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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Get the basics right-Madhavi Kapur

Get the basics right-Madhavi Kapur

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published Published on Apr 25, 2012   modified Modified on Apr 25, 2012

We need a properly defined strategy to integrate poorer children into schools

For millions of children, it is a struggle to get to school, to stay in school and to make sense of what is happening in the classroom. After visiting many homes in rural and urban India, I have realised that learning to read without decent instruction, without enough nutrition, without electricity and water, without a place to keep your possessions or a corner to do homework, without a parent who knows what is expected and a peer group that challenges and motivates, is quite a miracle, deserving of applause.

Twenty-five per cent seats in government and private schools have now been reserved for children from the economically weaker sections. But just admitting the children into these schools is not enough. We need a properly defined strategy to support, include and integrate them.

A full-time person with the requisite training and skills, possibly a social worker, is needed to have a continuous dialogue with both children and parents. Parents who have not been to school would have little idea of the logistics of “elite” schools and could be completely out of their depth. They need information, mentoring and reassurance. Schedules for meetings, annual days and outings need to be explained. This takes time and patience, in short a dedicated person. At the same time, children must remain rooted in their communities. There is a danger of them withdrawing from their parents and peers and becoming disconnected and confused. The social worker has to watch out for this and encourage children to be proud of their parents, who may be different from the parents of their friends.

The schools should encourage the use of the mother tongue for some activities. Songs and stories in the mother tongue can help to bridge the divide between mind and heart, home language and school language. That is helpful for parents too. When parents themselves have had only rudimentary education, bilingual books from the school library can draw them in and empower them to participate in this new world to which they are losing their child. I have seen parents teaching themselves to read English by this method.

For many children who have no access to English in their environment, extra instruction in a remedial class during school hours becomes necessary. This can and should be supplemented by coaching during summer vacation. I have observed that during that long break, if the children have no stimulating material at home, they forget almost everything they have learnt in the past year. Hence, there can be an intervention during holidays when children have a proper structure to their day, have free run of the school for a month, learn some concepts and skills before the rest of their classmates and get a leg up.

It is not surprising that many private schools are apprehensive about the 25 per cent quota for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds as mandated by the Right to Education Act. It is going to rock the boat. It will mean more work and expenditure. Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said the government will pick up the tab, but it will not be sufficient to cover the real cost. Schools will have to raise resources for the enrichment programme if they want the integration to go deep. Investment in sensitising the staff to the unique difficulties of the new classroom is also unavoidable.

Sensitive and socially responsible schools have been inclusive in the past. Convent schools have reserved places for the poor. Various strategies have been employed to create access for all in schools like St Xavier’s, Delhi, and La Martiniere, Lucknow. Study Hall in Lucknow runs a parallel school for underprivileged girls every afternoon. Sanskriti School, Delhi, has an afternoon shift for boys and girls, and seniors from the morning shift help out by teaching and conducting activities.

Much more is required. More research on the emotional, social and academic difficulties faced by “mainstreamed” children with social and economic challenges is needed. How different educators have dealt with these problems and found solutions needs to be documented. This will empower the government to push the agenda of education for all, acknowledging the very real challenges as well as supporting schools with advice and mentoring.

Good intentions are not enough. We must back them up with an action plan that fills in the learning gaps and makes resources available to the teacher who has to implement the act in her classroom.

The writer runs an inclusive school, Aman Setu, in Pune

The Indian Express, 25 April, 2012, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/get-the-basics-right/941065/0


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