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impedes retention in school is the teachers’ harsh treatment of and negative attitudes towards the
children and their families, and not just poor infrastructure. What continued to surprise us was
that despite all odds children wanted to be in school. In Karnataka, the best school, the one most
liked by the children, runs in a temporary building! A teacher who is liked attracts children to
school and becomes the single most important factor.
Box 22: Do current strategies need reconsideration?
There are around 44 boys and girls in the tribal village who are studying in the residential
schools, or staying in the tribal welfare hostels and studying in government schools in several
mandals of the district. Of these 13 boys go to the Gurukul residential school run by the tribal
welfare department. Admission to this school is through an entrance exam. Everyone recognises
that this is a premier school, with quality teaching borne out by the high levels of achievement of
boys who study here. During our discussions, the boys of this school raised some fundamental
questions.
- What is the point of having a school in each habitation when they do not run properly and all
teachers do not come?
- Is this not a colossal waste of public money?
- And yet another generation being cheated of learning guarantee?
- Why are policy makers / administrators so impervious to the ground realities?
The suggestion was that the entire structure needs overhauling. In the tribal village their solution
to the problem was that there be more residential schools so that all tribal children actually have
an opportunity to study.
These views were echoed and strongly endorsed by some senior bureaucrats and friends we
talked to during the course of the study. In addition to the residential school options, the regular
school structure could be and perhaps needs to be modified
- The suggestions were that up to class III maybe have a village/habitation level school,
- After that provide one good cluster school at Mandal HQ level or any convenient location.
These schools should not only be well equipped with playgrounds, laboratories, teachers and
an appealing school environment, but should have separate classrooms for each grade.
- Given the excellent roads / transportation in Andhra transportation children could be ferried
to this cluster school, even if it means travelling 5 to 10 km a day.
- Such restructuring would not only enable closer monitoring of the school and teachers but
also concentrate resources to develop the schools and thereby may have positive impact on
children’s education.
In the case of Andhra Pradesh, some such restructuring could possibly be considered since in any
case the concept of bridge courses and residential bridge courses for working children, older
children and school drop outs, hostels and residential schools have been widely accepted and
accessed by the community at large. This of course goes against current views that schooling, if it
is to be effective, is best provided as close to the child’s home as possible more so in the case of
girls. In any case this issue of quality education and children’s learning that is emerging as a key
concern of parents and the community needs to be met head on, otherwise there is every risk of
another generation falling between the cracks.
Source: Field notes, Andhra Pradesh 2002
Educational Resource Unit Page 89 April 2003