Walking for making education everyones right

BANGALORE: About 450 people took part in a walkathon on Sunday to spread awareness on the need to promote education among the children from economically weaker sections of the society. The participants, largely comprising youth took out a peaceful walk of 3.5 kms from Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium pledging their support to the cause of education.The walkathon was organised by the Aashayein Foundation, an NGO working towards raising the aspiration levels of children from impoverished backgrounds; put them back to school and help them focus on education. In addition to offering monetary and non-monetary support, the volunteers also teach English and communication skills to over 1,000 children across 12 government schools.Jija Madhavan Harisingh, IPS, former director general of police, Karnataka was the chief guest of the event. Addressing the participants of the event, she said, “It is our moral responsibility to lend a helping hand to the not so privileged families in our society. Educating their children is perhaps one of the best possible means.”Padma Vibhushan awardee and former chief justice of India M N Venkatachaliah, guest of honour said, “The importance of quality education cannot be overemphasised. An educated child will grow up to take informed decisions and aspire for more in life. Education also opens doors for umpteen options to improve the quality of living of the family.”Ashwin BM, trustee, Aashayein Foundation said, “Walkathon gives us an opportunity to reach out to more like-minded people and organisations to join hands towards the cause. This will help us in improving effectiveness of the existing programs and explore the possibilities of new ones.”