children's day

malayala manorama , a prominent newspaper in kerala ,
has come out with a wish list of 20 items prepared by students .
many of them like grading of teachers by students, more vacation etc
are good. i want to add 5 more and make it a 25 point charter.

  1. two sets of text books.
     i will keep one set in the school. please provide shelves or a
     common  room in the school.
      i will keep the other set at home and update it daily which will
      serve the purpose of daily revision too.
      yes, homeworks need to  be verified. please program it as one
      subject every day.
       i will thus  carry just a big note book and the   homework for
       that day to school daily.
      the flip side is that i may lose the daily training in lifting and carrying
      weight which i hope i can make up in due course.

   2. morning and evening sessions
      i dont see why i have to remian in the school for the whole day.
     i need  time for other activities too.  i am an individual first and then
     a student.
     let there be morning session , say, from 7 to 12 and  evening session from1 to 6 .
     it is already there in many states.
     i can have noon meals at home. no need to carry food to school.
     if the school is providing mid term meals welcome.  both morning and evening
     students will have it from 12 to 1 pm.
     the flipside is that we will be alone at home for quite some time
     if both the parents are working. the solution is to trust us more.
     believe me our generation is  more sensible and selfish than yours.
     we can take much better care of ourselves.

  3. we want the internet
    learning the printed word is old fashioned.  the black board and voice lectures
    are inadequate tools to  convey concepts. we want to  see the videos
    and the animations.  to start with , show us the internet based presentaions
    at least once a week . let us reinforce what we have learned in the remaining days.

    the flip side probably is the credibility of the teacher. the latest and the rightest
    ( most right )  information may not be with our teachers. we do not mind.
     his help is still invaluable.

4. we want to learn more.

    yes, we want to be trained in the other arts of living too. for example
    public speaking. acting and singing too. why not yoga and accident care ?
    quizzes and puzzles ? rubik's cube and sudoku. ?

    5. we want less of hypocrisy too
        we want to be a little more bold and frank. for example , there is no need for
        separate seats for girls in the buses.  we girls can manage our boys . only thing is
        that we need  help from the public  which basically means the older genration .
        leave us alone. and blame it on the  generation gap.