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Government Schools
The government education system is marked with the handing-down of one scheme or the other from the state, and an apathetic attitude towards the growth of the children at the school level. Trying to counter this, Muskaan is working in the schools of two jan shiksha kendras, demonstrating a positive interaction between the elder and the child through classroom experiences and more holistic learning within the school context.
This is done through a regular support in the classroom activities, creative workshops with children, and annual picnics. Discussion forums with teachers are being encouraged to bring a dialogue on education and liven up the teachers to think about their work in a pro-active manner. The environment in the periodically organized teachers trainings are also geared towards this. For the teachers, it is a very different experience because they then engage in topics as questioning their own attitude towards the children and parents of another class, punishment, certain theoretical concepts of education and also practical use and developing learning materials themselves.
Neither the attitude between the teachers and the resource persons (in a training) nor between children and the Muskaan teachers is threatening or hierarchal. This is a stark difference and something to learn as well as to question because it questions the core tenets of conventional schooling.
Within the mixed successes of some teachers sitting down on the floor and doing activities with the children and leaving the stick, active PTA members demanding quality education, that teachers should teach and in an interesting way and they are not forced to resort to tuitions, children feeling a little more free and expressive in the school environment, children not having to fill up copies and not understand what they are writing in some classes, there are many instances where we feel that what is happening is not enough for a sustainable change in the government response towards the education needs of the children from the deprived and marginalized communities. During the past three months, the efforts are also towards institutionally strengthening the cluster resource centres and the community voice. |
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