Where is Education Heading?

13 Sep - I was traveling from Patna to Santiniketan (Bolpur) in West Bengal, India. I had a train to change at Bardhamman, and I took a local train from Bardhamman to Bolpur. At  a rural station known as Jhapterdhal and then at Banpas, I found lot of students, good number of them girls in their teens got into the train. Since the train was already full, most of these students were standing. As they were talking to another lady passenger in the train, I joined in. The students were all scheduled to get down at Guskara (after three stations), and they were going for private tuition in English. So, I asked them why they do not pay the teacher to come to their place so that so many of them need not go to Guskara. They replied that the teacher was coming from a place called Bhedia which is closer to Bolpur, and so it was some kind of adjustment that the students from all sides can come to Guskara. I also found that all the students were studying in their 12th Grade (+2 as it is known in India), and if they pass this year they will be eligible to join the college next year for Under Graduate courses. I passingly asked if they would be returning from Guskara and then would go to school. They said, "No"! When I enquired about the reason I was shocked! The girls go for the classes on every Wednesday and Saturday, and then they return to their homes by when it is 11.00, and they take breakfast and that is it! Because by then the schools have started and they cannot go to school. So, every week they do not attend classes on two days. I encountered them with volley of questions to understand further, and then I motivated them that they should write to the education department requesting that special classes for learning English be arranged so that the girls and boys need not lose two days of classes. On an average nearly 40% of school days these students were losing only with the hope of passing in English and get off to fight it out in life.

I thought that total dependence on tuition was mostly in states like Bihar. But I never thought that the situation is changing in West Bengal as well, as children are fighting to stand on to their toes to ensure continuance of their education. I am thankful to Mr. Ganesan and the teachers in my school where I did my 12th grade. They gave special classes in the morning and evening so that, though we were studying in a Tamil medium school, we could pass without having to spend additional time and money to pass in the school final exams.

Governments must take efforts to streamline education, help find alternate solutions for rural children to pass out strongly, and not be dependent on the private tuition that has become the bane of society.

Public Health : Not a Standard in Bihar

With my association with Multi Hazard Vulnerability Mapping Project supported by the UNICEF in the state of Bihar, for the first time I am staying the longest in that state. My previous stays here have been mostly for training purposes, which meant I had some clean place to stay and a bit of calmer environment on many occasions. But, now my stay in the suburban community has changed all that. I see piles of garbage all around, and people throwing out garbage with no remorse. On the other hand, I am yet to see a garbage van picking up garbage on any of the streets.  The Exhibition Road and Bailey road seem to be the only exceptions, with some level of cleanliness. Most others are stinking, in all its forms and essence. You also notice children and adults shitting all around, once you are not on main thoroughfares. 

And when it rains, I have seen the water turning into black and flooding the roads. I also noticed some of the ground floors of the high rise buildings remaining flooded. So, one needs to wade through filth to reach one's home, or God forbid, if one's house is in a low lying area in the city.

Unless the corporation wakes up to the perils of modernity, and takes up remedial measures immediately, soon the city will be gone. Public health is not a standard here. It is just a garbage to be thrown out on the street. Once the capital of ancient India is really gasping for breath, literally. 

N.B: When I go to buy milk or noodles, which are already packed in plastic, the shopkeepers warmly extend an additional plastic packet to carry even if I do not need them!  I have learned to take a bag with me. But why do the shopkeepers give away so much of useless plastic that is less than 40 micron thick, anyway?

Training of Doctors in Flood Preparedness

I must write about part of my experience while training four groups of doctors in the State of Bihar in flood disaster preparedness. The training had been organized by Unicef and the Disaster Management Institute of the Government of Bihar. The training support was given by RedR India, and I was part of the RedR India team. In the first two trainings in Supaul and Madhepura we had to go beyond the training module as I and my co-trainer also had to work on improving the training module and schedule to help it more useful for the other eight trainings to follow. My third training was at Darbhanga where the district health administration was sluggish in organizing the program, and so had to wrap up the program in just five hours of total work in the two days. Then six such trainings in six other districts followed in which I was not present. The last of the trainings was in the district of Katihar, where I joined my co-trainer Dr. Prabir Chatterjee who was also my co-trainer in Madhepura. In Katihar the doctors and health personnel were very much interested in the training and wanted to know more and more. But, unfortunately, some of the IEC materials, training tools and some organizational faults on the part of the district personnel ensured that the program was not a big success. 

Looking back, it was time for me to share some very interesting and personal moments with my co-trainers. Learn from them and learn to be a better health conscious person, as all my co-trainers were professionally medical doctors. Thank you Dr. Ravikant, Dr. Prabir and Dr. Sanjay