Campus Report :
The Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Dhaka organized a public lecture on ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ by the child rights activist and Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Sunday at the Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium, Faculty of Social Sciences. The program was moderated by Dr Taiabur Rahman, Professor of Development Studies.
Prof Taiabur welcomed the Nobel laureate to Dhaka University and mentioned that Dhaka University is honored, humbled and moved to have him here. A brief presentation on the biography and work of the Nobel laureate was given by Kazi Mysha Musarrat, a lecturer from the same department. The program was chaired by the acting Dean of Social Sciences, Prof Dr Shafiquzzaman.
Satyarthi mesmerized the audiences with his powerful and inspiring speech. Starting off with his earlier life, he explained how he was disturbed by the inequalities of the world especially children and how they were forced to work under harsh conditions. He sacrificed his lucrative career in engineering and struggled to free the bonded children from labor.
When he was around 25-26 years old, he started a journal called “The Struggle Shall Continue”. While he was sitting in his office one day, a frail old man came knocking his door saying “Babuji help me. Help me free my daughter.” His daughter Sabbo was being sold to a brothel and Satyarthi went to free her. He couldn’t do so and got beaten up. But he thanked Sabbo because she ignited the fire within which drove him to free over 84,000 children from labor and started a worldwide movement against child servitude. Satyarthi motivated the audiences by sharing this life story of his.
He also talked about how important he feels education is for the development of a nation. He requested the government to ensure education for all children at least up to the age of 14. He believes that once a child starts writing alphabets with a pen, the entire nation is gifted with the possibility of hundreds of opportunities. He emphasized on female education and its importance and hopes that one day Bangladesh will become 100 per cent literate and will develop to such an extent that it will not have to rely on foreign donations. He adds that sustainable development can only be ensured if education for all is ensured.
He urged the youth to come forward and join the movement of freedom. He depicted that he truly believes in the new generation because of their idealism. He believes they have the fire and passion within them through which they can change the world. They will become the future leaders who can have an impact on the development of the world. He wanted them to follow the 3Ds: Dream, Discover and Do! He also announced that soon he will be launching a program under which 100 million youth will be gathered together to free and rehabilitate 100 million enslaved children around the globe. One youth will be responsible to bring change into one child’s life and by this; he hopes the world will be a better place for the children.
He brought a student up on stage and talked about his dreams for himself, his nation and the world. Mr. Satyarthi and appreciated his words and exclaimed that everyone should have a dream beyond oneself. Only thinking about the prosperity of own self and not having a vision for the nation or the world makes a person small. Everybody should contribute to the society in ways that are possible for him or her. Only then can we bring peace to the world.
The session ended with a question/answer round where students asked Satyarthi questions about his work and how they can contribute to the society, to which the Nobel laureate gave quite inspiring answers.
The Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Dhaka organized a public lecture on ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ by the child rights activist and Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Sunday at the Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium, Faculty of Social Sciences. The program was moderated by Dr Taiabur Rahman, Professor of Development Studies.
Prof Taiabur welcomed the Nobel laureate to Dhaka University and mentioned that Dhaka University is honored, humbled and moved to have him here. A brief presentation on the biography and work of the Nobel laureate was given by Kazi Mysha Musarrat, a lecturer from the same department. The program was chaired by the acting Dean of Social Sciences, Prof Dr Shafiquzzaman.
Satyarthi mesmerized the audiences with his powerful and inspiring speech. Starting off with his earlier life, he explained how he was disturbed by the inequalities of the world especially children and how they were forced to work under harsh conditions. He sacrificed his lucrative career in engineering and struggled to free the bonded children from labor.
When he was around 25-26 years old, he started a journal called “The Struggle Shall Continue”. While he was sitting in his office one day, a frail old man came knocking his door saying “Babuji help me. Help me free my daughter.” His daughter Sabbo was being sold to a brothel and Satyarthi went to free her. He couldn’t do so and got beaten up. But he thanked Sabbo because she ignited the fire within which drove him to free over 84,000 children from labor and started a worldwide movement against child servitude. Satyarthi motivated the audiences by sharing this life story of his.
He also talked about how important he feels education is for the development of a nation. He requested the government to ensure education for all children at least up to the age of 14. He believes that once a child starts writing alphabets with a pen, the entire nation is gifted with the possibility of hundreds of opportunities. He emphasized on female education and its importance and hopes that one day Bangladesh will become 100 per cent literate and will develop to such an extent that it will not have to rely on foreign donations. He adds that sustainable development can only be ensured if education for all is ensured.
He urged the youth to come forward and join the movement of freedom. He depicted that he truly believes in the new generation because of their idealism. He believes they have the fire and passion within them through which they can change the world. They will become the future leaders who can have an impact on the development of the world. He wanted them to follow the 3Ds: Dream, Discover and Do! He also announced that soon he will be launching a program under which 100 million youth will be gathered together to free and rehabilitate 100 million enslaved children around the globe. One youth will be responsible to bring change into one child’s life and by this; he hopes the world will be a better place for the children.
He brought a student up on stage and talked about his dreams for himself, his nation and the world. Mr. Satyarthi and appreciated his words and exclaimed that everyone should have a dream beyond oneself. Only thinking about the prosperity of own self and not having a vision for the nation or the world makes a person small. Everybody should contribute to the society in ways that are possible for him or her. Only then can we bring peace to the world.
The session ended with a question/answer round where students asked Satyarthi questions about his work and how they can contribute to the society, to which the Nobel laureate gave quite inspiring answers.
