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India, millions of poor children access education only through
government schools. But these schools are often neither engaging nor
innovative. Is it possible to change the rot in government schools? Is
it really possible to convert the stuffy classrooms into spaces where
children really learn with joy? Cynics would contest this, knowing
the poor quality of education in most government schools. But a recent
book, Improving Government Schools: What has been tried and what
works — edited by Mandira Kumar and Padma M Sarangapani —
tempts us to believe that a long-lasting change in the system is
possible.
The book is the result of a documentation project done by
Sutradhar, a Bangalore-based educational centre. Sutradhar undertook
the project to document various ‘intrusions’ in government
schools. The 23 initiatives presented in the book go beyond the
individuals and organisations to understand the design of the
interventions themselves, and the processes — both within the
organisation and on the field.
Take PRISM (Project in Science and
Maths), which aimed to energise government schools in Maharashtra, a
joint effort of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Homi
Bhabha Centre for Science Education. The project focused on
strengthening the teachers’ abilities to teach subjects like science
and mathematics. For example, while teaching a lesson on ‘Tame and
Wild Animals’, teachers normally put usefulness of domestic animals
against the fierceness of wild animals. But PRISM encouraged teachers
to start a debate in the class by posing the question: ‘Can tigress’
milk be used by humans?’ It generated lively discussions. Children
had to put in a lot of effort and think about what taming an animal
involves.
Another NGO, Suvidya from Bangalore, developed a maths lab
of 100 items — about 65 materials and 35 charts — to make
mathematics interesting and enjoyable. (Some of the lab material was
made with old greeting cards. The folk game chowkabhara was
adapted for mathematical problems.) The lab encouraged children to
take initiative, ask questions, and even feel free to correct the
teacher.
The School Health Education Programme in Thane district,
Maharashtra, initiated by the Foundation for Research in Community
Health, used children’s own bodies as teaching aids. For example,
the heart was drawn on the body of a child indicating the exact
location and size. Children heard their own heart beat, felt their
pulse, used a magnifying glass to observe teeth, hands, skin and
flies, and used a thermometer to measure body temperature.
The
Centre for Learning Resources — again in Maharashtra — devised a
novel project of interactive radio. The distance teacher does the bulk
of the teaching, directs activities such as exercises and songs, and
answers questions that are raised within the lesson. There are time
slots during the broadcast for children to respond to questions, or
dialogue with each other. The class teacher facilitates this process
and adds to it after the lesson is over. It thus turns the
traditionally one-way technology of radio, into a two-way one. This
technology helped rural children cope with their fear of learning and
speaking English.
Interestingly, many of the initiatives are
confined to a few states — Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and
Karnataka. The editors were surprised not to find any remarkable
experiments in states like West Bengal, Orissa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
— where NGOs have a strong presence.
In 1986, NGO Eklavya in
Madhya Pradesh began the groundbreaking task of making the school
social science curriculum more meaningful and interesting for
children, and to help learners face reality. The Prathmik Shiksha
Karyakram, known as Prashika, grew from an experiment conducted by
Eklavya. It developed the Khushi-Khushi (happiness) series of
textbooks for Classes I to V in regular Hindi language. The local
history, geography and culture form an integral part of the content.
These textbooks have an abundance of illustrations, games, riddles,
poems and puzzles that invite children to learn.
The Concerned for
Working Children, an NGO based in Karnataka, has been one of the first
in the country to look at the complexities and interrelationships
between child labour and education. Their programme helps to address
the everyday situation of government schools such as multigrade
learning, absenteeism, the needs of special groups such as children
with disabilities or slow learners, and children from disadvantaged
families who need relevant education.
Valmiki Vanam is the first ‘satellite
school’ established with the initiative of the Rishi Valley Rural
Education Centre (REC) in Andhra Pradesh. The children who study here
come from poor Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe villages. There are
17 such satellite schools. Dr Radhika Herzberger, Director, REC,
envisages the development of the village school as a kind of village
commons: a new kind of public space in the village, nurturing and
rejuvenating the traditional commons and wastelands that a village
has.
Curriculum built around local issues could offer a solution to
social conflicts of our times. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar
Pradesh and Assam governments have replicated this pedagogy in their
schools and have begun to bring in the much-awaited change.
Studies
of various initiatives indicate that providing computers to government
schoolchildren is seen as a step towards digital equality, and a way
to attract children to school. There is also a growing trend among
corporate houses to set up trusts and foundations that can directly
engage with social issues. Many of them recognise education as the key
to socio-economic progress. They have provided computer labs to
schools and have trained teachers in using computers.
Clearly, all
projects were ultimately dependent on how the teachers received these
intrusions. Their sustenance also depended on gaining additional
spaces for teachers for academic and professional work within the
school system.
Although few in expanse, the 23 initiatives give a
wonderful idea about how enjoyable learning in government schools can
be. The dream to make poor children learn with joy is still within
reach. — WFS
The writer is a former Director of the National
Book Trust
