EDUCATION FOR PROGRESS, EDUCATION FOR CHANGE

Yes, we should go back to the basics : “Education”. 
Education brings progress, Education brings Change.

About an year ago we launched a programme called “ EUCATION SUPPORT CENTRES”, in several remote villages in Jharkhand.  The reasons behind was manifold:

Over the past years there had been certain infrastructural development as far as education is concerned. While there is still a long way to go for proper schooling of children the pace of education development at par with the available infrastructure is not proportionate. There are number of points that need to be looked into and correctional measures be adopted.

Drop Outs: Though in most cases there are schools established within manageable distance at the rural or village level, the children soon stop going to schools and thereby drop out. In most cases middle school students find the courses difficult to follow as their parents are not adequately educated to guide them.

Common Place of Study:  Secondly in most cases village children do not have space or educational atmosphere at home for doing the school home work.

Tuition Guidance: Thirdly the children do not get tutorial  guidance at the village level, unlike their counter parts in the city and towns who get excellent tuition beyond school hours. Hence there is a need to run school education support centers. In this effort, special emphasis is given to education supports towards girl-child.

The EDUCATION SUPPORT CENTRES are run in 6 places by Swadhina:

1. LATIA: This village is in Mosaboni Block, in East Singbhum district in Jharkhand amidst the copper mining area. The village is about 6 kilometers away from Mosaboni bus stand. Here the centre has 18 children (2 boys and 16 girls) 5 are from Class II, 5 study in Class III, 5 are from Class IV and 3 study in Class V.  Ms. Papiya Sharma is the tutor here.

2. BENASOL: This village is in Mosaboni Block, and, located in a forest region. It is about 7 kilometer away from Ghatsila Town in East Singbhum district in Jharkhand. This centre has 16 students, all girls. 5 are studying in Class VII, 6 are studying in Class VIII, 5 are studying in Class IX. Ms. Reshmi Soy is the tutor here. The local primary school has kindly offered a class room for this centre.

3. CHIRUDIH : This village is in Patamdah block in East Singbhum district in Jharkhand. It is about 15 kilometers away from the Block office. Patamdah is about 35 kilometers away from Tatanagar. There are 27 children (15 girls and 12 boys) attending the centre. 11 are from Class II, 9 are from Class III, 7 are from Class IV. Ms. Basumati Mahato is the tutor here.

4. KANKU : This village is about 4 kilometers away from Chirudih village. There are 21 students, all women. 6 are from Class V, 5 are from Class VI, 5 are from Class VII, 2 are from Class VIII and 3 students are from Class X. Ms. Rupali Mahato is the tutor here.

5. BONDIH : Here the centre is conducted in a room provided by the local School. There are 25 children attending the centre, 13 girls and 12 boys. 5 from Class II, 10 from Class III and 10 are from Class IV. Bondih is about 15 kilometers away from Patamdah. Sri Banka B Mahato is the tutor here.

6. HURUMBIL: This village is about 12 kilometers away from Patamdah block office. There are 17 students, all girls, attending the centre. 5 are from Class V, 6 are from Class IV, 6 are from Class III. Ms. Jayanti Mahato is the tutor here.

This programme is showing some definite results. We recently conducted an evaluation in all these centres to find out the progress of these children. The outcome is indeed encouraging.

- Every student in every subject of study has improved !

- This has definitely encouraged the students about their own studies and they are now putting more time for their studies.

- This has also made their parents very much happy to see that their children too can excel in their class exam !

Here are some highlights:

1. Apurba Mahato, studying in Chirudih in Class III. He belongs to a poor family, his is a marginal farmer family. His parents also work as daily-labourer. He has little sister.  Last year his over all score was 180 marks. This year he scored 320 marks. On individual subject he has remarkable improvement - in  Hindi he scored 40, but this year he got 80. Similarly in Mathematics too he scored double the marks than his last year’s score.

2. Sunita Mahato, studying in the same centre is a Class III student. She has an elder sister. She belongs to a marginal farmer family. When there is no work in the own field, her parents work as agricultural laborer on daily wage basis. Last year she scored 200 in overall rank. This year she scored 300. She too doubled her Hindi and Mathematics marks.

3. Annapurna Mahato, Chiirudih studying in the same class and she has a younger brother. She too belong to a marginal farmer family and her parents depend on daily wage work during the dull agricultural season.

She scored scored 200 in the

overall rank in the last year. This year she scored 300. In Bengali her score was 40 she doubled it this year. In Mathematics she scored 60, and this year she scored 80. In English she got 40 and this year she doubled her score.

4.Premlata Das studies in Class V in Hurumbil Education Support Centre. Her father is a mason on daily wage basis. She has two younger brothers. Going is tough as there is not much construction activities going on in the village. She scored 250, and this she improved the tally to 313. In Mathematics she s cored 39, but this year scored 55. In Hindi scored 35 and this year she got 51. In English she scored 38, and this year she could get 50.

5.Sangeeta Mahato is in Class V in the same centre. She belongs to a marginal farmer family. Mother sometimes go out to work as daily labour in agriculture field. She

has an elder brother and a younge brother. Last year her overall score was 253 and this she could improve it to 323. In Bengali she could score 46 and this year she scored 53. In Social Science last year she scored 38, and this year she scored 55. In Mathematics last year she could score 47, and, this year she score 58. In Hindi this year she scored 52 while her marks in this subject was 42.

6.Monika Mahato is in Hurumbil centre and she studies in Class IV. She belongs to a marginal farmer family. She has a younger sister. Her overall score was 265. This year she could get 315. In Bengali secured 38 marks, and, this year she could master 47. In Social Studies she scored 35 in last year, and, this year scored 50. In English she got 46 marks and this year she scored 56 marks.

7.Rupali Mahato also attend the same Hurumbil centre. She has two younger sisters and a younger brother. She is a Class III student who scored 256 on overall ranking. This year she got 308 in this count. In Hindi she scored 35 and this year she could get 53. In English, last time, she got 40 marks and this year scored 55. Her father is road-side snacks seller.

8. Puja Mahato is in Class III. She has a younger sister. Father is daily wage earner. Mother earn some money through goat rearing. Last year her overall score was 227. This year she got 310 as overall marks. In Bengali she scored 39 last year. This year she got 54 in Bengali. In Mathematics, in the last year’s exam she scored 36, but this year she scored 51. In Hindi her last year’s marks was 35, and, this year she got 55.

  

- Diptendu Mukherji