Dimapur: In observance of National Education Day 2019, the Departments of Education and Sociology,
Tetso College, organized an Elocution Competition under the topic ‘Right to Education’ today here in the
college auditorium which was participated by the students of all classes.
National Education Day is celebrated on November 11 every year to commemorate the birth anniversary
of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of India, who served from August 15, 1947 to
February 2, 1958.
The competition was participated by a total of nine students who were allotted a time limit of five
minutes each to speak on the topic ‘Right to Education.’
In the end, Inato Aye of BBA 4 th Semester and Sungjemlila Longkumer of BA 2 nd Semester were declared
the winner and runner-up respectively and were awarded achievement certificates.
Winner Inato, in his speech, stated that the Government of India enacted the Right to Education Act on
August 4, 2009 to provide free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 – 14 years
emphasizing on free education without the payment of cash for those students whose parents cannot
afford school fees.
Lauding that the Act was a success, he highlighted that as per statistics pertaining to 2016, only 3.3 % of
children in the targeted age bracket were out of school in rural areas.
Acknowledging that the Right to Education is one of the most important rights, Inato pointed out that
the only thing holding back the students was because they tend to view education as studying of heavy
textbooks and lengthy notes and the fear of not being able to achieve good grades.
“The main purpose of education is to build your skills, potential and living in a time of technological
advancement, you have access to every technology which has greatly influenced the education system.
In other words, ‘learning is fun’ has taken a step ahead,” he concluded.
For Sungjemlila, she felt that although the Act was implemented ten years ago, not much has been done
as there are still scores of children who are still deprived of elementary education. Recalling that it was a
historic day for the nation when the Act was enforced, Sungjemlila quoted the then Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh who in his speech stated that ‘we are committed towards ensuring free and
compulsory education to all children of 6 – 14 years of age irrespective of caste, class or gender.’
The speaker however questioned the commitment saying, “Why is the government not keeping up with
its commitment? Because I still see many of my brothers and sisters hungry for education but deprived
of education.”
Nevertheless, she expressed optimism over the fact that the country’s literacy which has grown from
just 12% at the time of its independence to 74.04% according to the 2011 Census.
“My country is growing, my country is improving. My only prayer remains that the Right to Education
does not simply remain as dead letters in the book of the law or in the Constitution of India,”
Sungjemlila remarked.