Instilling leadership skills in schoolchildren @ Indian Development Foundation (IDF) Initiative
A
new initiative by non-profit trust the Indian Development Foundation (IDF) aims
at training municipal school children in leadership, communication and
personality development.
The
Student Leadership Programme (SLP), piloted in 2014 and currently in its third year,
has spread to 30 municipal schools in Andheri, Malad, Goregaon, Borivali,
Ghatkopar and Vashi, says IDF CEO Narayan Iyer.
Making
a difference
The
programme involves training college students and workers from corporates to
mentor schoolchildren from Class VIII. It is free of charge and runs for two
hours on Saturdays for 12 weeks. It is a two-hour commitment on the weekend to
make a difference to many children’s lives.
“We
focus on time management, confidence building, personality development, handling
fear, anxiety, rejection and defeat, anger management and communication
skills,” says Mr. Iyer. The IDF was formerly the Indian Leprosy Foundation. In
2005, the number of leprosy patients and the threat of leprosy came down in the
country after significant work by the organisation in advocacy and awareness.
Then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam suggested to Mr. Iyer and founder of the
organisation Mr. Pillai that they broaden their scope to all development
concerns.
The
organisation now works with education, health, and development, including
women’s vocational training. They have set up Bal Gurukul schools across the
country to bridge the gap post-Class IX, when many children drop out of school.
About 15,000 children have benefited.
Mr.
Iyer realised while giving leadership training to students fresh out of college
that there was an access gap. “Nobody considers giving underprivileged children
leadership training. They feel unprepared after school and college to join a
corporate or the workforce because nobody has trained them.” It is startling to
note that when one thinks of leadership development in young people, one does
not consider those who are economically weaker.
Eliminating
disparity
The
aim of the programme is to equalise the disparity in education across different
social strata. The programme is set to scale up by moving to different cities
and more rural areas. They are also looking for people to volunteer as mentors.
Mallika
Ramchandran, SLP co-ordinator, says, “I think that there has been a lack of
talk on life skills for underprivileged children. The idea of leadership
development has not reached them. It is a doable programme for youngsters to
participate as mentors.” Some of the courses that have been popular with the
children, she says, are anger management, money skills, and talks on peer
pressure and how to avoid it.
Source | The Hindu | 9 February 2017
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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