Marmara on public education

4th July 2016

Indalwadi Government High School, Anekal

 

The image as one approached Indalwadi Government High School located in a rural environment, in an open and a cleared space and surrounded by trees, the noon sun bearing on the children, the girls dressed in green skirts and blouses, two plaits tied neatly in green ribbon bows sporting marigolds and roses in contrast to  the boys in plain green trousers and checked shirts and all in stark contrast to what perhaps one would have witnessed in a private school or in the city.
The innocence of children from rural areas was like a breath of fresh air.

The Marmara began with an invocation to Lord Ganesha, seeking his blessings to remove all impediments thereafter which one of the teachers spoke about how the Marmara was an unusual programme when compared to the other programmes held in the school.

Welcoming the children and appreciating their cheerful demeanor in spite of  the daily hardships they had to endure to come to school, Mamta cajoled and urged them to speak about their lives, aspirations and challenges even while reminding them that the institution/school was established by the elders present with great difficulty as they had to clear the place of rocks and trees.

Marmara found acultural resonance and rootedness in the children’s forthright and spontaneous responses to it’s meaning that “it gives us shade, shelter and fruits” which helped to explain and connect the metaphor of the tree to the teachers and their importance in our lives.

The former GP president and a farmer comparing his past with today’s facilities for children, shared his memories of the hardships that they had to face to educate themselves, of having  had to walk to the Government school amidst rain and sunshine, with no footwear, protecting their books; of how they could have only one meal a day and a bath once in ten days. He pointed out that while life is still not so rosy, today’s children are at least provided free meals, books and uniforms and they do not have to work in the fields and then go to school like in those days.

Following this, the children hesitantly spoke, one after the other, their aspirations and their needs; aspirations that were small, rooted and real that looked beyond oneself towards the well being of the entire community.

While many expressed their desire to become a teacher and contribute to the field of education, there were also others who wanted to be a social worker, police officer, an IAS officer. In particular, there was a young girl Nandini who aspired to be a social worker and in whom one could see the seeds of it. She said:

I want to be a social worker and do good for society. My friend here comes from Choodahalli. She is a good student and studies well. But she misses her classes sometimes as there is no proper bus facility. We have water and electricity problems too in our village.

Choodahalli village does not want to send children, especially girls, to school because there are no proper buses and the route is through a forest.

Another girl from Karkatta requested the government to consider upgrading the primary school nearby to a high school so that children from the surrounding villages need not commute to distant Indalwadi.

The discussion then veered towards what they considered as poverty; were they happy to study in the government school or whether they would like to go to private schools; do they undervalue themselves because the medium of teaching is in Kannada – which threw up interesting responses such as

• poverty meant to sleep on the road, to have no clothes and no sufficient food to eat
• they do not feel the need to go to private schools as their teachers take care of them as their own
• they were proud to study in a Kannada medium and did not feel inadequate. In fact, they were proud that theirs was the only school which boasted  of having a music class and that too folk music

The children’s attitudes were an expression of their self-confidence and in the communities that they belonged to.

They also spoke confidently to the village representatives present there about the  recent deaths (six) due to chikungunya caused by open drains; of a snake in the water tank which they all depended upon for their household needs  - all which indicated an awareness and a concern about their surrounding environment and to the village that they belonged to.

The Dalit activist and poet applauding the children for their aspirations reiterated through songs and anecdotes, the importance and value of human ties and bonds, of relationships, of simple living which are being frayed in a world that is buckling under pressure and stress, hurtling towards the destruction of our mind, body and soul. He narrated a small story of Einstein to drive home the point that if we do not treasure our villages, we will be destroyed. Einstein, he said, who when asked by a journalist as to what he would like to be born as in his next life, responded by saying: I would like to be born to a carpenter and to live beside a river in a small hut, away from modernity

The meeting concluded with the Village representatives promising that they would do their utmost to provide the facilities such as the promised roof over at least  a part of the open school ground, good roads, buses, water, to cook the mid-day meal in their school etc which the children had brought to their notice and the Block Resource Person (under the Education Department)  assuring them of teachers to be appointed for the vacant posts and to repair the computers.

 

Participating in the Marmara were the Taluk and Gram Panchayat (former and present) members, Block and Cluster Resource Persons, Dalit activist and the teachers of the school.

Nearly 200 girls and boys belonging to class VIII to class X participated in the programme.

Photos of the Marmara on public education >>