I am placed in the school where I am also currently living. The current condition of the school is the worst I have ever seen. The total enrolment in the school is 923, but only 300 to 400 students attend regularly. There are 21 teachers in the school; however, it still lacks 3 science teachers and 2 arts teachers. Only 30% to 40% of the students come in regular uniform.
During the morning assembly, many teachers are seen chatting with each other. There are several instances where teachers do not conduct their classes regularly. For instance, if Class 3 is scheduled for a reading session in the library, the teachers often do not take them there. I have rarely heard teachers assign homework, especially for Classes 1 to 6. Even when homework is assigned, very few teachers follow up or hold students accountable for it the next day.
The timetable is structured in such a way that one teacher often handles 2 to 3 classes consecutively. Based on my conversations with many students, particularly from the primary section, a significant number of them cannot read or write Hindi. In the last four months, I have hardly seen children engage in drawing, dancing, or other co-curricular activities.
This is my observation over the past four months, during which I have visited the school at least four times a week. The saddest part is that the community is fully aware of the school’s condition. When I discuss this with the Pradhan or any other Panchayat member of the village, they respond hopelessly, “अरे सर, क्या कीजिएगा, ऐसे ही चलता है यहाँ पे तो।”
What We Did
Several initiatives have been taken by the organization in the village, one of which is the self-study center. The objective of the self-study center is to encourage children to sit in their hamlets during the evening and complete the homework assigned by the school. There were complaints from teachers that students were not completing their homework, and they requested our support. To address this, we initiated self-study centers in almost four hamlets, which were managed by women from those hamlets. Students from Class 1 to 7 attended these centers.
However, this initiative ran for only a month before it ceased operations in all hamlets; except one. Even in that hamlet, the number of children dwindled to just 3 or 4.
What I Did
This initiative started in June 2024. I joined the organization in September and began living in the village in November. By then, only one hamlet was running with 3 to 4 students. I visited all the hamlets and asked women and children about the reasons behind the closure of the centers. The women explained that they were usually busy with household chores in the evening, making it difficult to sit with the children. Some women said,
“मेरा बच्चा इस ग्रुप में नहीं है, तो मैं क्यों बैठूँ?” Others remarked, “सर, हम ही अकेले आके बैठते हैं और कोई तो आता ही नहीं, तो मैंने भी बैठना बंद कर दिया।”
After observing this for about a month, I started teaching at the only running hamlet in the evenings. During this time, I concluded that women might not be the ideal choice for managing the program. Since I noticed that children were interested in drawing, painting, and art and craft, I created a timetable from Monday to Saturday:
- Monday: Drawing
- Tuesday: Sharing stories or poems
- Wednesday: Waste to best
- Thursday: Sharing daily routines (what they liked or disliked and what they learned)
- Friday: Preparing drama or dance
- Saturday: Presenting drama or dance, with educational movie screenings on two Saturdays a month
This structure was implemented in a hamlet, and the children loved the theme. The number of participants increased from 4 to 15. I appointed male and female monitors to give the center a school-like environment. Responsibilities were assigned to each child for different days, and I provided materials like A4-sized paper, scissors, colors, and reading cards to instil a sense of responsibility.
आप चले जाओगे तो यह सस्टेन कैसे करेगा?
When I discussed this initiative with my manager, he asked, “आप चले जोगे तो ये sustain कैसे करेगा?” I had no answer at the time. He suggested involving volunteers from the hamlet. This question stayed with me and made me ponder:
- What does sustainability mean for the children in this center?
- If the school fails to teach children basic skills, and most parents do not attend parent-teacher meetings, then how can sustainability be achieved for them?
- When 4 out of 10 children in Classes 1 to 3 cannot read or write, what does sustainability mean?
My manager advised me to create a sense of responsibility among the children so they learn independently. With this concept in mind, I initiated another self-study center with the help of my coworker, involving volunteers. In both hamlets, the centers are now run by volunteers from colleges and schools. I visit these centers for the last 10 to 15 minutes to discuss challenges and provide feedback to the children and volunteers. Even today, I am unsure what true sustainability means for these children.
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