The present observations are part my four years of visits to schools for variety of reasons: understanding, training, teaching, exhibition etc. Biking to these schools was equally exciting, make a road from nowhere. I would have interacted with at least 1000+ schools and about 2000+ teachers. It is wonderful to interact with the rural kids; most affectionate ones, so far in my life. I just loved being with them, teaching, and most of the times learning from them, dancing, singing, imitating, humor. I have also learnt about jackals, snakes, scorpions, centipedes. I understood about vegetation, seasons, fruits, forests. I have also heard stories about ghosts, bhootam, dayyam, importance of muhurtams and raahukaalam etc. Observations are very much related to observables. No quality parameters have been used. One may or may not disagree to my observations. No recommendations, I hear this word very sarkari in nature.
§ The attendance, retention and achievement rates (90%:90%:90%, look at their registers) in the visited schools are impressive (score cards say that). But transition from class 7 to 8 to a new school is an issue of concern. Many girls opt out at this juncture, due to travel costs. Being girls, is the biggest barrier to get higher education. What a misfortune? I could not do anything except, convincing parents, typical to a sarkari babu.
§ Records and registers including cash registers, and pass books are meticulously maintained.
§ There is ‘order’ in distribution of free textbooks, release of TLM grants and school grants. However, schools would get required ‘number of textbooks’, number is ensured. It could be that a school may get 100 textbooks of same class and same subject. But it would have been: 5 subject textbooks for 20 children. But ‘total number’ is maintained. Confused about my presentation, please contact me.
§ TLM grants are received at the end of academic year. One would submit Utilization Certificate (UC), for preparing / not preparing thermocol models, charts, flash cards etc. If prepared, never meant for children use. If used, how do you show that TLM grants are utilized? Poor teachers, in a fix. Poor children, scapegoats of the system.
§ Most of the schools present good picture (it was drought for the last 9 years!), quality of classroom environment, be it cleanliness, seating arrangement for pupils, ventilation in classrooms etc. Schools up to upper primary (1-5 or 1-7) have no play grounds! Most of the schools have boundary with a compound wall. Most of the schools lack sports equipment. Some schools do have drinking water facilities and toilet facilities are non existence to the kids.
§ Midday meal is running successfully in all the schools. The hygienic conditions of serving meals are ok. Where is Village Education Committee? Midday meals.
§ There are fewer schools with shortage of teachers, hey! There are volunteer teachers are appointed with a meager pay of 1500 per month without any support. Salaries are less than that of labour employed under EGS. 40:1 ratio is maintained. One could argue how this ratio is relevant.
§ All the regular teachers have undergone 21 days in-service training program. Please do not ask about the training content, methodology, facilities, facilitators etc. Can you imagine, three day computer training program without computers. It is all ‘real’. What to do, 21 days is mandatory! Poor trainers!
§ There is no academic support from the educational functionaries, it is only inspection. DIET faculty is hardly visits to schools, do not blame, there are only 15 of them and there are 5000+ schools.
§ Progress of civil works is fast. It is because most of the builders are form the same villages, mostly contractors or apna sarpanch. Functionaries do visit and ‘very’ serious about releasing funds. Head Teacher of that particular school is a bakra between contractor and functionaries, release of funds.
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