दृष्टिकोण – Indra's Viewpoint

In many of the rural schools such as the one in the photograph in my earlier entry, there is plenty of land to be converted into playground or to develop a good enough nursery to improve the ambiance to make the students learn better. Unfortunately, the school hardly gets a motivated school administrator or headmaster who takes initiative. In good old days, some were easily available as there were missionary educationists at heart inspired by great political leaders such as Mahatma who has social issues as his priority.

English can’t be the right medium till the student understands it as proficiently as his own mother tongues. Unfortunately, in India, many a times, the mother tongues are different than the language used as medium. In Hindi belt itself, the mother tongue is different. Students find it difficult to pick up the matter taught even in Hindi. With Bhojpuri at home and Hindi as medium of instruction, the students find it difficult to grasp the subject taught in Hindi. The school must focus to teach the language of its medium of instruction in the first five years for effective understanding of what is taught. It’s unfortunate that the students even after 10 years of schooling don’t become proficient in the language used as medium, say, Hindi or as second language, such as English. It is only because of the scarcity of good trained teacher. Only the use of technologies both at school by teachers and at home by tutors or guardians can overcome the problem. India had this problem since ages and so is its illiteracy so high. India must learn some lessons from the developed non-English speaking countries. India has wasted 60 years and has still failed in reaching at the right policy on the medium of instruction.

For the students in rural school, the English has been the toughest subject to pass the tests and the reason of shunning the schooling. Interestingly, with emphasis on English they do neither become proficient in Hindi nor in English. Still in hope of better employability in present situation, the English medium schools are mushrooming all over the country, even in rural region.
All the political parties and administrators must agree that the system of temporary or contractual teachers for cutting the cost of educating is not the answer for enhancing the accessibility of education for a larger population. It has made the mess of teaching; Let all the teachers be on regular agreed or better scale to attract the best stuff in teaching. One can’t expect good teaching from third class input of teachers. It’s not only the qualification judged by the certificates and degrees but the aptitude for teaching should be the criteria to select teachers for the rural schools. If anything it is the technology that can facilitate the accessibility of education for all. But it requires a change in the mindsets of those in education sector and setting up of the facilities. Alumni of the schools and the local donors can participate in big way to overcome the financial constraints.

It must be mandatory for the school to impart some skills before a student completes the class x or xii or before he leaves the school even midway.

In good old days, someone in the village used to donate the land and or get constructed the building. The first high school at Samahuta, a village near my own village came up because of the endeavour of one Late Dharamraj Rai. The only girls’ high school there was the work of another person named Raja Rai. The story of BHU that was the handiwork of Madan Mohan Malviya is well known. The education policy for the rural India must emphasize and encourage the role of the locals without which education will not reach to every child of every household.

The school premises must become a place of pride for the community and must come up as a place of worship that provides knowledge as well peace of mind.

Even after the passage of the Right of Education Bill, I doubt the education to spread the way it is intended if the community doesn’t participate positively for educating its children rightly.

I wish the education at rural schools is under an independent group selected by the parents of students and out of the manipulation of the heads of panchayat system that has gone political and so extremely corrupt. People of the community that the school serves, are not bold and conscious enough to stand against the malpractices that the panchayat heads in collusion with the government officers are inflicting on schools and education.

I wish the people are alive to this major issue of building the future generation and find the effective solution to attain 100% literate, enlightened and empowered community through good education from the rural schools.

While the wide media coverage of the battle between Nitish vs. Narendra was the cause of morose for many, I had some reason to keep my hope of developmental politics alive. I kept on hearing about Nitish Kumar visiting schools during his Viswas Yatra and his dialogue with the students and teachers. His blog on the positive effect of state gifted bicycles for students on improving enrolment and reduction in the figures of dropouts kept me and perhaps many pretty excited.

Deepak and Prakash visited me on their return journey after a ten-day off in Pipra, their village home and stayed with us for a night with their mother. Both are pursuing master course in engineering, the elder in BITS, Pilani and the younger in IIIT, Bhuwaneswar.

I wish to do something to improve the quality of education in the village school and have a plan to set up a library cum creativity centre in the school. I am ready to bear all the expenditures of books and implements. I had discussed the same with some coming out of the village who are employed. And then, I talked about the same project with my uncle. He had been library enthusiast in his early days. I was surprised when he in plain language discouraged me to do anything of the sort. As per him, it is not of any use rather it will be a waste of money.

Deepak and Prakash, his grandsons also brought his message.

The village school runs classes up to class VIII and may add up to class X by next year. I considered it as a major achievement for the village. But I find few things that must be taken care of.

School: The school consists of just few rooms. There is a boundary wall but no gate that can be locked. It has no security guard for protecting the school in the night or when it’s not running. The condition is same for all the schools that I know all around my village. Many don’t have even boundary wall. I don’t know why the Panchayat or the government can’t engage and employ a full time guard and a residence for him in one corner in the premises. He could be engaged in multiple roles for different essential work in the school such as housekeeping and cleaning too.

Without the necessary arrangement against the burglary, one can’t even dream of a modern good school with many essential equipment and teaching aids such as audio and video system, computers and internet facilities and other facilities in its laboratories. The government must think on this aspect as an essential requirement if it has intention to make the school taking the advantages of the contemporary technologies.

Teachers: Most of the teachers are very lowly paid as ‘Shiksha Mitra’ and are hardly devoted to their work of teaching. Many are not even qualified and skilled enough to do that. I don’t know why the government resorted to such a system to save the cost of education. It has just created a band of discontented teachers in a government set up that is already not ready to be accountable for the performance.

Community: I don’t know how the present system of education can impart and ensure quality learning to the students and who will do that, if the community is not ready to take any interest and leaves everything to the so called government to do. Every school requires a mentor to see that it functions effectively. A good mentor can only build a good school. I wish the community being served by the school does find one.

I don’t know if the schools in the other states are significantly different.

If I go by what I hear from my uncle who had been instrumental in bringing many developments to the village and others who have served in responsible positions such as senior teachers and headmasters of high schools, I get worried and lose hope.
The finance is not a problem in providing and spreading the education to all today. It is the atmosphere of brotherhood and fellowship that is getting scarce.

I wish Nitish Kumar and other leaders, through the mass contact such as Vishwas Yatra, discuss this subject too. Perhaps, for the first time a Chief Minister is visiting schools and that too, the rural ones on such a scale to find out firsthand the conditions and shortcomings of the schooling in the state. It’s a great gesture and it is bound to encourage the students as well as their parents for focusing on education to bring in better days in their households. Let it not be only for votes. Let it build a society with better fellowship in the communities and make it responsible and accountable for the government projects taken up to benefit them.

I wish him also to appeal the students and teachers to switch over to the modern education system with English, computer, and skill as the main focus to compete with other developed states.

I wish Nitish appeals to the villagers to nurture and build the village-school as a place of pride for the village, with a library and creativity centre, a play ground for all the village youth and a meeting place for all to further their knowledge through schemes such as adult education.