Give your children wings to fly

“Your children are not yours but life’s longing for itself.

Though they come through you, they don't belong to you.

You can give them your love, not your thoughts.”

Khalil Gibran's words echo what parents and teachers must offer—freedom for children to choose their paths. We can't impose our dreams on them. Children are independent; they have the right to choose. Our role is to provide wings and support in creative and academic pursuits. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is a policy that aims to transform India's education system to meet the needs of the 21st century. The NEP 2020's goals are towards making education more flexible, holistic, and multidisciplinary; preparing students to meet national and global challenges; developing cognitive skills like literacy and numeracy; developing higher-order skills like critical thinking and problem solving; and making education more affordable and accessible.

The goal of NEP 2020 was evident and perceptible at the Come Con event, where young boys and girls and professionals showed their creativity through the different costumes that they wore for cosplay. What is cosplay? Cosplay is a hobby where young people design and craft outfits, props, accessories, etc., to dress up as their favorite pop culture characters. The Delhi Comic-Con is a popular event among young minds that happens annually. Delhi Comic-Con's Cosplay VFX category 2023 was won by a young techy; he was dressed up as ‘Tech Priest’ from the game Warhammer 40K. The costume was a blend of creativity and technology. The young techy expressed that his creativity, engineering, and coding skills helped him to come up with this unique costume, which was an amalgamation of arts and academics integrated learning. These kinds of events should be organized in schools, as it will generate happy participation of the children as they relate to their favorite comic characters. Such events will help the children showcase their creativity skills and enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Children should be encouraged to showcase art-integrated skills that will develop their skill set and understanding in an effective manner. Parents must support their children's dreams, not impose their own. Value their abilities, give freedom, and watch them grow. As an English teacher and the Dance Society in charge of the school, I apply the same philosophy in recognizing each student's potential. Having creative hobbies makes students develop skills to deal better with challenges of life. Academics are essential, but it's the extra, beyond books, that shapes a complete person. The same concept of art integration is the mantra of the New Education Policy 2020.

(This article is written by Mrs Sanghamitra Roy, TGT English, Co-Curricular Incharge, Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan. This is an opinionated article; EPN has nothing to do with this editorial.)