Education in Bodoland

I recently spent almost a fortnight in the heart of Bodoland in Assam.The place was the last Indian village on the India-Bhutan border.I worked with teachers from rural north-east and Women self-help groups.Something interesting the teachers brought out regarding the challenges of education :
1.No safe drinking water
2. No infrastructure – schools do not even have a proper buiding- bamboo structures keeping the students in.
3.Poor attendance – half of te year there are floods and rains and for the other half – Malaria.
4.FIrst generation learners – no support for education from home .
Few take away’s that I thought worth mentioning –
1. All classes will ahve some bright students and some slow learners(this is called the Differential Ability Group or the DAG). Teachers will face problem in handling both the higher and the lower ability groups. Simple solution : give the higher group pupils something extra, something higher than the normal class ability level.This will keep him occupied.For the lower ability group – give more tasks that will make him use his hands.USe Activity based learning (ABL).
2. We did not try to tell the teachers what to teach – rather how to teach. Keeping the interest level up for the students is purely on the onus of the teacher.
3. Every 30 -45 seconds there should be some interaction between the teacher and the student.
4. Saw a very good teacher – she started the class by gossiping and asking the students how are they. But gradually she moved into the topic/subject matter.This transition was so seemless, so smooth that the students hardly felt they are learning something. They were like the teacher was still gossiping with them.

Took the plunge

Yep, I finally took a nose-dive into community service and Deepam gave me a one-way ticket. So, on a balmy Saturday morning, with the whispers of the adjacent Bay Of Bengal casting a smile on my face, I found myself at the Olcott School with a bunch of 20-odd teens raring to take on the world with their lofty dreams. All they needed was that little reassurance, or an acqueising smile to show them they were headed in the right direction; that someone actually cared- and we were there to do just that.

The first class, two weeks ago, was mostly about breaking the ice and reaching out to them. This wasn’t a problem- after all these were urban kids who seemed quite knowledgeable about issues that Chennai teenagers care about- Kollywood, cricket et all. They were so much into grasping what we intended to offer them that they forgot to give us nick-names (!). Though I found them innocent and unfazed by the journey to adulthood that confronted them, they had a mature side to themselves in that they had concrete plans for their lives, beyond castles in the air that every city teenager loves to build at their age. So much so, that most of them were intent on breaking into the admin/police service while the majority wanted to become software engineers. Of course, the few girls who aspired to be housewives had second thoughts when peals of laughter broke out in the crowd 😛

The first class- we took on groups of 4-5 and asked them to quiz us and fill out a form on our behalf and then make a presentation to the class. Quite neatly done, within the schedule too.
Then followed a game of antakshari when we tried to break the routine and all of us were pleased when we realized we could sing without remorse ;). Lastly, we got them to fill out personal forms with their role model and ambition and read them out in class- giving each student his due. In the second class, we carried forward the learn-through-games idea and settled on a simple vocab-building game, which we will expand eventually as they get into the mood. They loved to learn all the states and their capitals (with occasional help from the Atlas) and meticulously wrote them down. They did, of course, stumble with capitals of North-Eastern states, but come to think of it, didn’t we too?

So time flew by and before we knew it, four hours had come to an end. One of them asked if me he’d be able to use the laptop soon and I smiled assuringly when he proudly showed me his work-register with his time-table and weekly agendas. The Saturdays, though blank, were pencilled with “Deepam class” on the side- so that’s when I realized that we’d sunk our roots firmly at Olcott…now it’s time to grow!

Deepam Sessions July 4-5th weekend

Centre Day Timings Center Location Centre Lead Contact
Olcott School 04 July 9-30am to 1-00 pm Near Besant Nagar Beach Dr.Karthick 9444440713 drkarthick[at]ledentiste[dot]in
UK 04 July 2-30 to 4-30 pm Near Besant Nagar Beach Balaji/Anu 9884277487 braghavan[at]gmail[dot]com
KC 04 July 4-30 to 6-30 pm Besant Avenue, near Fruit shop Basu 9940064384 shankarnarayananbasu[at]gmail[dot]com
Pudiyador 05 July 11-00 to 1-00 pm Vannathurai Anupama 9003269018 anupama.s3[at]gmail[dot]com

Scholarship given by PRERNA

Hi Folks,

If you have come across any bright student coming from a poor financial background who has finished his / her 10th standard this year (April 2009) and scored more than 80%, please ask him / her to get in touch with the NGO – Prerana (supported by Infy foundation).

The NGO is conducting a written test and those who clear the test will be eligible for financial help for their further studies. Please ask/help the students to contact the people mentioned below to get the form.

No. 80, Shubhakar, 44th Cross,1st ‘A’ Main Road, Jayanagar 7th Block, Bengalooru

Ms. Saraswati 99009 06338

Mr.Shivkumar 99866 30301 (Hanumanthnagar office)

Ms.Bindu 99645 34667 (Yeshwantpur office)

In case you do not know anyone as such, please pass on the info. Someone might be in need of this help desperately.

In need of Computers

Deepam for its classes is in need of computers. Any PC, a Laptop or a Desktop will do. If you would like to give away your computer for a good cause, please call:

+91 98842 77487 Balaji (Chennai)
+91 99003 96775 – Meera (Bangalore)
+91 99720 96773 – Vijay (Bangalore)
Thanks.

Deepam KC Centre – 3 Stories

These 3 stories made our day at the KC centre on Saturday –
  • Community Participation – Getting the support of the community where we teach, is a good indicator of our progress. On saturday, a political party had planned a meeting in the locality and had brought out the loud speakers. With our teaching centre close by, the voice inside the class was drowned by the songs, which were belted away. When we requested the organisers to ‘stop the music’, they readily agreed – I even overheard a guy commenting that they should co-operate with Deepam and allow us continue the good work !! Comments like these make the day 🙂
  • Class participation by the kids – The participation of the kids, at the saturday’s class, would put most of the class’ i’ve attended in school / college to shame. Meera Sivakumar did a fantastic job ‘ facilitating / teaching ‘ at the class . She prepared for the class and the intensity she brought to the class was a lesson for the rest of us. She was smart in engaging the kids – getting kids to read the slides / asking questions , keeping the kids on their toes. The passion / energy she brought to the class was soon reflected on the students. In a short while, the entire student group was participating in the class. Just reinforces the belief, that a good teacher can ignite a million minds..
  • Word spreads : We have new students joining our class every weekend. Its a happy feeling when a student brings his friend , to join our sessions. Hope this stays .

Deepam Sessions at Pudiyador

Date : June 21st, Sunday
Time : 11 am to 1 pm
Venue: Vannanthurai, Besant Nagar

Agenda: “Know your students” form
PPT of Random Pictures
Personality Slide on Roger Federer
English exercises
Recap of MS-paint and MS-word.

Contact person: Anupama (9003269018)

Please confirm your participation and please note the change in timing.

thanks and regards,
Anupama

Making India Shine – Thomas.L.Friedman

The Shanti Bhavan school, with 160 students, was started by Abraham George, one of those brainy Indians who made it big in high-tech America. He came back to India with a single mission: to start a privately financed boarding school that would take India’s most deprived children and prove that if you gave them access to the same technologies and education that have enabled other Indians to thrive in globalization, they could, too.

I visited Mr. George’s school in February, and he took me to a classroom where 8-year-old untouchables were learning to use Microsoft Word and Excel. They were having their computer speed-typing lesson, so I challenged the fastest typist to a race. She left me in the dust — to the cheering delight of her classmates.


Initiative and execution of ideas like these that will make India shine!!! Deepam is surely going that way !!

Cheers
kk

Via : Meera Shivakumar