REACHING OUT TO THE MARGINS

Amongst the various causes behind India’s innumerable issues of social concern, unequal distribution of wealth or economic disparity is one of the major impediments when it comes to education. Where a metropolitan child gets fancy school accessories at the beginning of a new session at school, it is the deprivation of the same and much more which becomes the cause of dropping out of school for many in economically and socially inferior sections of the nation.

In such a scenario, it is not necessary that the contributors have to be million rupees worth corporate firms or international organizations. Initiatives taken by local communities and well to do schools in the metros can be yielding, if done with diligence and integrity.

It is said that education is not the answer to the question but the means to the answer to all questions. Identifying this as the launch pad for a wholesome qualitative education, UNICEF in collaboration with central and several state governments has kick-started a wide spectrum of innovative programmes. Supplementing the government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, GOI-UNICEF Elementary Education Programme focuses on enhancing schools effectiveness, eliminating gender and social disparity and reinforcing the resource base to confirm an emphatic scrutinization of the education system. When 13 students from the Valsad district of Gujarat wanted to shift from private schools to schools where ADEPTS (Advanced Education Performance through Teacher Support) supported by UNICEF was running, it was realized that when teachers are personally involved in improving the minimum basic conditions of the school system, students get attracted towards studies. Dr.Yogendra Mathur, UNICEF Representative of Gujarat said about their recent initiative that performance standards have been designed in a manner which caters to the expectations of the community.

Similar results were observed last year in the tribal regions of Orissa where the local schools were encouraged to integrate traditional methods of learning to increase their student base. SRUJAN, a special scheme under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and District Primary Education Project (DPEP) is founded on the idea of community building to develop education in socially marginalized regions of the country. Replacing rote learning which makes education a dead weight carried by students with innovative ways of teaching originating from their vested tradition and culture such as story telling reiterates the idea voiced by George Bernard Shaw – “What we want to see is a child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child.”

In a country which is characterized by startling gender bias, overcoming caste and class barriers without shunning gender discrimination would be a damp squib. Despite a surge in literacy rate from the 1950s, 90 million females are still illiterate. Therefore, it is important to realize the urgency of increasing the strength of girl students and their retention in the schools. Causes like lack of proper sanitation and awareness of hygiene maintenance during menstruation become the defining reasons for dropping out of schools. In association with TVS, UNICEF has launched sanitary napkin vending machines in the schools of Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu. This initiative, along with the rest of the programmes, can act as a source of inspiration for various flourishing schools in modern cities. They can participate in gender sensitization campaigns and weekly or monthly trips to government-run schools can be arranged where students from different stratum of society can interact and impart knowledge. The way Muslim girls in Lucknow ghettos put forward a manifesto which demanded relocation of schools near home, proper sanitation facilities in schools and a discussion in parliament on children issues, other states can follow suit

In addition to this, metropolitan schools respective of their geographical location can plan awareness campaigns in their district schools. Educational fairs can be organized by them where the district schools students could be invited to interact with their counterparts. Experiences like these for the students will teach them something which is difficult to learn in the four walls enclosed classrooms. Cultivation of such a symbiotic relation can become the foundation of a refined education system, characteristic of a healthy teacher-student relationship and burgeoning inquisitive minds.

When talking about quality education, the role of a teacher is the mainstay of such a project. Without the engagement of teachers, from taking a personal interest in the development of the students to making the classroom an enjoyable learning experience, the picture of a quality education system remains incomplete. Sometimes it is the lack of resources and infrastructure which cripples the teachers from giving their best. A substantial amount of their time and energy goes into doing work other than teaching. In such cases, conditioning of teaching and management skills of the teachers becomes a core imperative. Different schools, regions and communities have different and distinct requirements. First a clear identification, and then a systematic meeting of these requirements is what is needed to be initiated. This is what lied at the heart of the programmes started by UNICEF. If the same could be realized by the rest, one can only imagine the range of significant results it will bring with itself.

By :-
Harpreet Bhullar