On this Children’s Day, meet young people leading the way in social transformation | APN News

• Teach For India is celebrating Children’s Day week from November 14-20 to highlight the good work of young leaders of change across the country.
• Among Chennai’s success stories are young girls mitigating flood risk in the city and tackling alcoholism in local communities.

Hyderabad – “The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. How we raise them will determine the future of the country,” said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, whose birthday the country celebrates as Children’s Day. As part of National Child Day, which falls on November 14, Teach For India, in collaboration with Kids Education Revolution, is celebrating Children’s Day week from November 14-20, to bring out stories student leadership across the country.

With over 4,000 Teach For India alumni reaching over 33 million children, or 1 in 10 children in India, the organization identifies children who stand out as agents of change, taking initiatives to different levels of the system, from schools to communities to governance and politics. As India faces its own challenges on many socio-economic and environmental fronts, its youth offer a ray of hope.

Here are two young leaders from Hyderabad who are making a difference to an environmental and social issue in their own way:

1. Bharat Kumar – Meet Bharat Kumar from Khushbow Vidya Niketan in Hyderabad, who strives to change people’s mindsets in order to clean up and maintain his school and community. By creating a magnetic trash can out of recycled materials and educating others about the consequences of littering, he hopes to make a positive difference in his environment. His journey so far has taught him an important lesson: if we take initiative, we will inevitably see results.

• Safoora Siddiqua – A grade 8 student from Hyderabad replicated the Indian parliamentary system in her school in an effort to develop leadership skills in her peers. They worked to transfer all responsibility for running the school to this student body. Safoora, who was elected prime minister, worked with her “ministers” on responsibilities such as curriculum monitoring, notebook corrections, event management and discipline management.

• Anil S – A grade 8 student from Hyderabad, used sport as a way to break gender stereotypes in his community. He started a project called Ultimate Frisbee, where he trained 100 kids from his school and community to give equal opportunities to girls and boys. He even organized “Spirit Circles”, a space for reflection that players can engage in after their session, to share their experiences and feedback on the game. They are currently the best team in Hyderabad and work for competitions in Chennai and Bengaluru.