Education

Every day we see two Indias. One with Indians heading prestigious companies, one with high unemployment rates. One where children thrive in online classrooms, learning new digital skills and coding games and one where 15-year olds struggle with reading from a children’s picture book. As a country we have taken gigantic strides, while leaving so many of our own behind. The real status of literacy in India  One morning, I saw my maid’s daughter, who was educated in an English medium school and is pursuing her Bachelor’s in commerce, struggle to read and understand a story meant for Grade 2…

With each passing year, the government owes private schools the reimbursements for students taken in free of cost under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The amount has racked up to around a crore for some schools, with several school associations alleging Rs 1,200 crore is due in total. “Last year, we received the RTE reimbursement for the academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18,” says Anushka Pradhan, head of primary at Gyan Kendra school in Andheri. The school takes in 52 new students from financially and socially weaker backgrounds with the promise of a free education till the eighth grade every…

Sakthi Vel N was on his way home from Kodambakkam on a busy night. He was stopped by the police personnel who asked him where he was from, to which he responded that he was from Vyasarpadi. Without any second thought, the police seized his bike. They asked him to go to the police station to collect his bike. "I had all my documents right there but that was apparently not enough. The fact that I am hailing from Vyasarpadi was enough for the police personnel to judge that there would be criminal cases against my name," said Sakthi Vel.…

The POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, was enacted in 2012. The Act aims to protect children under the age of 18 from offences of child sexual abuse and sexual harassment committed by adults. Despite the protections offered by this Act, cases registered under POCSO in Chennai have been on the rise as per the National Crime Records Bureau. Every other day there are news items of harrowing instances of child abuse. In many cases, the offenders turn out to be family members or staff at the school. Those entrusted with the welfare of children abuse the trust placed…

Schooling isn't always a uniform affair in Bengaluru. The quality of education varies with the school examination board, the syllabus, and whether the institution is run by the state or not. I spoke with the headmistress and teachers of a government secondary school in Byatarayanapura to get an insight into how their students are faring in their studies. The challenge of attendance Quadrangle of a Government School in Bengaluru. Pic: Sherin Sunny The stigma surrounding the quality of education in government schools is the primary reason for a lower enrolment rate. Suma (name changed), the headmistress of the government secondary…

Time spent in school during our formative years plays a crucial role in how we turn out as adults. This was certainly true for me. My ambitions ranged from being a 'symbologist' after reading Dan Brown to a chemist, after scoring the maximum marks in the subject. I am now a journalist, working a job that sates my curiosity and pays the bills. Many of my dreams and aspirations germinated because my school shaped my exposure to subjects, people and experiences. However, in retrospect, I also wish it had helped me become more aware of myself and the realities of…

Amidst books and puzzles, children from grades 3 to 11 and 12, mill around Vismaya Kalike, a community learning centre in Anjanapura. They organise themselves into groups, with a volunteer in tow, depending on what they want to learn about for the day. Vismaya Kalike, an after-school support initiative, which stresses community-based learning, enables a democratic, inclusive and enriching learning space for them. Children come from all nearby areas, majority of them are from a settlement in Anjanapura. Organisations that promote community-based learning have emerged as an important link in ensuring that children, especially those on the socio-economic margins, receive…

With private schools making education unaffordable or inaccessible for many, public or government schools are becoming instrumental in laying the foundation for literacy, numeracy, and engagement for students. Despite this, there are still issues about their accessibility and reach. The question of safe access to schools, even within a kilometre's distance, needs to be addressed. "While we do have schools within a radius of one or two kilometres, the question is how many of them are government schools and accessible to the urban poor? Especially for parents from poorer backgrounds, who cannot take time off to drop their children off…

Learning outcomes in government schools have been greatly impacted by the pandemic. There has also been a record number of enrollments in government schools in the city due to the economic impact of COVID-19. To improve the prospects of students in government schools in Chennai, fluency in English has also been made a key focus, with English classes being piloted across government schools. A tailor-made programme for government school students to gain proficiency in the English language has also been launched by Citizens for Law and Democracy (CLAD). We currently operate in three schools in Chennai, reaching out to nearly…

Did you know that the launch of textbooks in Hindi on anatomy, biochemistry and physiology for first-year MBBS students, to presumably replace the ones in English that have been used historically, will convert India’s “brain drain” into “brain gain”? How exactly that will happen is not clear. But so said Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a launch function of these books in Bhopal last month. There was plenty of other rhetoric by various speakers at the function. Including invoking Nelson Mandela, who was quoted as having said “If you talk to someone in a language, it reaches their brain.…