Pedagogy of education a prelude children and young people essay

Ratna Banerjee[1]Surbhi Arora[2]

Abstract:

Education enables our children to acquire the skills, knowledge, values and attitudes necessary to become responsible and active citizens of India. The right of children to free and compulsory education Act or Right to education (RTI) Act, which was passed by Indian government on 4th August, 2009, describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 to 14 years in India under article 21 A of the Indian constitution. India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when this Act came into force on 1st April, 2010. The said Act enforces education as a fundamental right of every child and specifies minimum norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan). It also prohibits all unrecognized schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. Reality is bitter than imagination, it is been observed generally that the parent’s of these kids are not only ignoring the RTI Act, but also they are involving children in child labour, and early marriages to increase their earnings. Before enforcing the RTI Act, these parents should be counseled and their basic needs be fulfilled so that they may not compel their kids to work but to attend the school and complete their education. The pedagogy of education should focus on security, skill, knowledge, entertainment and hope for future. Then only any child would find interest to avail the benefits of the RTI Act. Enacting any Act is easier task then to cross check its implementation and see that the objectives for which the Act was passed are being achieved. In this study a survey will be done to find common people’s awareness of this Act and to find the interest level of kids to go to for education. It would also focus on the pedagogy to be adopted so that the right to education becomes an actual right for all our children. Keywords: right to education, RTI Act, fundamental right, Indian Constitution, pedagogy of education

Methodology

Objective of study

To understand and evaluate current status of basic education in India, underline lacunae, and recommend proper strategies to bridge the gaps in terms of quantity and quality as obtained in developed countries of the world and in India parallel gamut with global standards by bringing through research and innovations compatible with the sustainability. Design/Methodology/Approach: Descriptive, based on authentic secondary data, primary data through interview survey and observation. Findings: Indian Anganwadis need serious relooks at process employed for awareness of Right to Education among the people below poverty line, creation of knowledge and dissemination of knowledge to prepare both teachers and students resulting into holistic personality development. Research Limitations/Implications: Actual situations are discussed but the names are disguised for confidentiality reasons. Practical Implications: If properly implemented, this paper would go a long way in value addition in terms of knowledge, skill and applicability. Originality/Value: This provides a window of a fresh look at the existing scenario of Basic education in India and mind set up of people for whom the Right To Education Act is passed.

Introduction

India emerged as third largest economy of the world in terms of purchasing power parity, largely attributable to its impressive growth in fields of science & technology, management education which has a direct bearing on the economy’s growth patterns. Be it the Green Revolution of late 1960’s or the IT Revolution of the late 1990’s, or the Space Revolution of current times, India’s Science and Technology manpower has stood test of time and demonstrated exemplary capabilities of meeting requirement of quality manpower in tune with the present scenario. All this is possible because the literacy level in the country has increased. The paper addresses the issue of meeting the challenges of knowledge edge in India’s basic education so as to create an upsurge for synergy between mind setup of people and the necessary thrust on the troika of education. Early marriage, criminal tendencies, losing ethical values is the major challenges being faced by the people living below the poverty levels. People those who have taken the responsibility to implement RTE have to act responsibility with ethics, and have to put their efforts in meeting the objectives of RTE. Parents of children are in dilemma about whether their children would be achieving a better livelihood if RTE is implemented effectively. Let us look at the India’s Primary Education System before we try to analyze it.

Aanganwadi

Aanganwadi starts at the village level with population of over 1000 people . People who are below poverty line send their children to Anganwadis, which is an initiative by the Indian government under Right to Education Act . These children play, study and get meals in anganwadis. After the initial learning in Anganwadis, these children go to primary schools. People are motivated to send their children to such schools as these schools provide mid-day meals to these children. But now the question is of the effectiveness of a child’s development.

Table1: Growth of kindergarten(Anganwadi) (1947 to 2010)

YearNo. of InstitutionsStudents IntakeIntake per institution (Average)

1950503700741960110160001451970145182001251980158285001801990337666001982000442950302152010650128800198Directly or indirectly, people from villages, semi-urban areas, slums etc. send their children to these schools for satisfying one basic need, i. e. is the need of food. Government has tried to make endless efforts see the health of these children and check for malnutrition. Government is happy to see the documents which provide evidence about the good health record of these children. But what really happens to these children when they go to school is what we need to understand? Are these children mentally and physically prepared to go to these schools? For a self-sustainable approach and model in this regard, there is a need to understand the educational system and its various components in detail. The children are guided by the system and the society which comprises of each and every individual. Let us now discuss our findings in this regard.

Finding

To collect the information about Anganwadi system, first we did secondary research like literature study with the help of books, papers and internet. To make the contextual information available, we had to do primary research to get more authentic data for the required community and that was performed by interviewing the parents and their children, survey of the schools and observation of people living below poverty line. After getting the contextual feedback on this, evaluation was done based on socio-environmental, socio-economical and socio-cultural aspects. We have taken 27 cases and here are few of them to get an insight in people’s mind as to the benefits of Right to education Act.

Neelam’s Case:

Neelam, a twelve year old girl was sent to primary school for basic education, but could not develop her interest in studies, and dropped from school again and again. Her parents tried to send her to different schools and different classes, but she could not develop her interest in studies. Finally her parents decided not to send her for further education and now she is earning a living by working as a maid, and surprisingly she has accepted it happily. We need to look into the reasons as to why the school could not provide her the required platform to continue her studies.

Poonam’s Case:

Punam, a nine year old girl, was suffering from malnutrition. She was admitted at school so that she gets proper meal there. She was admitted in third standard but had to walk a distance of three kilometers which put a lot of stress in her. She was not willing to go to school as after walking such a distance she was not even getting sufficient mid-day lunch in school. This gives us an insight on the sufficiency of mid-day meals being provided at the schools.

Prem’s Case:

Parents of this fourteen year boy found that on the way to school there was a small patch of a jungle where some teenager were taking some intoxicants and in past there was a murder case charged on these teenagers. Thus, the place was not at all safe so they stopped sending their son to school. We need to find that are these schools been connected properly with proper roads and infrastructure.

Rani’s Case:

Most of the parents in rural and slum areas living below the poverty line have the mindset that girls should take care of household activities and if their father, mother and brother come back to home from their work or school, food should be ready and believe that sending a daughter to school is foolishness. Rani is the victim of this same mindset. Rani, ten years old girl, gets up early in the morning, prepares lunch for all the members and during day time she takes care of her two younger brother and sister. She also arranges for drinking water, fuel etc. and again in the evening before her parents and elder brother returns she keeps the dinner ready. And that is all her daily routine. At this age she has lost her all innocence and behaves so mature. She has no complaint against this and accepted as her destiny. Can our education system provide a vocation which can help such children to learn and earn at the same time?

Anita’s Case:

Anita’s parents believe that spending hard earned money on daughter’s education will go waste, rather sending their son they have a hope of secure future. Anita, a thirteen year old girl takes care of home, younger kids but keen for taking education. She wants to be educated but her circumstances do not allow her to continue. Considering the Indian mindset, till how long will we suppress our daughters?

Binod’s Case:

Binod’s parents depend for their earning on cattle. They do all types of work themselves to maintain their cattle. The father feels that when Binod started going to school, he has started looking down on the profession of his hard working parents. He started pointing out that it is a demeaning work to work with cow dung, and suggested a job in his school as organizer of midday meal. He showed the ways in which the budget of these mid-day meals was being manipulated and wanted his father to do the same. His father was devastated by his thinking and stopped sending him to school. How will the government ensure fairness in the education system? Now let us look at the infrastructural issues.

Required Infrastructure for Implementation of RTE

InfrastructureTime required for building itEstablishment of neighborhood school3 yearsProvision of school Infrastructure comprising of: School building for all seasons(weathers)One classroom and one teacher for each classHead TeacherCleaner/peonOffice roomLibrary well equipped with booksPlaygroundBoundary wallsMain GateKitchen setStoreDrinking Water facilityProper SanitationGreenery3 yearsProvision of teachers as per minimum requirement3 yearsTraining of untrained teachers5 yearsQuality teaching and Value additionWith immediate effectThe knowledge has descended on the strength of the power of mind, power of connectivity and the power of networking unleashed by the IT revolution sweeping across the globe for the last two decade. In this new knowledge era it is imperative for the basic education sector to innovate its curriculum so as to create self-dependency, entrepreneurial instinct and above all humanity and responsibility towards society. In southern and western part of India still the things are little positive in terms of RTE Act implementation but in northern parts effective implementation is still required.

Conclusion

Energy of children and teenagers has to be channelized in positive direction with a blend of sensitivity and patience in an interesting manner. If the parents are assured about their child’s overall development then only they would feel secure to send them for education willingly and they have a valid reason to think that their child has a right to be educated. There should be some counseling sessions to change the mindsets of people which are a major constraint in meeting the objectives of RTE. Education implementation pattern should be innovative, creative and focused on carrier building. Children should be made to develop interest to attend the school. Real life projects should be inculcated in pedagogy of education to have real time learning. All academicians who feel socially responsible should come forward to take some practical session for overall growth of these children. There should associations of research scholars with these for mutual benefits. While appointing the teachers and people who are directly in contact with these children they should have strong ethics and this should be aligned with objective of RTE.

Regerences

1. Ahmad, Fayaz (2009) ” A Sociological Study of Primary Education Among Girls: With Special Reference to Block Hajin of District Bandipora” Dissertation, Barkatullah University. 2. Annual Status of Educational Report (2010): ” Annual Status of Educational Report ( Rural) , assessed 21April 2012: http://www. pratham. org/aser08/ASER_2010_Report. pdf3. Bernstein, B (1973): ” Class Codes and Control: Applied Studies towards a Sociology of Language”, London, Routledge Kegan Paul. 4. Boourdieu, P (1977): ” Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction”, In Karabel, J and A. H, Halsey, (ed), Power and Ideology in Education. OUP5. Economic and Political Weekly (2012): ” The Right to learn: Two Years after the Right to Education Act, the government needs to focus on quality”, 16 April, Vol XLVII No 16. 6. Kumar, Krishna (2012): ” Let a hundred children blossom: A classroom reflecting life’s diversity will benefit children of all strata while enriching teaching experience.”, The Hindu, Delhi, 20 April 2012. 7. Madan, Amman (2003): Education as Vision for Social Change, Economic and Political Weekly May 31, 2003 pp. 2135-2136Source: http://emotome. in