 |
|
| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
|
Nice
building, fine students, few teachers |
|
|
Nice
building, fine students, few teachers As
the fragrance of fresh jaggery wafts up one’s being, I muse over the
philanthropy of a sensitive soul who having experienced poverty and
drudgery felt bound to alleviate the pain of others. As a child, he
experienced the pain of having to walk for miles to reach school.
After years of toil in a foreign land, Mr Baldev Singh felt that
gifting a middle school to his native village of Majatri could be one
way of watering the roots that had once nourished him.
As the car halts before the posh, tiled building, I gasp with amazement and pleasure. The furniture, toilets and playground are sparklingly well maintained. However, the pleasure is cut shot by the reality behind this curtain of polished exteriors. The little angels are not in their airy, painted classrooms, but sitting on the floor in the corridor. They are not from one class, but from two classes that are studying together. They have been carrying on in this manner for the whole year. "For the primary section, we have only three teachers for five classes," says a teacher. "Since its inception in 2001, the school has always seen children from different classes studying together." When I ask the teacher why aren’t the students seated inside the classroom, she answers sheepishly: "Two of the teachers are on leave and this is the only way I can keep an eye on both classes." "One teacher for five classes," I blurt out. She hastily says that the school indeed has another teacher, whose salary the other three teachers pay from their own pocket: a measly Rs 300. I look at the little sheep from the next two classes being herded under the watchful eye of this temporary teacher and an unattended class that is to appear for the board examinations in the coming session. Climbing the stairs, another sight of children sitting in the corridor greets me. The girls are on one side and the boys on the other, and standing in the door is another teacher managing two classes simultaneously, one in the corridor and the other inside the room. "We are two teachers for three classes and one is on leave today, so I have to manage these two classes. We have bridged the void in the teaching department somewhat by hiring another teacher, whose salary of Rs 700 per month we pay by contributing from whatever little we get." This school needs teachers of Punjabi, Hindi, physical education, agriculture science, home science and art-and-craft… and a principal, too. My daughter is already computer savvy in her third class in a city school, and here even though computers have been sanctioned, these have not found their way to the classroom even till class VIII. There I see small feet making their way to laboratories to spark off their interest in science and here I don’t find a single laboratory. Empty racks in the library beg for books, but there are none, as there is no grant. My spirits look up for a while when I see a newspaper in the school, but I soon learn that this, too, is paid for by the staff. Such is the apathy of the administration that after getting a beautiful building for free, they did not care to even hire a housekeeper/ sweeper for it. The ones that are here are courtesy the staff and the students, working for an abysmally low salary of Rs 350 each. The junior wing contributes Rs 5 each and the seniors Rs 10 each towards this salary. Even the electricity bill is paid from this fund. With so much penury around, midday meals are a distant dream. "We do as much as possible," say the staff, "Two of our students have been selected for studying in Navodaya Vidyalaya and our board result for class V has been 100 per cent. This is the first year when class VIII appears for their board examinations and we hope they do well. The attendance of all 107 students is almost full because we take them in class I without any formal admission, as poor parents cannot afford to pay for tuitions in a private nursery school." The students all want to be achievers. A gentle breeze takes me to my rural hometown where many things have changed. The students now want to study, nobody drops outs in the harvest season and parents are keen to send their children to school. The teachers have also become duty conscious. The village has come far from the days of cardigan-knitting teachers who would accept bucketful of milk from farmers as a price for moving their children into the next class. What has not changed is the government officials’ apathy, their insensitivity to the needs of the common rural man, the attitude that a well-groomed exterior (which hasn’t come from their efforts) absolves themselves of all responsibilities. They still think that those who have
not seen better need not be given the best. They are unable to
empathise with the aspirations of these fertile, intelligent minds
that want to do well in life. For them, it’s difficult to fathom
that students who start learning the alphabet in class I will find it
difficult to compete with their counterparts in cities. No one among
them has realised that mere literacy opens no vistas for employment,
that education is not a mockery. They should learn the meaning of
education from the boy who said he would like to become a doctor and
come back to practice in his village.
|
| HOME PAGE |
ADMISSION DEADLINE Engineering December 25 Indira Gandhi National
Open University (IGNOU), Post Bag No. 2, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068. Diploma in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (1-yr) Elig: Employed, 3-yr Dip in Mech/ Prodn/ Auto/Civil/ Electric/ Comp/ Chem/ Electron. Appln F: Send Rs 80/- by DD fvg "IGNOU" payable at the city from where it is reqd or d’load from website. Details: Website.
February 07 IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai
400076 (Mah) 1) Research Fellowship Elig: For
1: BTech/ BE/ MTech/ ME/ MSc/ MCom/ MA/MBA/ MBBS or equiv Selectn: Academic records, Interview. Details: Website
Indo-Danish Tool Room,
M-4, Phase-VI, Tata-Kandra Main Road, PO Gamharia, Jamshedpur-832108 Advance Certificate Course
on Inspection & Quality Control (6-mth) Elig: BSc (PCM; 45%)/ DME. Selectn: On merit Appln F: Send self-add stamped (Rs.15/-) env to the General Manager at above add. Details: Website. IT January 15 C-DAC, 2nd Foor, Delta
Chambers, Ameerpet, Hyderabad-500016 (AP) Diploma in Embedded System Design (5-mth) Elig: BE/ME (Electron/Elect/Electron & Comm/Electron & Instru/Comp Sc & Engg/Comp Engg/ IT)/ MSc (Electron) Selectn: Common Entrance Test: 23 January. Appln F & Details: D’load from website.
January 22 Indian Institute of
Information Technology (IIIT), 26/C, Electronics City, Hosur Road,
Bangalore 560100 PG Programme in IT (2-yr) Elig: BE/ BTech/ BSc (Engg)/ MSc/ MCA (1st Div). Selectn: Written Test: 06 March ’05 (8 centers incldg Del, H’bad, M’bai); Interview: 04-06 May ’05. Appln F: Send Rs 1000/- by DD fvg "Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore", payable at B ‘lore, with self-add env (9" x 12") to the Registrar at above add. Details: Website.
Management January 31 Institute for Integrated
Learning in Management (IILM), Lodhi Institutional Area, Lodhi Rd, New
Delhi 110003 PG Diploma in Business Management (2-yr) Elig: Bachelor’s deg. Selectn: CAT/ MAT/ XAT/ ATMA/ JMET/ GMAT scores, GD & PI. Appln F: At Counter Rs 600/- (cash) or d’load from website. Details: Website.
January 17 All India Management
Association (AIMA), Management House, 14, Institutional Area, Lodhi
Road, New Delhi 110 003 Management Aptitude Test (MAT)-January ‘05 Elig: Bachelor’s deg. Test: 06 February ‘05 Appln F: Send Rs. 590/- by DD fvg "AIMA-CMS, New Delhi", payable at New Delhi with two self-add slips/ adhesive stickers by 15 January ’05. Details: Website.
January 06 Institute of Management
Technology (IMT), D/o Distance Learning, PB No 137 Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad
201001 1) MBA (3-yr) 3) Diploma (Bus Admin/ Fin Mgt/ Materials Mgt/ Personnel Mgt/ Mrkt Mgt/ Export Mgt; 1-yr) Elig:
For 1 & 2: Bachelor’s deg Selectn: Admission Test: 09 January ’05. (At all IMT study centers) Appln F: Send Rs 750/- by DD fvg "Institute of Management Technology" payable at Ghaziabad with 2 self-add stickers to the above add or register online. Details: Website. Medicine January 31 Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation Training & Research (SV NIRTAR), Olatpur, PO Bairoi, Dist Cuttack 754010. (M/o Social Justice & Empowerment, GoI) (Oris) Postgraduate Course in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (3-yr) Elig: Completed rotary internship after MBBS & passed CET-NBE Jun ’04 & January-’05. Appln: Send bio-data with application to the Director at the above add.
January 21 Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Airport Rd, Vimanapura PO, Bangalore 560017 (Kar) MD (Aviation Med, 3-yr) Elig: MBBS (55%) & regd with State Med Counl. Selectn: Written test: 23 February ’05, Interview: 24 February ‘05. Appln F: Send Rs 500/- by DD fvg "Chairman, Selection Committee, IAM," payable at B’lore to above add by 05 January ‘05.
February 15 Apollo Hospitals Education
& Research Foundation, C/o Lifetime Wellness Rx. International Ltd.,
35 Sai Enclave, Avenue 1, Rd No. 12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034
(AP) PG Prog (1-yr;
Dist): Elig:
For 1: Bachelor’s deg (Medicine/Psychol/Bio-Sc/Atl-Med/Nutrition
& Dietetics/Physiotherap/ Phys Edu/ Nursing). Appln F: Send request for free prospects to Prof.Kennedy, Director (PPHC) to the above add by 15 January ‘05. Details: Website Recruitment December 31 Airports Authority of India, Western Region, CSI Airport, Mumbai 400099 Recruitment of Junior Assistant (Fire Service) Elig: 10+2, Heavy vehicle driving licence, Age: 18-30 yrs. Appln F: Send in prescribed format with Rs 100/- by DD fvg "Airports Authority of India (NAD)" payable at Mumbai, to The Regional Exec Director, at above add. Superscribe name of post on env. Details: Employment News (December 11-17)/ Website.
January 10 West Central Railway Sports Association, JDA Building, Civic Centre, Jabalpur (MP) Recruitment of Sports
Persons in Gr ‘C’ & ‘D’ Elig: For Grp ‘C’: Cl 10. For Grp ‘D’: Cl 8. Age: 18-25 yrs (on 01 January ‘05). Selectn: Trial & Interview. Details: Employment News (11-17 December).
Scholarships February 28 International Fellowships
Program, 12 Hailey Rd, New Delhi 110001 Ford Foundation
International Fellowships Program Appln F: Send request to above add. Details: website.
University Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh 202002 (U.P) Bachelor’s/ Master’s deg/ MPhil/PhD (various fields): Details: Website
University (Distance Education) February 28 Maharshi Dayanand
University, Directorate of Distance Education, Rohtak 124001 1) MCA (3-yr/ Lat entry in yr 2/ yr 3) 2) MBA (3-yr) 3) MSc (Comp Sc; 2-yr/ Lat entry in yr 2) 4) APGDCA (1-yr) 5) BCA (3-yr) Elig: For 1-4: Bachelor’s deg, For 5: 10+2. Details: Websites ———— Pervin Malhotra
|
