... for they have their own thoughts - Multiworld India

502005 Goa, IndiaFreedom is reallywhere alternativeeducation begins.– Stephen SmithTHE COMMUNITY LEARNING MOVEMENT (CLM): PRACTICEOn the second Tuesday of every month, if youhappen to be at Budramatti (near the campus ofthe Karnataka University’s Humanities and Economicsextension departments in the outskirts of Belgaumon the Pune Bangalore highway), you will notice alone figure with cap and sun glasses make his wayon a motor cycle on dusty terrain and wobbly tracksthrough the open scrubland of the hills behind the‘university’. This is Dileep Kamat, facilitator of thecommunity learning movement, making his way toone of the cluster of hill top villages.Kadoli, Katttanbhavi, Bambarge, Godihal,Ningyanatti, Idelhond, are small villages that havehad a along standing association with two sons ofthe soil: Dileep Kamat and Shivaji Kaganikar.Dileep Kamat hails from a family of freedomfighters and is a social activist, educator andGandhian and his close friend and brother in armsShivaji Kaganikar is a shepherd by birth, a Gandhianby choice, a highly sensitive educator by defaultand a justice seeker by genetic compulsion.The CLM participants have also prepared themselvesfor the day. All routine chores would havebeen attended to early. Animals fed, grazed,milked, sheds washed, gardens watered, farmsattended to. Since a common meal is also cookedat the end of ‘lessons’ with provisions brought fromtheir homes, a few would have reached early to setthe fire place and gather some dry fuel from around.About half a dozen youngsters still in middle schoolmiss classes for the day to participate. Walking adistance of three to seven kms from the neighbouringvillages, youngsters begin to converge at thetemple by around 10.30 am – their temple of wisdomfor the day. About 20 are enrolled; it is a mixed agegroup of young adults and teenagers. The youngest,Pintoo, aged eleven, is a student of class six.CLM is conducted in any one of these cluster ofvillages by rotation and prior decision. The venue isusually the premises of the village temple or communityhall. And on a pleasant day, it may beconducted out in the fields under a shady tree.Interactive sessions begin at 11 am with aprayer. The atmosphere is alive and informal, withgenerally a circular seating arrangement on a mat.Mid way however, the youngest ones may decideto take a walk to bring down a few mangoes from anear by tree, move away to sit perched on a tree towatch a busy squirrel, a circling eagle or flittingbutterfly.Very often visiting city folk come to witness thedynamics of the CLM with their kids.At these times the youngsters are always keen toteach the visiting city kids how to knock downmangoes, pick berries without being bruised bythorns, play marbles, spin tops, fly kites and play anindigenous checker game with tamarind seeds andpieces of coloured broken bangle.The topic of the day usually evolves from theprevious session and is previously decided. Thishelps, as everyone would have a month’s time todiscuss, contemplate and analyse a given issue forthemselves. The day’s collective session would bringtogether each ones understanding of the issue fromtheir perspective, context and level of comprehension.With Dileep as facilitator and Shivaji as theinsightful animator the group progresses from,presentation to discussion, role play, jest and veryoften a heated debate to make a point. Sincethese youngsters have been actively involved in thislearning process and have learnt the art of thinkingfor themselves (which is so rare in persons educatedin the main stream) it is not surprising to have sessionsconclude in a stale mate. All however acknowledgeand respect individuality and agree todisagree.Chart paper with coloured pens are used todemonstrate and articulate opinions and ideas inwords, diagram and drawing. Topics covered could