Written by Suraj Kumar—Project Manager, India

We have recently witnessed a lot of fanfare surrounding the high pass marks of Indian children sitting the 12-year board exams.  What most people do not realize is that 90% of India’s children are attending government “schools” that often consist of nothing more than a few children gathered for a short class.  By creating the appearance of a school, local teachers and education authorities are able to pocket the money allocated for education for their own use.

As a part of our ongoing drive to survey government schools across two districts in Haryana (neighboring the desert state of Rajasthan), we recently visited three schools to examine classroom conditions, enrollment levels and attendance rates.  Unfortunately, our findings were less than positive.  In one class 1-5 school, we found only 12 of 87 students present during the middle of the day.

We watched and photographed as children from the poorest village families trudged in one-by-one after crossing hot sandy roads in rubber flip-flops and scant clothing.  Their school consisted of nothing more than a two room concrete structure standing alone in the middle of a dry, dusty field.

As the children filed by us, the temperature outside reached 40 degrees Celsius. Their faces lacked expression and they avoided the camera as much as possible — a stark contrast to most children we meet in their age group. They then sat on the floor of the sweltering room without so much as a ceiling fan.  Ironically, the room contained a television connected to a Direct to Home (DTH) satellite — a result of a World Bank supported program.  Unfortunately, this positive development remains largely overshadowed by the fact that very few of these schools have the electricity necessary to power such devices.

We asked the school principal to continue with the class so we could observe. The class consisted of the children – still expressionless – staring at the TV screen. Meanwhile, an education program from their syllabus was very formally presented, as if the class was a management course for graduates. An uncomprehending teacher vacantly stood by with a stick in hand, making sure  the students did not talk to each other. I asked a child what she was watching and she smiled innocently, but gave no answer. I asked the same question of another child and she also gave a timid smile, but sat silent. After asking the teacher what was being taught, even they had no idea!

The school had no boundary wall, no playground, no trees and no gardens. With only one toilet on the premises, most children are forced to relieve themselves in the open. Altogether, it appeared to us that those in charge of the education of these children are inflating enrolment by 50% to 70%. They only open the doors for a couple of hours to justify the most of the expenditure…which is clearly not being spent to school children.

Follow-up News:

A copy of our original report, sent to the Department of Education, was recently forwarded to the local District Education Office (DEO) at Mewat with suggestions that immediate action be taken to remedy these problems.  In addition, the Education Minister ordered a half-page advertisement to be published in the prominent local newspaper on June 22nd, 2008, highlighting the incentives being given to the children in schools as suggested by Lotus Outreach through a letter to Chief Minister and copied to DEO.

Filed under: Uncategorized on July 31st, 2008