| After a round of improvements in one of the schools adopted by Sikshana, I tried to get some feedback on our efforts. I went to the school early one morning and started talking to Deepa, a really smart kid in one of the classes. I asked her to identify among the changes we had introduced the one which had struck her as being the most important one. She said, "You have given us a few more teachers, and now we have one just for our class." I asked, "Is this change more important than the mid-day meals we are providing now?" She said, "Sir, the food is important to many of us who do not get enough to eat at home.
But then, we always managed with the food we did get at home. When we come to the school, we come with the aim of studying and making something of our lives. We can do this well only if we have a full-time teacher to look up to and get all our questions answered. Also, the teacher keeps the class in order so that the majority of us who want to concentrate on studies can do so, without being disturbed."
I asked Deepa, "What is the next most important thing for improvement of the class and the school?" She said, "We need a little space around us in the class room, it is so cramped here. Our teachers are very good and they put in lot of effort to help us. But, there is so much jostling among us that she has to spend a large part of her time just trying to maintain order, she cannot teach much".
Postscript:
The girl was just 10 years old, but she was astute enough to pin-point the two basic faults in the public school system. A child needs a teacher to herself/himelf. And the child needs some space - physical and psychological - all around to enable him/her to grow. That is what the school is all about for a child. If we can throw in such a nurturing environment, the kids and the teachers will go all the way and do the rest.
A point to ponder: In an Industry, a good CEO will lay great emphasis on keeping a finger on the pulse of the worker in the trenches. Why is it that we see so little evidence of this culture in the educational sector?
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