Education: Key to Freedom, Growth and Independence

Ever since humans have discovered a way to live collectively, their lives have been centred around education. It holds the power to change the currents of the society, empower individuals with a sense of identity, enable a community to function smoothly or disable it entirely. Therefore a lot of effort has been put worldwide to provide the basic Right to Education, in a systematic way covering people from diverse backgrounds under its umbrella. Although an improvement has been observed in the provision of education in general over the years, there is still a lot more to do. On the deliverables end, education runs the gamut from being able to read and write, learning basic life skills, being aware and informed about societal changes to understanding the fundamentals of the digital world. Over the past 20 years, DEF has implemented numerous programmes that tend to these different aspects of education for rural children, economically weaker sections of the society,budding entrepreneurs and disabled people.

This month’s edition provides the testimonials of various stakeholders under the pillar of education. These stories reflect on the scope of impact education has on lives of the young and the old. While some budding young minds are seen becoming more confident and ambitious to learn better and eventually lead an independent life, there are many female refugees sharing a sense of relief on finally being able to get access to education. While DEF still celebrates the stories of economic growth among women who have been upskilled using digital tools and training, there are new developments on the ground in creating awareness about the pandemic, digital safety, exploitation and trafficking.