“If we look back at history or even the present some of the most reputed and respected leaders in our country have all been leaders right from their student days.”
“Leaders need to have three important qualities – capability to influence, to take action and act responsibly.”
I have spent a lot of time discussing this issue of grooming leaders when very young with several prominent politicians, thinkers and academicians for quite sometime now. Several theories emerged out of these deliberations. Most of them of course were the obvious ones related to illiteracy, lack of interest in the populace and so on. One very intriguing reason for such state of affairs of Indian politics that came to light was the importance given by schools today to nurturing leaders at the school level. In fact there needs to be a lot of weighting given to this argument. If we look back at history or even the present some of the most reputed and respected leaders in our country have all been leaders right from their student days.
Most schools in our country have a tradition of electing student leaders and captains in the beginning of the academic year to lead the institution. This is an amazing opportunity that schools have to put across as an important learning to children very early in life. By holding the student elections transparently and democratically a very strong message can be sent across to the students about making choices and democracy. Before contesting for these elections the credentials and past records of the students must be taken into consideration to ensure that the right candidates are in the fray. All students should be encouraged to vote. The earlier they start the better it is. The most basic school election model is the 2 tier model - every class chooses a representative, the class representatives in turn choose the school captains. This would ensure that students don’t just study democracy but they experience it as well.
Once the school has elected the leaders, the school principal must spend time with the elected representatives to motivate them and make them feel an integral part of the team that runs the school. Leaders need to have three important qualities – capability to influence, to take action and act responsibly. These values need to be instilled into the young minds by the principal. They must be given sufficient freedom and support to utilize their position to add value to the school and the students.
Leaders are not born, situations make leaders. As educationists we have an obligation to our nation to nurture and encourage leadership among young students. We need to create an environment that encourages leadership. If we can instill the right values at a young age, we can hope of having sensible and practical leaders leading our country into progress. All of us need to strive to make schools not just learning centers, but breeding grounds for future leaders. |
