When Inky-Pinky-Ponky Is Not Enough

Since the past 2-3 years, I have been really frustrated with the direction in which our country is headed, or the way its remained stagnant in some areas.  Until recently, when I thought about the present state of affairs in our country, especially where education was concerned,  I would often reach to the conclusion that, to improve the level of education in our country, we would have to focus on the stage where kids start to lay their foundation to education. If I dwelt on the topic a little more, I would think to myself that the situation of the government schools is pathetic and that neither the government nor the teachers of the government schools are really interested to improve the conditions of the students. All this I would assume sitting in the comforts of my house or the cafeteria of my college in Bangalore.  Since i located the source of the problem and a possible solution, It would calm my frustration a little; enough to not mess with my head for the rest of the day. 

     But, now, 2 months after having started my journey as a fellow (when I wrote this, it had been two months. Now, it is my 6th month) and 3 weeks after living the life of a government teacher, I can see why things are the way they are (One of my biggest discoveries since coming to Sarada has been the number of government schools that function today. It is simply mind boggling to even think that there literally is one government school after every 2-3 kms, even in some of the most remote places. The administration and communication that has to happen between a level as high as the state to something that is as local as a school that caters to 60 families is in itself a thing to admire). 

     However, before my admiration could get any greater, I notice that there is a huge flaw in the way the schools function. For one, the infrastructure in most of the schools aren't even decent.  There is an urgent need for better classrooms, more classrooms, better teachers, more teachers and, in some cases, at least some teachers. Even in schools where there are teachers, I notice that the teachers aren't taking any real interest in the academic betterment of the students. There is frustration that is slowly building up in me. Why are the teachers not doing anything? I have been frustrated enough with the government but this time I begin to blame the teachers as well. However, It does not satisfy my frustration. As I talk a little to the teachers and as I do a little reading, I realise that the rules that the government has made up has left the teachers largely helpless and to an extent indifferent to what really happens in a class. Why? Because, according to the new rules, the kids cannot be held back in the same class whether or not the kid attends classes, whether or not the kid is on the same level as his/her peers. Also, any new kid joining school must be taken into the class that matches his age. And it becomes the responsibility of the teachers to make sure that the kid reaches the level of his peers. However, all this information wasn’t enough to enable me to truly empathise with the teachers. I would still hold them responsible for not guiding the students in the right direction.  It took me 3 weeks of Classroom Training experience to really empathise with the state of the teachers who teach in a school that is in a locality that is largely inhabited by the tribal community. Within 3 weeks, I was exhausted trying to encourage to kids to show interest in studies and to attend classes regularly. I had run out of ideas to keep the class engaged. Heck, I was not even able to communicate effectively with the kids. And this was with just one class for two hours in a day. So, if I try to imagine the state of the teachers, who have to deal with the entire school for the whole year and have been doing the same thing for over 10 years, its even amazing that they find the energy and the courage to get out of bed every single day, travel more than 30 kilometers and face the same troubled faces and try to teach them whatever little they can to the kids. So now whom do I put the blame? Quite naturally, I decide to blame the kids. I blame them for not taking interest in the classes and being more interested in fighting with each other and missing classes for days together. I gave it my all in the previous one week, trying to keep the kids interested in the class. I tried stories, I tried songs, I tried dancing with them, I tried taking chart papers cut outs, I tried to deal with the kids in groups and individually, but no. The kids would not retain their interest for more than 10 minutes. They would start fighting, they would run out of their classes, they would bang their bags on the floor and bang the windows against the wall and make a racket loud enough to make me wanna scream my lungs out and ask them to shut up. Why? Why do they not pay attention to what I have to say to them? Why do they come as and when they want? But to find an answer for that, I didn’t have to look for too long. The kids have to walk for long distances to come to school, their parents aren't bothered whether or not they come to school, after school they are made to look after the cattle or sometimes they are asked to skip school and attend to their cattle. So, when the kids are not motivated to study at home, why on earth will they be motivated to study when I, a total stranger, ask them to? So, once again, I am left frustrated without having anyone to blame. Finally, my last hope is to blame the parents. The parents do not monitor their kids activities, they make them do work instead asking them to attend classes or study, they do not attend any of the meetings that the school calls for. Why are they so least bothered about their own children? Don’t they know that education is the surest and long term solution for their miseries? Why then is it that they ignore their kids education? Well, the answer, the one that I found, is simple. Stomach comes before anything else. If the family has to afford two meals a day, the father will have to go work in Udaipur/Ahmedabad as a daily wage labourer, the mother will have to work in the fields (if she is not sick, that is ) and the kids WILL HAVE to look after the cattle.

    So, there you have it. I have travelled to the lower most influencer of the standard of education in our country and I have noticed that there is not one person that I can blame (except for the government, of course). The frustration just keeps building, because there is so much inequality  in front of me and despite my strongest desire to set it right, I cannot do anything. I am left with only problems and frustrations. I am not able to think of any solution. That is even more frustrating!  However, this sort of frustration has helped me to be lot more considerate towards the teachers, towards the children and also, to an extent towards the members of the community. I now really know what the grassroot realities are.  Needless to say, it is evident that this country is so huge that working on the grassroots will take ages before any visible impact is seen. At the same time, it is so huge that it becomes easy to overlook these people who live in the unseen, unheard and unknown parts of the nation. But, the only thing that we need to see to is that we protect the dignity and right to basic needs of these people. They will take care of the rest. As it is, as of today, they are taking care of themselves without any real support from us. I am frustrated, yes. But, I cannot afford to stop; I cannot afford to throw up my hands. 

Because, after all,  for my country and my people I pledge(d) my devotion. 

PS- Those believing in One World can start an argument with me for my last line, but lemme assure you that i have started working on it. I am thinking about it, too. 

So, chill maadi, will you?