Field Based Experience On The Education System In The Village
By Tahiba Khan
24 September, 2012
Countercurrents.org
Lawadaar is a village in Tonk district, in Rajasthan. It’s a village having less or negligible basic facilities. There is no concrete road; there is no market, no railway station, and no bus service within 5km of range. There is one PHC, 3 schools, that is two private schools and one government school.
I visited Lawadaar in month when it rained heavily. The kachcha road was full of mud and water. Even it was getting harder for us to travel in four wheeler vehicle also. We can imagine that how much it was difficult for the villagers who don’t have any vehicle.
I consider Lawadaar as an isolated village because of unavailability of the basic facilities. It is isolated in the sense that the village has got no modern technologies or state’s direct regulation. There are 2-3 tractors in village, there are TV set, but electricity comes 2-3 hours in day. There are few bikes. There is no employment in the village and no work except agriculture. Villagers used to sell milk also if they can.
There is no pre schooling education at aaganwadi centre. Even we heard that anganwadi worker doesn’t come daily. She comes once or twice a week. We have seen anganwdi helper at work. We have seen her going household to household for immunization where new baby has born.
Government school is up to tenth standard. But when we went there we haven’t found enough students in school. There are 10-12 students in each class. Among them girls are 2 or 3. Though there is enrollment of almost every kid in the school. But children are not serious about education and neither teacher is serious at all. It can be seen through the absenteeism pattern in enrolled children. Even we heard from the villagers that there were instances when school has been shut down by the villagers in past. The reason for shutting down the school was the non-working of government school. Villagers protested against the unavailability of Math’s, social sciences and English teachers in the schools. They informed that they ended the protest after giving insurance that grief will be resolved from higher authorities, but still school is working in the same way. What I realized through households interview is that there is not proper way and vision among kids regarding school/schooling. They don’t see material benefits. As government school is upto 10thstandard. Education till tenth standard doesn’t make sense to them. In addition to that there are no teachers in some classes from years. Parents found and children observed causal ways of teaching. Family’s marginal economic conditions also do not allow parents to send their son preferably to private schools. This trends of schooling creates apathy/indifference to education There is not any mechanism for stopping kids after mid day meal. Its all “taken for granted” attitudes by the teachers that children will return home after meal. Absenteeism among girls is “taken for granted” issue. I have not seen any effort had been paid either by parents or teachers to stress on sending girl child to schools. Girls are the ones who are often stopped for households work. In this village it’s the boys who are sent to private schools, and girls either are not sent or if sent then its government school. The level of knowledge is very low even the child studying in 8th standard can’t read Hindi properly. I have asked a girl called Mansaur to read few sentences written in Hindi language. She denied and felt shamed. When I asked that ‘can’t you read a word? She said I can’t read, I don’t know’. When asked knowledge about counting she said that she knows counting to 10 only. Looking at this I thing it’s reasonable to understand the side or indifference from parents side for schooloing. Some parents says “ ab sarkaari mein padayi hoti hi nahin hai, mere bachhe aathvi( 8th) mein aake ke bhi chaar line nahin padh sakta toh kyu school bhejna, es se ache ghar ka kaam kar, kheti jaaye”
Few parents are sending their daughters to private schools for primary education. They think that the boy/girl will catch with the government schooling once he/she will learn basic education (primary schooling)
The government schools age not maintained properly. There is a big space (land) for school building. But that is not utilized properly. There are overgrown grasses at the entrance of the school. It can be breeding ground for snakes and deadly animals. There is no playing material at school for small kids. There are broken blackboards, torn mats, and devastated class rooms (No proper window, doors etc.). I think there should be ways to make schooling system serious and disciplined in the sense of building also.
No efforts had been seen by any teachers to make weak students or girl’s students (who are irregular due to household work) to make them compatible with the education. There is lack of interests among children who are being stopped often for some work.
The work of SMC is also negligible. SMC is known as School Management Committee constituted in RTE act, 2009. As per this Act, all government and government-aided schools shall constitute School Management Committee (SMC) of the elected council of the, teachers, local authority, parents and guardians of children enrolled in such schools In an isolated society or village, where no one is there to check the working of schools have same situations everywhere. People are helpless because they are not aware and conscious of their right. Illiteracy of the people/villagers also hampers the working of any committee in the schools.
In Lawadaar, most of the parents in SMC are uneducated. Most of the parents do not know their responsibility. Neither any effort has been done on the part of teachers to make them understand the working of the SMC. Its not fault of the parents I think It’s a lack of interest from the part of school authorities. School works till 12:30 pm, and it’s possible for teachers to conduct extra activities in schools, to take walk in village to understand and make awareness campaign among people. Teachers can make real change for the society, unless they are not gripped by the unconsciousness in the mind regarding change. The state is not hammering their way, as (I said it’s a isolated village) but there is no such way to check them.
Tahiba Khan is a Researcher at Collaborative and Research Dissemination. CORD is an independent research group that seeks to articulate the problems of the disadvantaged through field-based research
Comments are moderated
