Education

ABBA's song "Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man's world. All the things I could do if I had a little money... " comes to mind at the plight of a few of my latest and long time students like Jaya and Alumelu. Little Nila and Jaya are star performers in their 'English medium convent school' and daughters of our neighbourhood unorganized sector worker Devaki. And Alumelu whom I have voluntarily tutored and mentored since 2005 is now a prospective undergraduate and her mother is a housemaid in Byrasandara.   The former have to shell out around…

Different language, faith(religion), caste. Similar socio-economic background, residential neighbourhood, age and school. Do they divide or unite? Fortunately the latter in most cases I have encountered over several years of teaching and counselling children from low income families. Although the children are very conscious of the differences. And highlight them without hesitating to be direct when they deem necessary! But, gender identification and stereotyping builds in early in the kids and increases as they enter teenage. I discovered this with Srikant, a class V government school student who refused to sit beside any of the girls despite insufficient chairs among…

Different language, faith(religion), caste. Similar socio-economic background, residential neighbourhood, age and school. Do they divide or unite? Fortunately the latter in most cases I have encountered over several years of teaching and counselling children from low income families. Although the children are very conscious of the differences. And highlight them without hesitating to be direct when they deem necessary! But, gender identification and stereotyping builds in early in the kids and increases as they enter teenage. I discovered this with Srikant, a class V government school student who refused to sit beside any of the girls despite insufficient chairs among…

Ever come across a worker from the unorganized sector striving hard to ensure that her/his daughter(s) and son(s) study? Probe a little and most probably the girl(s) will be in a government school and the boy(s) in a private or a government funded English medium school. The latter have a better student-teacher ratio and the teachers are motivated or at least compelled to teach properly and regularly. Further, the parents and teachers are held accountable for the children's presence and performance. Unlike the vernacular medium government schools!   Talking to Joseph, a fruit vendor in Benson Town whose regular customer…

Ever come across a worker from the unorganized sector striving hard to ensure that her/his daughter(s) and son(s) study? Probe a little and most probably the girl(s) will be in a government school and the boy(s) in a private or a government funded English medium school. The latter have a better student-teacher ratio and the teachers are motivated or at least compelled to teach properly and regularly. Further, the parents and teachers are held accountable for the children's presence and performance. Unlike the vernacular medium government schools!   Talking to Joseph, a fruit vendor in Benson Town whose regular customer…

Most of us agree that our tree cover is depleting alarmingly, and we cluck about it....but St Mark's School has done something...er...concrete, to choose an inappropriate word!They have planted 9 badam trees in front of their school in J P Nagar 3rd Phase.They had plenty of excuses NOT to plant trees. The Mini Forest, with lots of trees, is right opposite. There's hardly any footpath in front the school. But they went ahead and planted the trees anyway.And in a short time, the trees are providing shade on the hot street...Long live schools like St Mark's, which put their trees…

Most of us agree that our tree cover is depleting alarmingly, and we cluck about it....but St Mark's School has done something...er...concrete, to choose an inappropriate word!They have planted 9 badam trees in front of their school in J P Nagar 3rd Phase.They had plenty of excuses NOT to plant trees. The Mini Forest, with lots of trees, is right opposite. There's hardly any footpath in front the school. But they went ahead and planted the trees anyway.And in a short time, the trees are providing shade on the hot street...Long live schools like St Mark's, which put their trees…

One  sight that can be seen frequently in the mornings is that of different people reading the morning newspaper. It's a habit deeply ingrained in our culture, and no matter which newspaper it may be...our mornings are not complete without the daily dose of newsprint.We may have the radio, the TV, and the internet...but for most of us, there is no substitute for the peaceful few minutes as we learn about the world around us through the printed page. ⊕

One  sight that can be seen frequently in the mornings is that of different people reading the morning newspaper. It's a habit deeply ingrained in our culture, and no matter which newspaper it may be...our mornings are not complete without the daily dose of newsprint.We may have the radio, the TV, and the internet...but for most of us, there is no substitute for the peaceful few minutes as we learn about the world around us through the printed page. ⊕

You would have loved to grow up in the pleasant, perfect, considerably privileged locality of I Block, Jayanagar. The streets were clean, sidewalks smooth, roads neatly planned and regularly tarred: Not a single game of badminton on the streets was ever interrupted by an infrastructural glitch. The children who lived here attended "good schools", spoke purr-fect English and by age 8 could carry off a full fledged shouting-match over games of I-Spy in The Queen's very language. After all, we'd grow up to be independent people, leading awesome lives. Not the least like those children, who came to be recognized…