pride.

Major General Prasad, an advisor to FairGaze, stated that the students in India are focused, sensitive to the society and have lots of love for the nation. Sharing his experience in the National Cadet Corps, Major General Prasad explained to the panel that inculcating national pride should involve adventure training, as it helps build physical strength and increase awareness about heritage and culture. All of these instil sense of belongingness and social responsibility to encourage contribution to others.

Dr. Dawa highlighted the lack of access to quality education faced by the majority of the students and said that national pride needs to be associated with more than just defence establishments and should involve people from all walks of life, like teachers, doctors, farmers, etc. to build a strong and resilient country.

He suggested that parents set an example to the children to emulate and should help them understand societal inequalities.

Ms. Arora stated that an overwhelming 90% of those polled agreed that students with national pride make better future citizens and 94% opined that schools students can play an important role in nation-building. With her experience of over two decades as an educator and also as a parent, she believed that national pride is a precursor to the building of responsible citizens and necessary for a shared feeling of brotherhood and belongingness among citizens.

Highlighting the need to create awareness of rich Indian cultural heritage and inculcating respect for law, Major Kumar added that awareness needs to be created among students about Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Chandrashekhar Azad, and many others to help them build the right attitude and character.

Ms.Chopra said that the holy trinity of students, teachers and parents is critical to building character and inculcating national pride. Children need to be given examples of living heroes among the common people along with heroes from the past so that they are able to relate better.

FairGaze is the largest school engagement ecosystem for holistic development, which works with various stakeholders and policy makers, including organisers of premium events associated with the education industry. FairGaze engages with over 350,000 students from over 13,000 schools across India. FairGaze works with schools to help manage their newsletter, conduct holistic development programs, promote the sports and cultural functions of the schools and recognise the achievements of the students. ENDS