Sneak Peek into the Classroom

Today It was Ruksana's  first day in class at the ngo's school.She blushed and her smile couldn't be any wider as she controlled her excitement to come back to school again. I was informed that she was not able to attend school for 2 months in betwen  as her father did not have any job and they were just moving around a term for displaced unorganized workers. Most of the kids who study in the ngo are children of the migrant labourers, hence there is no certainty of their admission throughout the year as they leave the city with their parents. Recently a report was released by Kapil Sabil based on a survey by Pratham that pointed out the falling learning and reading abilities of students. This was happening when the enrollment and attendance ratio was rather improving. This made me wonder how much are the schools helping these students to enhance their knowledge? What is the advantage of spending huge amounts of money as its not translating to its require purpose ?

I thought to myself  how difficult it is for children like Ruksaana to catch up ?  As i spent a week teaching her,she needed to be taught all lessons of addition and multiplication again. How can the students be expected to have even 'decent' mathematical knowledge if they don't have access to schools because of the migrant nature of their parents job? This calls for policy making considering ground realities and not just opening up large number of schools at any location. If elementary schools can be opened near the construction sites ( like provided by this ngo) , it can surely make a big difference. 

Coming to another issue. A large number of students had come from China for a month to work in this Ngo. They mentioned about their inability to teach as the students were not comfortable in English. Given these times when English has become such an important language,  emphasis should be paid to teach English in these schools seriously so that the children are not at a disadvantage. Consequently  the Chinese cohort  could focus on physical education only! The students had a great time dancing and exercising to the tunes of  Chinese Music. However one should note that an excessive emphasis on English language should not be given. The basic concepts and lessons must be taught in their mother tongue only so that the child can comprehend. This will make sure that he doesn't have to rely on 'rote learning'. English must be taught to these children to make them competitive but as a additional language not as a medium.

One of my suggestion to ensure that how much regularity can affect in knowledge gained can be seen from this boy's story. Vinayak (see below)  the 'brightest' had  all the answers to my questions and could very well converse in English ( these kids are taught English). The reason for his great performance is regularity. His father has been working as laborer at a construction site in Delhi or at nearby places and is thus he is able to attend school.To make the students at par with any other Student in a metropolitan cities , the government should make sure to locate schools strategically  so that every child enjoys the learning process and government's efforts are not in vain.