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Education
Teaching rural children
THE COUNTRY is yet to have a worthwhile debate on a workable school education policy, particularly upto the primary level. In fact, several schools exist only in name. They do not have even the basic infrastructure and the scenario in rural areas is worse. The Government has appointed teachers for the schools in rural areas. But most of them do not turn up to work, and those who do, hardly have any interest in developing the school. Several factors are responsible for this lack of interest on the part of the teachers. Quite a large number of them are women who have other responsibilities to look after. Several live in urban areas and have difficulty in reaching the remote areas where they are posted. Those teachers who are interested, are frustrated by the absence of even basic facilities and the indifferent attitude of the authorities.
Universalisation of primary education has failed mainly because only a fraction of students of school going age from the surrounding areas take advantage of this facility. Drop out rates are high and many parents are not sure whether education would help their children in becoming better farmers. Apart from these, there is as yet no uniform system of teaching, courses and books.
While talking of National School Educational (NSE), the basic need first is to evolve a teaching curriculum at the primary and high school level, which is nationally applicable. Standard textbooks relevant to the situation under which the village children are taught, should be developed after understanding the rural background. These books should be circulated among the children to see how they react and how much interest is aroused in them. Only after such an effort, should the standardised curriculum be translated by experts in regional languages and finalised for circulation. Thus standardisation of textbooks should be the first basic step for evolving the NSE policy.
Teachers also need some orientation to such a system. What they have learnt in higher institutions of learning is totally different from what they are expected to deliver to the rural children. In other words, if the present system of education is to be changed, there will also have to be a change in the pattern of education and training of teachers. In fact, one wonders whether there is any need for employing city bred teachers with higher education who usually turn out to be misfits in the rural surroundings. On the other hand, if the teachers come from rural background, who live in the vicinity of the schools where they have to teach, they would be able to do a better job. Local teachers who after high school education, have been exposed to a year's training would do. With the induction of such teachers who are close to the soil, the high drop out rate will also decline. In the enthusiasm to expand primary education quickly, certain basic aspects have been ignored. Thus the expansion of primary education should follow only after adequate facilities have been created; teachers must play a primary role in the spread of education.
V.S. MAHAJAN
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