View Original Topic: Moving and heart-warming story

Posted By: Richard.G

This item on the lunchtime news just shows there is amazing feats from people willing to help out those less fortunate. I found it very movingas did many going by the report. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8299780.stm Around the world millions of children are not getting a proper education because their families are too poor to afford to send them to school. In India, one schoolboy is trying change that. In the first report in the BBC's Hunger to Learn series, Damian Grammaticas meets Babar Ali, whose remarkable education project is transforming the lives of hundreds of poor children. At 16 years old, Babar Ali must be the youngest headmaster in the world. He's a teenager who is in charge of teaching hundreds of students in his family's backyard, where he runs classes for poor children from his village. The story of this young man from Murshidabad in West Bengal is a remarkable tale of the desire to learn amid the direst poverty. Babar Ali's 'school' has some 800 students Babar Ali's day starts early. He wakes, pitches-in with the household chores, then jumps on an auto-rickshaw which takes him part of the 10km (six mile) ride to the Raj Govinda school. The last couple of kilometres he has to walk. The school is the best in this part of West Bengal. There are hundreds of students, boys and girls. The classrooms are neat, if bare. But there are desks, chairs, a blackboard, and the teachers are all dedicated and well-qualified. As the class 12 roll-call is taken, Babar Ali is seated in the middle in the front row. He's a tall, slim, gangly teenager, studious and smart in his blue and white uniform. He takes his notes carefully. He is the model student. Babar Ali is the first member of his family ever to get a proper education. .............For full story follow link

Posted By: Deanna

How shameful is it that this generation of schoolchildren just don't appreciate the learning experience when 'third world' (so-called) countries value education as much as food going into their mouths.

Posted By: Richard.G

It is yes. These children in these third world countries know that an education if their only chance for anything like a decent future for both themselves and their families, who would be their first priority were they to improve their situation.

Posted By: Kwacka

Deanna wrote: How shameful is it that this generation of schoolchildren just don't appreciate the learning experience when 'third world' (so-called) countries value education as much as food going into their mouths. This young man deserves respect for what he is doing for his local society. I must confess that, whilst at school, I never appreciated the learning experience. Possibly due the the philosophy, prevalent at the time, which allowed me to be struck with a the sole of a rugby boot if I was unable to quote French irregular verbs. As Albert Einstein said "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school". (He also said "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.")