Any visitor to Dihri school, located in a remote village of Hussainabad block of Palamau district, is in for a surprise. There are big-screen TV sets in some classrooms with inverters and one can easily connect to any lesson of any subject on the TV screen in a matter of minutes. There is a separate library room well-stocked with books. The classrooms are brightly painted with pictures relevant to lessons of various classes. The water-station and toilets have been improved. The kitchen where the mid-day meal is cooked has been re-furnished and the stock of utensils has increased.
Move over to the nearby Mahuari school, and again you find the same bright surroundings, with the added provision that this school also has a baal sansad or child parliament. Shriya, the girl elected as Prime Minister, says she, well, looked after the school to ensure things are OK, while the deputy PM says that she helped the PM do her job properly.
The school in Lotaniyta village is also well-equipped with all this and has better facilities for playing. A college-going girl Nikki compares her days in this school with the situation prevailing when she went to this school about five years back—overall conditions in the school were very dull then. When I see the school now I tell myself—wow how I wish all this had happened earlier in our time.
These changes have been introduced in the course of the last three years of a development project HRIDAY which has been implemented by a voluntary organization Sahbhagi Shikshan Sansthaan with financial support from LIC-Housing Finance Limited.
Such changes have been introduced to a slightly lesser or greater extent in almost all the ten villages of the area covered by HRIDAY. Clearly the students are happier and are able to learn better in more cheerful surrounding, supported by digital methods and libraries. Steps have also been taken to improve the functioning of village level school committees.
Still it cannot be stated that all needs of schools have been satisfactorily met. Within its resources HRIDAY has done its best, but such a development project can only make those improvements that are in its range and obviously cannot solve all the problems.
As the teachers of some schools complained, there are just two or three teachers to teach 8 to 10 classes. In addition these teachers are saddled with a lot of paper work which has to be completed in time as a priority. Then there are also problems related to maintaining quality of mid-day meals. A teacher after examining some papers said that only Rs. 5.45 are available per mid-day meal served to a child so how can we ensure quality. The cooks engaged for preparing these meals are paid only Rs. 2000 per month and this payment is often delayed.
So while the many-sided improvements under this project are appreciated by teachers, students and community members, there are also other wider issues relating to the improvement of these schools that deserve attention.
Nevertheless the important contribution made by HRIDAY for improving basic facilities as well as brightening up these schools deserves support and praise. As a result of the efforts of this project the learning possibilities in these schools have certainly improved in brighter conditions.
In addition there has been a literacy campaign among women while groups have been organized for adolescent girls and youth, contributing to their increasing involvement in health and social issues. Vocational skills have been imparted in several special educational courses of this project. Coaching classes have been organized for students to improve their learning levels further.
An effort which was particularly important in the initial stage of the project was to arrange special classes for those children who had not been able to go to school or else had dropped out at a very early stage. These functioned as a kind of bridge school which equipped these students to later join mainstream schools.
However the educational impact of HRIDAY has also extended to a higher level as its various activities and mobilization with special emphasis on weaker sections have led to weakening of discriminative practices and more frequent mingling and interactions of various social groups. This has a very positive impact on social life generally and also provides children and teenagers opportunities of growing up in a more equal and non-discriminating world.
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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth. His recent books include A Day in 2071, Protecting Earth for Children and Man over Machine. He is a regular contributor to Global Research and Asia-Pacific Research.