Kareena Kapoor: I did not enjoy going to school

Kareena Kapoor says she did not like going to school, as she felt left out for being an average student.

The 33-year-old actress, who is UNICEF's celebrity advocate for education in India, said as a kid, she would not get any attention from her teachers for not being a frontbencher.

"My mother used to wake me up for school at 6 am. I used to tell her 'one hour more please'. At the age of 10, I used to think that I had the heaviest school bag ever.

"I used to sleep in class and was not given much attention in the class, as I was an average student.

"Frontbenchers got all the attention. I used to feel left out and tell my mother that I will study at home or watch a movie," Kareena told reporters in New Delhi.

The Singham Returns star was in the capital to launch Child Friendly Schools and Systems (CFSS) package. It highlights the need to keep continuous focus on the Right of Education.

The programme is designed to enable all children to benefit from child-friendly and inclusive learning environment.

Kareena had also visited child friendly schools in Rajasthan with UNICEF and her perception about the institution of

education changed.

"I visited one such school early this year and was overwhelmed when I walked into it. The friendly environment and the happy faces of boys and girls made me want to go back to school. I wanted to be there and wanted to study and play games with them.

"The students were interacting with such creative tools and teachers were giving attention to each one of them," she said.

The actress feels that activity-based learning should be introduced in schools. "It makes things easy," she says.

Kareena, who did her schooling from Mumbai, says education is important.

"Education provides kids knowledge and courage. Tremendous progress has been made in the field of education for children in India. But our main challenge lies in the quality of education. There are many children in schools but they are not learning because they don't get the requisite attention. A teacher is as important as a mother," she said.

Kareena said she next plans to visit Uttar Pradesh, Bhopal and Chhatishgarh as part of the UNICEF's education initiative.

Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar