On December 12, 2022, as part of commemorating his father’s death anniversary, Hamed Aziz Safwi had launched the Haider Aziz Safwi Career Development Centre, which serves as a library and career guidance centre for students in Uluberia. It provides them with the necessary books for board and competitive exams and has become a hub for group studies for students.
However, in the time since he set up the centre, Hamed, 24, realised that getting access to books was just the beginning — more serious and systemic issues needed to be taken care of to provide a meaningful scope of learning to the youth of Uluberia. So, on December 12, 2023, Safwi launched an e-shiksha centre (digital learning centre) to allow students in Uluberia to have access to laptops, the internet, and even virtual coaching so that they can pursue their studies better.
‘The parents have no idea about the different career paths that exist today’
Hamed understood that there is a big difference in aspiration between students in urban and rural areas as well as between students and their parents
“After the inauguration last year, we thought that this was a good step that we have taken and things will now get better for youth learning and education in Uluberia. However, we soon had to accept that the problem was much more acute than we thought,” shared Hamed. Firstly, Hamed came to understand that there was an aspiration difference between the youth of the city and those of rural areas. A majority of students from Uluberia do not want to be doctors or engineers, but police officers, teachers or firefighters.
Secondly, Hamed sensed a gap between the aspirations of parents and their children, too: “We had organised an interactive session with the parents, and from there we learnt that the parents have no idea about the different career paths that exist today. If they see their child with a mobile phone, they throw it away because they think the child is wasting their time on the phone and not studying. They have zero awareness of the fact that educational material can be accessed via phones as well. There’s a problem at the very basic level.”
“When we conducted a scholarship and aptitude test for over 200 students in Uluberia from classes nine and 10, the highest marks in that test were 20 out of 35. For a kid who is going to school every day and will appear for board exams in a few months, not knowing answers to basic questions is a problematic situation,” explained Hamed.
Helping students develop computer literacy and forge a career path
Hamed hopes to open three digital centres of learning every year
Gradually, Hamed came to the conclusion that many students in Uluberia were going to schools simply for the mid-day meals. They were not returning home and following up on what they studied at school. While Hamed saw that a section of the academically consistent students from different schools were coming to the library and utilising the facilities, they were fewer than 100 in number. What about the rest? “This is when I came up with the idea of expanding the model of the library by opening up small digital centres in different places where the other students can go and use the facilities as virtual coaching centres. Each centre is to be equipped with laptops and access to online materials as well as teachers who can guide the students in whatever paths they want to follow,” said Hamed.
“Our area falls under ward number one of the Uluberia municipality and is primarily an economically disadvantaged area. So far, a total of 80 students from the local schools have attended our orientation sessions and have been taught the basics of computer operations. We have also started a scholarship programme for students since 2022,” said S.K. Faruk, coordinator, Haider Aziz Safwi E-Shiksha Centre, and a member of the Haider Aziz Safwi Career Development Centre.
‘I was using a laptop for the first time and so I was a little scared initially’
Attending online classes has become convenient for the students because of the e-shiksha centre
“I want to be a teacher when I grow up. The library here has books for the primary Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and one of our school teachers is associated with it. I hope to receive the guidance I need from the centre to pursue my career ambition,” said Manisha, currently in Class 10 and one of the beneficiaries of Hamed’s initiative. “I was using a laptop for the first time and so I was a little scared initially. Our parents think we are always playing with our phones, so they get angry with us. But online classes are very convenient and are also a reality for us now,” said Sabina, one of the many middle-school students who attended the inauguration of the e-shiksha centre.
“It’s important to get students who don’t come from a position of financial privilege or stability to have aspirations. But those aspirations should also be achievable instead of being idealistic. Normally, students from here take their board exams and either go work in the mills or end up getting involved in crime. To stop this from happening, they need to be encouraged towards other avenues. That’s why we opened the digital centre. We plan to open more when we get the right opportunities in the near future,” said Hamed, who feels that the digital centre(s) will encourage and improve computer literacy among students that will increase their employability in jobs involving digital skills in the time to come.
“We also got in touch with multiple educators and a coaching institute in Kolkata who have agreed to help us in building these career guidance centres. The educators will help our students understand the proper use of computers — how to study with them, how to use them to scan their papers, how to be more aware of online scams, etc. Also, students interested in different career paths like the civil services, can use these centres to have free career counselling and exam doubt-clearing sessions besides understanding how to progress on a particular career path,” added Hamed, who is looking to open three digital centres every year going forward.
