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How brighter schools in Indian villages can make learning a happier experience

Bharat Dogra is impressed by the work being done under the HRIDAY Project in an underdeveloped region of Jharkhand. He finds that the students are happier and able to learn better in the more cheerful surroundings, supported by digital methods and libraries. Steps have also been taken to improve the functioning of village-level school committees. There is a literacy campaign for women, and adolescent girls and youth are encouraged to be involved in health and social issues

Any visitor to Dihri School, located in a remote village in Hussainabad Block of Jharkhand’s Palamau District, is in for a surprise. There are big-screen TV sets in some rooms, a well-stocked library, brightly-painted classrooms, a good water-station and toilets, and a well-equipped kitchen where mid-day meals for the children are cooked.

The Dhiri institution is not a one-off. The nearby Mahuari School has the same bright ambience, and the added advantage of a baal sansad or children’s parliament. Shriya, the girl elected as ‘prime minister’, says she makes sure things are OK at the school, while the ‘deputy PM’ says she helps the ‘PM’ do her job properly.

The school in Lotaniyta Village is similarly well-equipped and has good facilities for playing. Nikki, a college student, compares the present situation with what it was when she attended the school five years back: “Overall, conditions in the school were very dull then. When I see the school now, I tell myself, ‘Wow, how I wish all this had happened in our time!’” These changes have been introduced in the course of the last three years under HRIDAY (Holistic Rural Initiatives for Development Action and Yield), a development project being implemented by the voluntary organisation Sahbhagi Shikshan Sansthaan with financial support from LIC Housing Finance Limited.

Such changes have been introduced in almost all the ten villages of the area covered by HRIDAY. Clearly, the students are happier and are able to learn better in the more cheerful surroundings, supported by digital methods and libraries. Steps have also been taken to improve the functioning of village-level school committees. However, it cannot be said that all needs of the schools have been satisfactorily met. HRIDAY has done its best within its limited means, but more remains to be done.

Teachers in some of the schools complain that there are just two or three teachers for 8 to 10 classes. They also have to deal with a lot of paperwork. Maintaining the quality of mid-day meals is another issue. One teacher said only a paltry Rs 5.45 was made available per meal per child, and providing quality food with that amount was not possible. Also, the cooks who make the food are paid only Rs 2000 per month and even this is often delayed.

Nevertheless, HRIDAY’s contribution to improving the experience of schooling is commendable. In addition, it has started a literacy campaign for women, and organises adolescent girls and youth into groups, encouraging them to be more involved in health and social issues. Vocational skills too are imported under the project. An important component in the initial stage of the project was the special classes arranged for those children who had not been able to go to attend school or had dropped out at a very early stage. These functioned as ‘bridge schools’, equipping children to join mainstream institutions.

Various activities and mobilisation initiatives under HRIDAY, with special emphasis on weaker sections, have also led to broader implications, such as weakening of discriminative practices and facilitating the mingling and interaction of various social groups. This has a very positive impact on social life generally and also provides children and teenagers opportunities of growing up in a more equal and non-discriminating world.

(The writer is a senior freelance journalist and author who has been associated with several social movements and initiatives. He lives in New Delhi.)

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