Each one Teach one

Each One Teach One is an African-American Proverb. Education is an important part of the human growth, without which it becomes quite difficult for a human to grow and flourish. The phrase ‘each one, teach one’ originated in the United States during the times of slavery, when Africans and African Americans were denied education, including learning to read. Many, if not most slaves were kept in a state of ignorance about anything beyond their immediate circumstances which were almost under the control of the owners, the lawmakers and the authorities concerned. It was at that time when a slave learned or was taught to read, it became their duty to teach someone else, spawning the phrase "Each one teach one."

The concept of each one, teach one was founded upon the necessity of the education and unity as fundamental principles for survival. As we all know education is very important in the life of a human and acts as building blocks of his life. It would not be wrong to say that education is the determining factor between success and failure of an individual. The development of an individual is closely related to his proper education such as moral training, behavior, knowledge of self and kind, and understanding the world in general. Education is something that everyone needs and its importance is demonstrated in our daily lives in the form of decisions that we make in our lives. Proper education i.e. knowledge of things around us, some basic facts, truths, and surroundings, will lead to sound life decisions that would make our life cherishable.

Each One Teach One in India

It is a modern age fact that education and literacy are the keys to a good future for any individual, yet it is observed that much of our population remains illiterate even after knowing the importance of the education. It is the responsibility of every Indian citizen to stand up against the illiteracy and help nation fight against this curse. However young people do need to play a key role in this and they have a social responsibility to help eradicate illiteracy in their country.

India, since ever, has been divided into two sections of society that includes the privileged and the deprived sections. There have been constant debates and discussions on how to merge this difference and create a prosperous nation. A ray of hope that could reduce this difference can be in the form of education. Education can help one gain a lot, an educated person is well in the knowledge of his rights and is in a state to do work in a better way and hence is never short of opportunities to make his life successful. But unfortunately, the access to education has not been really easy for the deprived sections in our country. There is a lot of caste and community-based differences also prevailing in the society as a result of which, the poor kids are not able to get the education that they should. Though the government has made provision for the education of every single child of our country and also made elementary education compulsory by RTE Act, still these children do not get what they deserve and are either left to work as child laborers or denied education due to lack of awareness.

Certainly, there is no doubt that the quality education empowers an individual towards quality life and a secure future as well. Education is something that opens all the doors towards success and free thinking and an educated person tends to create a much better and confident approach towards the life. The government has also taken various measures to ensure proper education level in the country with the help of various plans, projects and schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Mid-Day Meal and different education laws like the Right to Education Act to promote as well as ease the access to education in India. The main aim is the social development of the nation. At the same time there is also need for the citizens, especially the youth of India to actually become dedicated towards the cause of making education accessible to all the children of India, and also make their contribution towards the cause as much as possible.

Government is really concerned on the issue of education and is constantly coming up with various educational schemes and is also spending a plenty of funds, but lack the people who can make these schemes work effectively and judiciously. There is a lack of motivation and desire as well. Hence there is a need that young people should come up with innovative ideas and also make groups help out as much number of people as they can. There are a lot of student groups who are giving free education to needy children in the form of free tuition or teaching them some basic knowledge during evening time.

Need for the Concept Each One Teach One

Education is like a flame of fire that needs just a medium to be spread, a small spark can ignite a whole flame. Even in this 21st century also, there are millions of people in our country who are still ignorant of the world of knowledge. There also a lot of people who clearly understand the need and benefits of the education but still either do not enroll their children in education or do not have sufficient resource to manage education for their children. There are also some who are just negligent about the need for education. Many factors work for their situation does not give time for the education at school. One of the reasons can be attributed to the economic backwardness.

There are also a lot of children who leave their school even before completing their basic schooling. There is no doubt that India is developing at quite a fast pace, and this is a fact that there are still millions of people in the country who don’t want to send their children to the schools. There is no doubt that the government is taking many initiatives to ensure basic education for all the children, but the major limitation is public awareness, these initiatives also don’t seem to become fruitful because of lack of public consciousness as well as awareness.

Many modern schools, as well as colleges, have launched a project called ‘Each One Teach One’ under which the higher class students get engaged in teaching the students who are either from the economically backward section or have some disabilities. Also, some colleges are giving their student a relaxation in attendance and some extra facilities to those involved in social services like teaching the needy ones and etc.

Role of Youth in the Cause

Youth has an important role to play in the developmental process of a nation. Youth can lead a nation towards some really high achievement levels. If youth take their interest in these activities, they can really help out in achieving some really surprising results and also can help in creating a lot of awareness among the people. Apart from the plans initiated by the government or collaborative efforts made by some non-government organizations, the educated young people of our society should take a keen interest and contribute by spreading awareness about the need for education and practicing simple phenomena like ‘each one teach one’. Students and young professionals can help out in a lot of ways. You need not be a scholar, but still, your basics can even prove out to be really useful knowledge for someone else.

 If different groups of students from colleges decide to take up the challenge they can spread awareness about the need for being educated. Apart from this they can organize classes in a group for the needy children or may also organize regular weekend camps in some nearby rural areas which may also prove out to be a good fun trip with the friends. This can also prove out to be really motivating for others who are really concerned about the education level of our country and are also equipped with the talent to provide a lot to society, but cannot work for the cause due to family constraints or due to lack of motivation and support. Watching other groups doing this can also be a motivating force to join them and help out in the cause.

Apart from this direct individual involvement, the young, educated and enthusiastic brains can also play a role in the strategies framed by the government for making education within reach of every child. Young professionals can come up with some really interesting and innovative ideas or schemes to enroll more and more students and schemes that would benefit all the sections of the society. The success of the goal of ‘education for all’ is possible only if the youth of our country become dedicated towards the cause and commit themselves to make a difference towards this ‘real development’ of India and its every citizen.

Advantages of the Concept Each One Teach One

Each one, teach one is a concept that brings with it a lot of mental satisfaction if you are involved in teaching someone or even if you are promoting the concept of spreading the awareness. The idea of working for a social cause gives you an immense sense of satisfaction and peace of mind. It is a really noble cause that may change the whole life of an individual being taught. Apart from mental satisfaction, the progress of the country is also directly related to the education level of the country that further determines the crime rate of a country as well. Some other advantages related to the concept are:

• Help your housemaid, watchman, garbage collector, a vegetable vendor and those underprivileged people to learn; read and write, and these people help make your life better and easier.
•  You can also offer to teach others or bring people who want to learn. You can motivate some others who have the skills to do this but just need a boost.
• You can also contribute materials or space for teaching which also gives a great sense of satisfaction towards a noble cause.
• The Teacher and the Taught will get immense satisfaction with the kind of service they are offering.