Mission Swachhta Aur Paani hosts live mass advocacy program on World Health Day
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi, April 14, 2023: Mission Swachhta Aur Paani, an initiative by Harpic India and News18, marked World Health Day by hosting a live mass advocacy program on the critical need for inclusive sanitation and access to clean toilets for all. The program, aligned with the Swachh Bharat Mission and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, aimed to emphasize the importance of good sanitation practices and toilet hygiene as the backbone of a healthy society, because Healthy Hum, Jab Saaf Rakhien Toilet Hardum.
The event saw participation from esteemed policy makers, cultural icons, celebrities, thought leaders, development sector professionals, water and sanitation experts, and academia, all emphasizing the need for clean and accessible toilets, especially in the context of public health. Hon’ble Governor of Uttar Pradesh Smt Anandiben Patel, and the Union Health Minister, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, endorsed the critical need to inspire and instil toilet appropriate behaviour among people.
Union Health Minister, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya urged people to join Mission Swachhta Aur Paani at the World Health Day special event, and said, “I am proud to be a partner in this Mission Swachhta Aur Paani. Let no one be left out in our endeavour to create a safe, hygienic, and healthy India. This special campaign will surely lead to massive behavioural change and attitudinal shift in India on sanitation.”
Smt Anandiben Patel, Hon’ble Governor of Uttar Pradesh, said, “I congratulate Network18 and Harpic India for Mission Swachhta Aur Paani. Swachh Bharat is a vision for a Swasth Bharat. I appreciate the critical initiative ‘Diarrhoea Net Zero’ in Uttar Pradesh by Harpic India, which is working to achieve net zero deaths of children due to diarrhoea. Let's join this Mission to build a Swachh and Swasth India.”
During the live two-hour special World Health Day event, a host of experts, leaders, and celebrities came together to drive the message on toilet hygiene, the importance of appropriate toilet behaviour, and creating an environment where everyone has access to clean and safe toilets.
As a part of the World Health Day special event under the "Swachhta Ki Paathshala" initiative, which aimed to educate children about the importance of hygiene and sanitation, Actor, Entrepreneur and Wellness Influencer, Shilpa Shetty also visited a government school in Naraur in Varanasi to raise awareness about the importance of cleanliness and proper toilet behaviour. She interacted with young students and discussed various aspects of cleanliness, including the need for maintaining personal hygiene and the importance of using toilets properly, advocating the message of keeping the environment clean and stressed the need for adopting responsible behaviour towards waste management.
She joined the event virtually from the school, and said, “Cleanliness is equal to godliness; it’s equal to good health, and also wealth. To prosper economically, it is crucial for individuals to be in good health and cleanliness, sanitation, and toilet appropriate behaviour are vital to ensure this.”
Expressing his views, Ravi Bhatnagar, the Director of External Affairs & Partnerships at SOA, Reckitt, Said, “The government's commitment to achieving universal sanitation coverage in India is steadfast. However, now that the necessary infrastructure is in place, it is critical to focus on maintaining, utilizing, and treating the toilets. Reckitt, in collaboration with the World Toilet Colleges, has trained over 70,000 people, including sanitation workers, to improve their skills in maintaining and cleaning toilets. Thousands of toilets have also been constructed in schools, public areas, and households. The mission aligns with the UN's SDGs, especially Goal 6, and has the commitment of Reckitt to support its goals. The partnership has contributed significantly to promoting sanitation and water conservation in India and the country's progress towards achieving the SDGs.”
Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Brajesh Pathak, who also participated in the event, emphasized the substantial rise in toilet infrastructure that has led to a decline in diseases and appealed to people to follow the communication of the Mission, "Healthy Hum, Jab Saaf Rakhien Toilet Hardum." Shri Pathak assured all support of the Government of UP in this Mission to inspire individuals and communities to take action towards creating a healthy and hygienic society for all.
Saurabh Jain, the Regional Marketing Director for South Asia - Hygiene at Reckitt, Said, “The Swachh Bharat Mission has made significant progress since its launch in 2014 with over 90 million toilets in use and open defecation almost eradicated. However, much more needs to be done to emphasize the critical importance of cleaning and disinfecting toilets to prevent the spread of diseases. Through Mission Swachhta Aur Paani, we aim to initiate essential conversations around sanitation, addressing the missing link to various forms of illness and ensuring that it remains a top priority for everyone.”
Avinash Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, Network18 and Managing Director, A + E Networks, TV18 said, “India has progressed by leaps and bounds in achieving universal sanitation coverage. Network18 feels it imperative to contribute to mobilize action on ground for the adoption of toilet appropriate behaviour, lack of which has been the reason for causing a number of diseases, adding to our national health burden and inhibiting productivity. Through Mission Swachhta Aur Paani we are resolute in inculcating hygienic toilet practices among the masses. We are certain that the Mission has begun to play a critical role and will be a crucial propeller in creating a healthy India where everyone will have access to clean and safe toilets.”
“More than 600 million people in the country face acute water shortages leading to sanitation deprivation. With India’s estimated water demand to become twice the available supply by 2030, the situation is only getting more challenging. With the Mission Swachhta Aur Paani initiative we are looking to create an ecosystem which will help India save millions of litres of water so that no home in India has to compromise on health, hygiene & sanitation due to inadequate availability of water. The Mission is driving conversation and inspiring action for clean and accessible toilets and toilet appropriate behaviour,” said Puneet Singhvi, CEO - Digital & President - Corporate Strategy at Network18 Media & Investments Limited.
Jack Sim, the visionary behind the World Toilet Organisation, emphasized how the World Toilet Colleges in India produces competent, expert sanitation workers and the significant ripple effect this has on society. Dr Komal Goswami from Plan India highlighted the importance of sanitation literacy and the birth of the concept of 'Swachhta ki Paathshala', a school of hygiene.
Many celebrities and influencers, including Jemima Rodrigues, Shenaz Treasurywala, Anunay Sood, Brinda Sharma, and Rashi Khanna, lent their support by magnifying the key messages of the Mission on their social media handles. They also encouraged people to join the movement, and the messages resonated well with citizens.
Grand Slam Winner and Former World No. 1 Tennis Player, Sania Mirza complimented the Mission for mobilising citizens for better sanitation and reinforcing awareness on hygiene and access to toilets, which are vital for a healthy society.
Mission Swachhta Aur Paani's continued endeavour to scale up the conversation and inspire behaviour change on toilet appropriate behaviour and good sanitation is making a significant impact on society. It is one of the first-of-its-kind campaigns to bring together diverse stakeholders and create a healthy and hygienic society for all.
More In Public Affairs
NEP-2020 aspires for inclusive excellence in school education
Rajeev Ranjan Roy
The New Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020), unveiled recently, aims at achieving excellence in school learning by imparting quality, affordable and inclusive education to all, with an extra emphasis on those children coming from socially and educationally disadvantaged groups of the society. It is a futuristic endeavour towards building Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat. The previous education policies largely focussed on the issues of access and equity in giving school education, while the NEP-2020 commits to laying the foundation of a vibrant Bharat where no one is devoid of a kind of school education, which helps every student become an asset for the nation in a true sense. The unfinished agenda of the National Policy on Education 1986, which was modified in 1992, has been effectively dealt with in the NEP-2020 along with the vision behind the Right to the Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which “laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education.”
Given the undisputed role of education in nation building, the NEP-2020 rightly lays the stress on standardization and accreditation of school infrastructure and teachers as well, since education with accountability, transparency and affordability is the need of the hour, and hence the need to “empower schools, teachers with trust, enabling them to strive for excellence and perform at their very best, while ensuring the integrity of the system through the enforcement of complete transparency and full public disclosure of all finances, procedures and outcomes.” Since private sector is significantly present in the field of school education, the idea to promote ‘not-for-profit’ entities is a unique feature of NEP-2020, which at the same time intends to promote private philanthropic efforts for quality education, thereby affirming the public-good nature of education, while protecting parents and communities from arbitrary increase in tuition fees.
An equally important area, which has got due attention in the NEP-2020 is the need for efficient resourcing and effective governance through school complexes and clusters, a significant initiative in view of the fact that nearly 28 per cent of India’s public primary schools and 14.8 per cent of upper primary schools have less than 30 students. The average number of students per grade in the elementary schooling system – Grades 1 to 8 – is about 14, with a notable proportion having below six students during 2016-17, the year which also had 1,08,017 single-teacher schools, and majority of them – 85,743 – being primary schools taking care of Grades 1-5 children. It was, therefore, a pressing need to evolve a mechanism for establishing a grouping structure, say, school complexes, consisting of one secondary school together with all other schools, which lead to greater resource efficiency and more effective functioning, coordination, leadership, governance, and management of schools in the cluster. This will not only ensure optimum utilisation of resources, but will also foster the sense of oneness and togetherness among the school children, who are the future of the nation.
What further makes the New Education Policy-2020 uniquely special is its pledge for equitable and inclusive education for all, one of the great dreams of our founding fathers. Education, as the NEP-2020 rightly envisions, is “the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and quality.” Inclusive and equitable education, indeed an essential goal in its own right, is also critical to achieving a social order where every citizen has “the opportunity to dream, thrive, and contribute to the nation.” Quality, affordable and ethical education to all is the first move to break multiple social and economic barriers, which sow the seeds of exclusion, discrimination and exploitation against our own people on different parochial considerations.
Needless to say efforts were made in the past as well to bridge the educational chasm between socially and educationally disadvantaged groups (SEDGs) and the children of top social strata, but the desired results remained elusive. SEDGs account for the country’s overwhelming population, but their children’s share in quality school educational institutions has been minimal over the years. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs to be handled more comprehensively. According to the Unified-District Information System for Education (U-DISE) 2016-17 data, about 19.6 per cent of students belonged to Scheduled Castes (SCs) at the primary level, but this fraction fell to 17.3 per cent at the higher secondary level. These enrollment drop-outs were more severe for ST students (10.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent), and differently-abled children (1.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent), with even greater declines for female students within each of these categories. Thus, there is no scope for any complacency on the part of the government. A series of interventions including better facilities, more and more hostels, scholarships and other enabling support have been provisioned in the NEP-2020 so that the idea of ‘learning for all’ is realised in a more comprehensive manner.
Teachers are not only an integral part of an education system, but the most important stakeholder in the entire gamut of things. Their quality and ability to teach school students, when they are in their formative age, become something of paramount importance. From their recruitment to training, every precaution needs to be taken to ensure that school education is not rendered to a mere formality, but becomes a game changer. The New Education Policy-2020 comes with a basket full of tools and parameters to ensure holistic training and upgradation of teachers and their teaching skills in a sustainable manner. From continuous professional development (CPD) to career management and progression (CMP), the NEP-2020 vouches for a set of common guidelines – National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), which will be put in place by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in its restructured new form as the Professional Standard Setting Body (PSSB) under the General Education Council. This exercise will be carried out in consultation with National Council Educational Research and Training (NCERT), SCERTs, teachers from across levels and regions.
The teacher education will also undergo a sea-change. By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. that teaches a range of knowledge content. Today B.Ed. teaching is most poorly regulated in our country ever since the standalone B.Ed. colleges were allowed to be opened up in the private sector. It is high time to take B.Ed. teaching more than seriously. The NEP-2020 stipulates that by 2021, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE-2021) will be formulated by the NCTE. NCFTE, which will also factor in the requirements of teacher education curricula for vocational education, will be revised once every 5-10 years.
In conclusion, the NEP-2020 visualizes to impart a school education which lays the foundation of a self-reliant India and also to help our country emerge as a knowledge hub. From the foundation of learning to foundational literacy and numeracy to checking drop outs and ensuring universal access to education for all and at all levels to the restructuring of school curriculum, India is in for a metamorphosis in the field of school education, recognizing, identifying and fostering the unique capabilities of each student. Tools such as multi disciplinarity, emphasis on conceptual understanding, creativity and critical thinking, ethics and human and constitutional values, full equity and inclusion, and light but tight regulatory framework are bound to do wonders. Education is a public service, a rare pursuit in nation building, which should be holistic and inclusive and must make one take pride in India and its rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge systems and tradition. The NEP-2020 aspires so, indeed!
( The writer is a senior journalist and author. The views expressed are strictly personal.)
NEP-2020 aspires for inclusive excellence in school education
Rajeev Ranjan Roy
The New Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020), unveiled recently, aims at achieving excellence in school learning by imparting quality, affordable and inclusive education to all, with an extra emphasis on those children coming from socially and educationally disadvantaged groups of the society. It is a futuristic endeavour towards building Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat. The previous education policies largely focussed on the issues of access and equity in giving school education, while the NEP-2020 commits to laying the foundation of a vibrant Bharat where no one is devoid of a kind of school education, which helps every student become an asset for the nation in a true sense. The unfinished agenda of the National Policy on Education 1986, which was modified in 1992, has been effectively dealt with in the NEP-2020 along with the vision behind the Right to the Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which “laid down legal underpinnings for achieving universal elementary education.”
Given the undisputed role of education in nation building, the NEP-2020 rightly lays the stress on standardization and accreditation of school infrastructure and teachers as well, since education with accountability, transparency and affordability is the need of the hour, and hence the need to “empower schools, teachers with trust, enabling them to strive for excellence and perform at their very best, while ensuring the integrity of the system through the enforcement of complete transparency and full public disclosure of all finances, procedures and outcomes.” Since private sector is significantly present in the field of school education, the idea to promote ‘not-for-profit’ entities is a unique feature of NEP-2020, which at the same time intends to promote private philanthropic efforts for quality education, thereby affirming the public-good nature of education, while protecting parents and communities from arbitrary increase in tuition fees.
An equally important area, which has got due attention in the NEP-2020 is the need for efficient resourcing and effective governance through school complexes and clusters, a significant initiative in view of the fact that nearly 28 per cent of India’s public primary schools and 14.8 per cent of upper primary schools have less than 30 students. The average number of students per grade in the elementary schooling system – Grades 1 to 8 – is about 14, with a notable proportion having below six students during 2016-17, the year which also had 1,08,017 single-teacher schools, and majority of them – 85,743 – being primary schools taking care of Grades 1-5 children. It was, therefore, a pressing need to evolve a mechanism for establishing a grouping structure, say, school complexes, consisting of one secondary school together with all other schools, which lead to greater resource efficiency and more effective functioning, coordination, leadership, governance, and management of schools in the cluster. This will not only ensure optimum utilisation of resources, but will also foster the sense of oneness and togetherness among the school children, who are the future of the nation.
What further makes the New Education Policy-2020 uniquely special is its pledge for equitable and inclusive education for all, one of the great dreams of our founding fathers. Education, as the NEP-2020 rightly envisions, is “the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and quality.” Inclusive and equitable education, indeed an essential goal in its own right, is also critical to achieving a social order where every citizen has “the opportunity to dream, thrive, and contribute to the nation.” Quality, affordable and ethical education to all is the first move to break multiple social and economic barriers, which sow the seeds of exclusion, discrimination and exploitation against our own people on different parochial considerations.
Needless to say efforts were made in the past as well to bridge the educational chasm between socially and educationally disadvantaged groups (SEDGs) and the children of top social strata, but the desired results remained elusive. SEDGs account for the country’s overwhelming population, but their children’s share in quality school educational institutions has been minimal over the years. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs to be handled more comprehensively. According to the Unified-District Information System for Education (U-DISE) 2016-17 data, about 19.6 per cent of students belonged to Scheduled Castes (SCs) at the primary level, but this fraction fell to 17.3 per cent at the higher secondary level. These enrollment drop-outs were more severe for ST students (10.6 per cent to 6.8 per cent), and differently-abled children (1.1 per cent to 0.25 per cent), with even greater declines for female students within each of these categories. Thus, there is no scope for any complacency on the part of the government. A series of interventions including better facilities, more and more hostels, scholarships and other enabling support have been provisioned in the NEP-2020 so that the idea of ‘learning for all’ is realised in a more comprehensive manner.
Teachers are not only an integral part of an education system, but the most important stakeholder in the entire gamut of things. Their quality and ability to teach school students, when they are in their formative age, become something of paramount importance. From their recruitment to training, every precaution needs to be taken to ensure that school education is not rendered to a mere formality, but becomes a game changer. The New Education Policy-2020 comes with a basket full of tools and parameters to ensure holistic training and upgradation of teachers and their teaching skills in a sustainable manner. From continuous professional development (CPD) to career management and progression (CMP), the NEP-2020 vouches for a set of common guidelines – National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), which will be put in place by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) in its restructured new form as the Professional Standard Setting Body (PSSB) under the General Education Council. This exercise will be carried out in consultation with National Council Educational Research and Training (NCERT), SCERTs, teachers from across levels and regions.
The teacher education will also undergo a sea-change. By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. that teaches a range of knowledge content. Today B.Ed. teaching is most poorly regulated in our country ever since the standalone B.Ed. colleges were allowed to be opened up in the private sector. It is high time to take B.Ed. teaching more than seriously. The NEP-2020 stipulates that by 2021, a new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE-2021) will be formulated by the NCTE. NCFTE, which will also factor in the requirements of teacher education curricula for vocational education, will be revised once every 5-10 years.
In conclusion, the NEP-2020 visualizes to impart a school education which lays the foundation of a self-reliant India and also to help our country emerge as a knowledge hub. From the foundation of learning to foundational literacy and numeracy to checking drop outs and ensuring universal access to education for all and at all levels to the restructuring of school curriculum, India is in for a metamorphosis in the field of school education, recognizing, identifying and fostering the unique capabilities of each student. Tools such as multi disciplinarity, emphasis on conceptual understanding, creativity and critical thinking, ethics and human and constitutional values, full equity and inclusion, and light but tight regulatory framework are bound to do wonders. Education is a public service, a rare pursuit in nation building, which should be holistic and inclusive and must make one take pride in India and its rich, diverse, ancient and modern culture and knowledge systems and tradition. The NEP-2020 aspires so, indeed!
( The writer is a senior journalist and author. The views expressed are strictly personal.)
