JORABAT, June 15 - �If we want to strengthen the society we have to make the weak people of the society strong. The Akshar Forum School in Pamahi is such an encouraging example of implementation of a curriculum designed specifically for children in poverty,� said PB Acharya, Governor of Nagaland during his visit to Akshar Forum, a unique school that supplements formal education with vocational training, business incubation, and community development, on Friday.
Acharya also planted a neem sapling on the Akshar campus and handed over a token of support to Parmita Sarma, the founder of Akshar School at a programme which was also attended by the Nagaland Governor�s wife Kavita Acharya, Prof Alaka Sarma, managing trustee and Mazin Mukhtar, co-founder of the school.
Delivering an inspirational and patriotic speech, Governor Acharya said he had heard about the school and how it is taking innovative steps in contributing towards protection of the environment as the children here are striving for a polythene free world. He mingled with the children and gave slogans like �Plastic mukt (free) Bharat banega�, �Poverty is not disease or curse�. Laying emphasis on Swachch Bharat, he said that education is the way to success and while English can be a medium of learning, everyone should respect and cultivate their mother tongue.
According to Mazin Mukhtar, �Schools need to provide opportunities to students to earn at school. This will solve social problems like child labour, school dropout, etc. Our model of teaching also tries to address the unique needs of people that vary from place to place. We came up with the idea this year of collecting plastic waste to turn into eco bricks to use in construction, which could also help students earn some money and keep them out of manual child labour.�
Mukhtar said that the Delhi Government has already accepted the Akshar model in a government school while five more schools have been scheduled to run after the new model of teaching.
Akshar�s curriculum mixes practical training with conventional academic subjects. The goal is to support teenagers through school and into college or an apprenticeship.
