Catalysing change at the grassroots

The Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society (MCES), Pune, was established in 1948 by late Abdul Kadir Khan and others to provide education to the economically, educationally and socially weaker sections of society.
Today, the MCES has higher, medical, technical and professional academic institutions in arts, science, commerce, computer science, law, education, pharmacy, management sciences, architecture, dental sciences, hospitality and information technology. The sprawling Azam campus is located in the heart of Pune.
Excerpts from an interview with Abeda Inamdar, Vice-President, MCES:



What motivated you to get into social work, set up charitable trusts and provide free education to children, especially girls, from impoverished families in Pune?
Primarily, it was my own upbringing. I was one of 10 children born in a poor family; eight of us were girls. I was amazed at my parents and the hardships they went through to educate us all. You will be surprised that in a highly conservative Muslim family, all of us sisters are post-graduates.
Run us through your journey of three decades in the field of education. How has it improved the lives of tens of thousands of students?
Thirty years have passed by like 30 minutes before my eyes. I have seen how poor children want to learn and how badly the parents want to teach them, but they cannot and the children cannot learn. I can say, with all modesty, that it was all worth it. I sold off all my jewellery to start my first educational institute and watch it grow. So far it has successfully educated over 1.1 million students.

It has been a hugely satisfying journey, and I could have been content, but the urge to help the downtrodden, and not take advantage of them, educate the illiterate, and see them become successful in life, has spurred me to continue doing so. I admit that I pay special attention to the girl child, but again, we do so without bias to any community.

At the Azam Campus of MCES Pune, we have 29 institutes from KG to PG, 27,000 students and 3,000 faculty members. And guess what? Around 21,000 students are on scholarships. We have set up 97 computer training facilities all over Maharashtra and impart free computer literacy.

Do you recall any instances from the lives of these students, or some moving incident concerning a student that you will always remember?
There is not one, not a dozen, but thousands of such instances. Collectively seeing each one grow, and come back to us, sometimes even to work at the campus, gives me a feeling of warmth.
What are your views on the importance of education in helping uplift people from below poverty levels?

Education is the only answer to each and every ill in society. It prevents people from turning anti-social, gives them a means to a livelihood, and once that is secure, the gap between the haves and have-nots will decrease and will ultimately bring people closer to each other.

How important are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects, besides fluency in English, in ensuring the success of students?
All of this is very important, but I lay stress on English, because it is the language of communication globally. It is alright to grow locally, but is best to grow glocally.
Is there a need for affluent Indians to set aside substantial sums and put in efforts to help the poor by means of education?
Indeed. That is the only way. They must set aside huge and meaningful amounts to educate the poor, and why only Indians, every well-to-do global citizen must take this initiative.