Show me a single child who looks forward to go to school. I can bet my life there will be exceptionally and precious few. The vast majority only exhibit initial enthusiasm which wanes rapidly when reality stares starkly in the face. And what is true for the students is equally if not more true for the teachers and parents alike. In the name of education it is one terrible nightmare for all involved.
The selective increase in the work hours have only resulted in the children neither having their breakfast properly nor their lunch. The mid day meal too have few takers. Let Amir Khan remind or The World Bank estimate that India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition. We have to increase the work hours. And though the quantitative jump in terms of hours has in no way shown a direct co-relation to a qualitative jump in the holistic development of the child. It has helped. It has only helped in negatively impacting the health of the children. And though concrete conclusion cannot be drawn an empirical study in this direction should be initiated.
Normally, an ideal student teacher ratio is 1:30. The government has revised the pupil-teacher ratio in state schools in consonance with the Right to Education Act. Thus, in lower primary schools it is 1:30 and in the upper primary schools it is 1:35. Kerala has 1:21 which is commendable. In Goa as customary, we are yet to achieve this target.
Ignoring the teacher-student ratio in other words defeats the very tenets of Continues Evaluation of the child. It becomes a futile mechanical exercise. Yes, the teacher has to cater to students that is humanely beyond her ambit. Keeping track of forty–fifty or more youngsters is seriously maddening. I can’t regulate two brats at home imagine an entire battalion demanding your attention. Attendance, presentations, corrections, examinations, paper setting, sports, Annuals, PTA, and the list seems endless. Of course training in the given situations helps but miracles is what is warranted.
Infrastructure is one big issue that is conveniently ignored. I remember our school teachers insisting we keep the windows and ventilators open to ensure not only natural light but a good cross flow of fresh supply of air. We had play grounds and we had drills, assemblies, matches, games and plenty of oxygen. Today, four walls with a miserly fan and a tube light is passed off as classrooms and children packed like sardines are expected to sit for hours together. Such gas chambers are expected to stimulate the young minds and create Albert Steins.
If mid meals are garnished with lizards and cockroaches, and little children are brutalized and burnt and locked up in cupboards. Then, a review needs to be undertaken as to whether this Mid-Day Magic has any takers and what is the nutritional value. Why are children not given fresh fruits or dried fruits. Nutrients are more concentrated in dried fruits, most are rich sources of carbohydrates, dietary fibre, potassium and iron. Maybe, it is time to seriously start giving this form of meals which children will enjoy and also root out miseries.
Finally, “No Detention Policy’ will make sense provided the above issues are not ignored. They are interlinked. Reduce work hours, maintain student-teacher ratio, put infrastructure in place, serve nutritional dried fruit meal and make the environment conducive for study. Until then keep fingers crossed and pray for the promised ’Ache din’.
