YET ANOTHER CHILDREN'S DAY ....

This is that time of the year again! We are celebrating yet another children's day (Nov 14). While the schools in cities and towns are busy organising various programmes, events and talent shows, there are thousands of schools in rural areas where the children are not even aware of any of these celebrations. Leave alone the celebrations- the quality of education out there is so bad. As I hail from rural background, I am very well aware of what is being taught in our villages. When I think about the poor quality of education in rural areas, my heart bleeds. Excerpts from an article I wrote in 2003 ... 

YET ANOTHER CHILDREN'S DAY ....

We dream of making India a developed Nation. To become a developed Nation, the 5,11,000 villages in India must attain rapid development.  This is possible only through education - good quality education. We talk of 'Sarva Siksha Abiyan', but fail to care about the quality. While the 'haves' are able to get high quality education, the have-nots in rural areas poorly fail to get even primary education, I mean proper primary education.

How bad is the quality of primary education in rural areas?

As part of the work of the social service organisation of my village in Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu, we, a group of educated and employed youth spend our weekends teaching the poor students of the underprivileged sections of the society. All the students who attend our classes are studying in Government and Government-aided schools. Though I had fairly a good idea about the 'quality' of education imparted in the rural schools, I never even imagined that the quality would be so bad!

I was casually talking to a group of fifth standard students. I just asked that group to start writing the spelling for natural numbers from 1 to 50 - a question which we should be asking a pre-KG child in city areas. One smart boy in that group who normally shows very good grasping capacity answered : 'Sir, if you want us to write it in English, we know only upto 10. If it is in Tamil, well, we can go up to 50'. But, he was not able to write the numbers correctly in Tamil itself. There were lot of mistakes and still worse, after 21, he went to 24. This answer left me in a state of total shock. More than five years of schooling has not even taught him the numbers!

The above incident is a classic example of the 'quality' of education being imparted by our elementary schools in rural areas (rural areas all over the country, not just Tamilnadu). It may be noted that the schools I am talking about are the ones run by the Government and not the mushrooming Matriculation schools.  Students who attend these schools are the wards of the have-nots. 

The kids who do not have even a good shirt to wear, come to these schools with a worn-out book, and a slate. For most of the students, the noon-meal served in the school is the major attraction and a great hope. But the teachers serving there do not feel the sincerity of purpose.  Most of the teachers do not have the intention of lighting the education lamp in the lives of the poor students - the hallmark of the noble profession.

For those of you who have seen the urban children carrying a truck load of books in a huge bag on their backs, the details about the daily routine of these unfortunate children would be a substance of surprise. These children would not rush to their schools as their counterparts in Matric schools do. The school bell would ring sharply by 9 AM even in the absence of teachers, because ringing the bell is the responsibility of school boys themselves on turn basis. 

Many schools do not have adequate number of teachers and even the one or two available would not care to come on all days. On turn basis, they would be off from the school, but would sign the attendance register without fail on the days when they come. In the school, one or two teachers would be looking after all the five classes. 

He would simply write a few words on the black board on all the classes and would ask the students to copy the same in their slates. He would be sipping the tea brought from a nearby tea stall by a student and reading the news paper of the day and conversing with his colleague on varied matters.  Simply, they would do everything except teaching.  In most of the schools, the students would be asked to play during the noon session. By 4 PM, they will be packing up to their home. No lessons, no home work!

After passing five crucial years in useless elementary schools, these students enter the high school. As they do not have even basic knowledge of English, Science, Maths and even their mother tongue, most of the students are unable to cope with the lessons in the high schools. As a result, after pulling on for a few months or years, they ultimately drop out from the school. Thus a full stop is put to their education.

I myself is a product of an elementary school not much different from the one  I have been talking about, but I could land up in Engineering and subsequently a decent job in the software industry, solely due to the social and educational status of my parents. 

Just have a look at what many of my elementary schoolmates are doing now:  One Nagarathinam has become a 'Samosa' vendor in a local cinema theatre (following the tradition of his father's profession); Murugesan who studied upto 8th standard is now a construction labourer;  Sivakumar, is now a temple priest, and the list goes on.... All of them are from very poor families and still they remain so. Had they been imparted proper education, at least one among them might have become prosperous. Whenever I meet my unfortunate elementary school mates, I feel the pain in my heart.

I vividly remember two of my classmates - Mohan and Natarajan, who were very brilliant despite their family background. They were far ahead of all of us in General Knowledge - they used to regularly hear the radio news.  But, due to the lack of proper foundation at the elementary level, these two dropped out somewhere during the high school days. I do not know what they are doing now. 

It is reported that the effective student strength in Government-run elementary schools is rapidly decreasing. Only the very poor admit their wards in these schools. Of course, there are a few dedicated teachers here and there. But, the majority of the teachers are not like that. 

Private Matriculation schools train their students in extra-curricular activities like singing, dancing, painting etc., What the poor students of Government schools require is a reasonably good quality basic education. Our teachers are certainly qualified and capable of imparting it. A change in the mindset of the teachers can light the education lamp in the life of the underprivileged. It is time our Government takes action in this regard.

SOME MEASURES TO IMPROVE QUALITY

1. Establishing one model school in each district headquarters. The model school should reallly be a model school in all respects. The school should offer eduaction of the quality of Delhi Public School. Every year, 100 poor children should be admitted to the school irrespective of caste or religion. Economic status should alone be the entry criteria. The children should get everything in that school itself. If 500 such schools are established in 500 district headquarters, every year 50,000 poor children will get high quality education.
   
2. In other rural schools, each class should have a dedicated teacher. The system of two teachers  (Or aasiriyar palli in Tamil) for five classes should be immediately done away with.
   
3. Primary School teachers should be imparted training once in two years on the latest trends in teaching.
   
4. 'Play school' type of schools should be encouraged in rural areas.
   
5. Private Corporate giants should be persuaded to establish model schools in rural areas. Income Tax concession may be given in such cases.
   
6. The students should study their Mother Tongue as a subject, social science subject in their mother tongue and Science and Maths in English Medium. They should also be encouraged to learn new languages. Lack of proficiency in English is the major handicap of rural students.

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As I mentioned at the beginning, I wrote this article in 2003.  Seven years later, I do not find much difference in rural areas. The situation has worsened - even the poorest of the poor want to admit their wards in private schools.

Liberal funding through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Activity Based Learning etc have created some positive impacts here and there - not everywhere.  We have a dynamic School Education Minister in Tamil Nadu  - Mr. Thangam Thennarasu.  This man has taken some sincere  efforts to improve the quality of education in rural areas, but we can't say it has brought the desired effect everywhere.  

The present Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin's initiative during his tenure as Chennai Mayor has helped improve the quality of Corporation schools in Chennai significantly. The present Mayor of Chennai Mr. Subramanian has taken the initiative of  establishing the 'Chennai School' chain. These are definitely laudable steps.

Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal seems to be a man of action.  He can do wonders if he is given a free hand.

All these leaders should focus their attention on the elementary education in  rural areas. Only when such a step is taken, it will be a true tribute to Pandit Nehru. Children's day is an occasion to initiate that!

Bala