Even as students in high schools, higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools, colleges and other educational institutions in the state take a pledge not to receive or give dowry on November 26, as a part of Dowry Prohibition Day, more proactive steps towards eradicating this menace need to be taken. Keeping this in mind, the CBSE schools in the state of Kerala have decided to show the way.
According to Indira Rajan, Secretary-General of the National Council of CBSE Schools (NCCS), to help root out the dowry menace, the council has come up with a unique campaign. "Students of all CBSE-affiliated schools in Kerala coming under our purview will deliver an anti-dowry pledge. The schools will record the event and send it to the NCCS," she said. "As educators, we have always been making efforts to create an understanding of a safe, social and healthy environment for the youth through education and empowerment," she added.
Indira played a pivotal role in bringing attention to the need to end this evil called dowry through the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) she filed before the Kerala High Court. "As part of our commitment to society and as an elderly citizen, I filed a petition in the High Court seeking its intervention towards ensuring concrete steps be taken by the state government to prevent this menace. Many precious lives have already been lost due to this rot in our society, despite having very pertinent laws in place," said Indira.
What is needed is to bring in a change right from the roots. "We need to support the authorities in implementing the law stringently. Hence, it is the need of the hour to support the mass campaign as a part of Dowry Prohibition Day that falls on Friday," said the NCCS Secretary-General. By getting the students to take the anti-dowry pledge, a very strong message will be sent out to the public that our children are waking up and they will play a pivotal role in the fight against this social evil, she added.
"We strongly believe social and cultural values are best instilled and developed at the schools because children are at their impressionable best," she said. A collage of the videos being shot by the schools on the day will be shared with the Ministry of Education, Government of India and the Kerala Department of Education. The details of the week-long programme will be updated soon.
