The contribution of NGOs in Education of the under privileged found mention at the presentation of Ms. Farida Lambay, co-founder of Pratham-one of the premier NGOs of India. She was speaking in Chennai to educationalists and teachers from various schools, academicians and parents, at a meeting called to celebrate the birth anniversary of Smt. K Saraswathi – Founder of Saraswathi Vidyalaya, well known for her contributions to Education and Women’s Welfare and also Teacher’s day.
Delivering the endowment oration, she spoke on the need to revamp the current system of education and to improve quality of tutoring by ensuring better learning outcomes for all children regardless of the background they belong to. She also presented the priorities of Civil Society in shaping the education scenario in the country.
Dr. C. S. Prasad, Former Principal, Tamil Nadu Dental College reminisced about his long relationship with Saraswathi Vidyalaya and remembered the Founder for her thrust on the girls’ education in particular.
Shri N. Murali, Co Chairman, Kasturi & Sons, was highly appreciative of the work done by Ms. Farida as part of Pratham and also stressed on the need for bold initiatives to empower the students and presented her the Smt. K Saraswathi Endowment Award. Dr. Balaji Sampath, Founder, AID India, was the earlier Awardee.
Mr. K. S. Natarajan, Principal, Saraswathi Vidyalaya, welcomed the gathering and spoke about the contributions made by the Founder in Education and social service. He gave a brief note of the initiatives adopted by the school towards developing children’s all round abilities. Steps taken to ensure that these children develop into full fledged citizens of the 21st century by understanding the value of inclusion and equality in their day to day interaction, was also detailed by him.