Vidyalaya se Bhojanalaya Tak
Some of my colleague insisted me start a class room teaching. They were fed up with my thoughts and wanted to be involved in real stuff. I was waiting for an occasion. It was the day of Raksha Bandhan. We conducted a healthy discussion on the topic "Raksha Bandhan se Rashtra ki Suraksha tak". We tied Raksha Sutra to one another and made promises to stay together and work for the welfare of nation. Then we went in Sirsoti village, five kilometer away from my hostel. This village was completely unknown to us. We just took some sacred threads and some sweets and entered in the villages. There are scattered homes. Ladies are sitting there milking their children. We felt awkward to talk them and went inside the villages. There were some children playing in the field in rags conditions. None of them looked clean. We called them. Initially they feared, but some of them daring ones approached us. We hugged them and tied the thread on their wrist. Then we gave them sweets. Suddenly many bunches of children started coming. One old man also came to what is going. We explained them about the wider importance of Raksha Bandhan and told about my plans to teach them. They all were very happy. To give jerk on their minds we recited Vande Mataram and they followed.
The very next day we started the program. We spent one hour every day. Within three days the number of children reached hundred. It was difficult for us to manage such a huge number. We also not wanted to discourage them for telling them not to come.
Although there are students from all classes, class one to tenth. But none of them can do simple mathematical calculation like addition, multiplication. Some of them are good in study, but the rest can’t read books. Half of them even don’t know how to read. So we plan to teach them so that they could learn to read and do simple mathematics. After that we have in mind that most of them will automatically will stop coming as we would stringent the rules.
Now the task was how to manage such a huge mass. We have very limited volunteers as we all have to go there after riding for 5 Kms. So we divided from class 4 to 10th into four groups. Two groups for girls and two groups for boys were made naming after Vivekand, Subhash, Laskmibai and Anusuya. One of them can read and do simple mathematics. The other group can’t read well. Again class one to third was divided into two parts one for girls and the other for boys.
Teach Themselves
We assigned two to three boys among themselves to help other to read and remember counting. We taught the rest of them. This process brought result and within a week much improvement was visible. Almost all of them learn to read and many of them remember counting. All got chance read for four two pages every day and that helped them develop reading habit.
We taught the rest to understand Hindi in better way to extract the meaning of writing and a bit difficult mathematics process.
We assigned the task to my colleague and moved on for other important work. As people lack confidence so the effect is also diffused. My colleagues asked me something concrete. Seeing the situation I suggested them to select a few good one and focus on them for some concrete result.
After a long interval I went that place. One woman came with her three children. First they feared but then introduced them to me. One of them was in class sixth. It was shocking that she can’t read a single line in her book. She went school daily for past 6 years. She appeared in all the examination and declared passed (I have made video of my conversation with her, but it is too big to insert here). This is an alarming situation. Such dubious education policy will distort our country.
For increasing attendance, our primary schools, which shapes the future India is turned into Bhojanalaya.
Some Facts about our Bhojanalaya:
1. Not a single student from any class can read fluently even Hindi. Some who inherent desire to study know better, they are also at very low standard.
2. None of them can do addition confidently.
3.None of them can write anything correctly.
4. None of them understand Hindi well. They don't know the meaning of simple words at all.
5. Not a single one of them have read ten pages (better say five pages) a day.
6. Although they don't know Hindi at all, they all always insist us to teach English. Their parents are asks for the same although most of them are illiterate.
Facts: Yes it is true, all students have to work at their home, like cooking and cleaning. But six hour in school is enough to make them educated persons. But sorry to my country, to my nation now schools are also involving them in cooking and feeding.
It is better for students to work in field, graze their goats in fields rather sit idle in schools.
Written by Shanta Kumar (3 Nov. 2010)
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