Dr. Swaroop Rawal
Dear friend and actress-turned-teacher Dr Swaroop Rawal née Sampat is one of the ten finalists for the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, whose winner will be announced on March 24 in Dubai. Instituted by the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize, the ten finalists for 2019 have been chosen from 10,000 nominations from 179 countries. It is remarkable enough for Swaroop to be one of the ten from the 10,000, it is entirely possible that she might just bag the big one.
I have known Swaroop for close to 35 years as a particularly sharp and substantive mind. In the run-up to the prize, I republish a story I did about her for The Indian Diaspora on August 30, 2016.
Nearly 33 years ago while she rode a wave of extraordinary popularity as a television star 26-year-old Swaroop Sampat frequently spoke of drama as a tool of education. For a former Miss India (1979), who appeared set for a definite movie career, Swaroop came across as someone who could break the mould any moment and pursue something entirely different. Today, children's books authored by her has been accepted by Australia's school system.
In fact, she would often joke that a doctorate in education was not as improbable for her as her turn as a studiedly ditzy Renu Verma on the hit series ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’ might suggest.
That was 1984. In 2016, she holds a doctorate on the theme how to employ drama in school education. Marriage to the well-known actor Paresh Rawal and two grown up sons later, Dr. Rawal is now fully focused on her main passion - drama as a tool to transform school education. As part of her doctoral work, she demonstrated “how to use drama as an educational tool to enhance emotional understanding, understanding self, empathetic understanding and creativity in children with special learning disability in a school in Mumbai.”
Her latest project, though not necessarily an offshoot, is a continuation of her work in education. It is a set of six children’s books, meant for the fourth and fifth grade levels by her along with her son Aditya has been accepted by the Australian Quality Education Programme. The books address themes of children’s rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in a manner that fresh minds can internalize them without being preached.
Dr. Rawal told The Indian Diaspora, “The purpose of the books is to gently introduce children at the fourth and fifth grade levels to the idea of respectful behaviour and standing up for what is right.”
“I think child rights education is an important facet we are missing out on. For example, it is vital to note only in the last century that gender equality as a concept has been introduced into our educational lexicon as it exists in Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child or CRC,” she added.
Colourfully illustrated by Suman S. Roy and written by Dr. Rawal with significant inputs from her son Aditya the books are making their way to Australia even before they find traction in India. They have also been endorsed by Save the Children-India-International, which is affiliated to Save the Children-International. Fiji is also considering the books, Dr. Rawal said.
In India, the books are being reviewed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). Once approved Dr. Rawal and her publishers plan to have it translated in all major Indian languages.
The books address a diversity of challenges that children in the demographic face. From the problem of bullying at school to how diverse and yet unique Nature is, Dr. Rawal weaves in ideas in a way that appeals to her reader demographic.
The child protagonists in the books, Krish and Tara, often counter their parents and other adult family members with sound logic when it comes to issues such as which sport to play. Swaroop also throws in occasional correctives with older brother Krish helping younger sibling Tara in her pronunciations.
It is always a challenge to keep children at that age engaged, informed and entertained but Dr. Rawal’s stories do an effective job of creating a world they are so familiar with.
In a story titled ‘The New Boy in Class’, a character called Samir is introduced who is autistic. While most people at school are mean and unfriendly to him Tara and Krish go out of their way to make him feel comfortable.
In a passage about Samir’s autism, the particular book explains, “Actually, Krish had a plan. He had learnt from class teacher that Samir was an autistic child. That is why he seemed to be different. Children with autism are different from others, but so is every single person in this world. Just because Samir is out of the ordinary,it does not mean he is silly. It just means that he is different. Autism is something that people are born with. Having autism means that Samir’s brain is wired in another way. Still Samir’s brain works perfectly well. It just does things differently from other people’s brains. That is what makes him distinctive.”
In another book titled ‘The Six Stars Club’ children form a club that includes two former bullies Nikhil and Roy as well as Samir. The idea is to introduce a sense of common purpose and inclusiveness.
These are simple books that unobtrusively familiarize children of a certain age group with themes that will stand them in good stead throughout their lives. Each book carries details about the UNCRC and a note from Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children India where he points out how Dr. Rawal has woven in the rights of children as part of the stories. Perhaps at a time when the adult world has become so fractious and judgmental, it makes sense to reclaim some of the lost ground of decency via children.