JOIN USSchool should run even if it has 1 student, says writer
But has anybody bothered to see whether they are using it? Back in the villages, these cycles are used by the men in the family and the girls are not even allowed to sit on it.
They have to walk miles to go to school, said litterateur Dr Mallika Ghanti speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of Karavali Lekakiyara-Vachakiyara Sangha.
Coming down heavily on the school merger programme due to lack of students, she said that with this, there are chances of having school drop outs. Girls in villages won’t be allowed to travel very far just for attending schools. The education of girls will completely stop, she regretted and added that a school should run even if it has one student.
“The education of women is limited. Some get their girls educated only to get a good groom and not to make them independent,” she said.
People in cities cannot even imagine the problems, women in villages undergo. They face hurdles daily such as shortage of water, no sanitation system, scarcity of food. These may look like tiny trifles compared to national issues but these make their life a living hell, she said.
In villages, politicians announce different development schemes and seize farm land. Finally, there is neither development nor land. With the decrease in people opting for agriculture, one should seriously think about food security, she said.
Gender bias is still prevalent. In many places, women are charged for going to bathrooms and for men, it is free. What kind of equality it is. The government has given reservation to women in panchayats, but many are sacred to step into politics. They still prefer male dominancy, she regretted.
Back in 12th century, litterateurs have spoken about women’s problems through vachanas but today there is no one to do that. Women litterateurs should take up the cause and produce responsible literature, she said.
Inaugurating the programme, senior Litterateur Nagamani S Rao stressed that women should take up the responsibility on solving problems that affect women. Kannada schools lack teachers and the association can take up the cause.
Today, women are producing good literature. There is a need to remember the senior women litterateurs who put a foundation to this. They were the revolutionaries of their time, she said.
“In Sahithya, there is ‘Hitha’ (Good) hidden in it. Try to do something good to the society with literature,” she said.
With English as medium of instruction in schools, interest in Kannada is reducing. There is a need to make the future generations take interest in Kannada, especially girls, said Leelavathi S Rao, presiding over the programme.
The inaugural programme was followed by a discussion on ‘Women’s achievement and challenges,’ a poets’ meet and a essay meet.