CHALK TALK

I’m on the plane to Kolkata, and just finished reading a special issue of India Today (July 27, 2009) dedicated to education in India. Every time I see one of those issues on American newstands, I groan and wince to see what pundits (usually NOT educators) have to say about what we’re doing and what they’d like us to do differently, and what’s our fault in general. However, the article did provide a window for some stark statistics:
-In 2007, HALF of the children in government schools couldn’t read or write even after attending school for 4-5 years.
-9.19% of rural India’s primary to high secondary schools had a SINGLE CLASSROOM in 2007-08 -There is a 40% SHORTAGE of trained faculty in higher education institutions in India.

In our brief stay in India, USIEF has scheduled several schools visits, but we have seen a fraction even too small to calculate of the schools in India. The system is complex, as there are many types and levels of schools. There are government (both aided and nonaided) schools, and private schools (called public, a la the British). There are schools that use the native language as the instruction medium, and those who use English. There both state and federal curriculums, and as far as I can tell, the decision on which to use is left to the schools. (not sure, but I’ve asked a couple of times and gotten the same answer, so….). We’ve heard scholars of education, teachers in the field (WORD UP!), and local and federal educational boards of review discuss various initiatives and the daunting task of educating such a huge populace in the 21st century with limited resources. I have been impressed with the many pockets of promise in several of the schools, from a keen emphasis on activity based learning, to attempts to make classrooms more student based and less lecture and rote learning. I’m glad I don’t have the job of trying to sort it all out, frankly, but I applaud my Indian colleagues’ collective efforts and wish them well. The children we saw on our school visits were uniformly eager to learn, respectful, and engaged. As the educators in the crowd know, that’s a good starting set for learning.
There is a national dialogue about the need to expand beyond every child’s aspiration to become either an engineer or doctor, as well as initiatives such as mobile science labs to lead science education towards a more hands-on, activity based model. There is another current national debate about whether to eliminate the country wide exams after 10th standard (sophomore year). The students seem to fall on the side of eliminating them, as they are quite stressful, and are following by a test in 12th standard, while others seem to vary on what to do with the huge bureaucracy involved with the administration, and still others think more accountability is needed in education, not less. The debate is achingly familiar.
The challenges are great, the teachers are passionate and dedicated, and the children, when they are in their seats (there is a high absenteeism rate in rural areas for many reasons) are focused and serious about their opportunity, at a level that all of the educators in the group (all of us!) felt their American counterparts are not. There is an acknowledgment that to progress as a country, the education of their youth is a key component. I left each school grateful for all the many components in my teaching assignment that I take for granted, including such mundane things like materials galore, quality professional development, and a local and state government that usually has children at the forefront of their decisions. Politics has crept, no, leapt, into the education world in India, and teachers have legitimate concerns about mandates that are created by non-educators. That part sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We also have visited 4 madrassas, and it’s been good to see progressive agendas, including more programs for girls only, and also to understand that most madrassas, contrary to Western media spin, are quite similar in their mission to the religious private schools of the U.S.: a quality basic education with the inclusion of study about their religion. There were nonMuslims enrolled in some madrassas because their parents knew it was a superior education, so while I’m aware that there are a few radical, anti-Western, terrorist encouraging madrassas in the world, I think it’s very important to remember that the percentage is quite, quite small. I whole heartedly agree with President Obama that the Muslim world deserves our respect as we seek dialogue that will move everyone closer to peaceful co-existence. See the picture to the right of a bunch of boys pushing and shoving their way to the front of the group for a camera shot. The universality of that interaction will not be lost on anyone who's been around a group of boys ANYWHERE….
I’d like to refer back to the goddess Sarasvati today, the god of education. You will remember that she is Brahma’s consort, and a great musician and scholar, and has the coolest vehicle of any god with her swan. Instead of another story about her, take a look at this picture. My friend P gave me this wonderful statue of Sarasvati when she came to visit, and I put it by my bedside that evening. When I came back to my room the next afternoon, housekeeping had properly set up Sarasvati with the doily and flower petals. The next day I pulled Ganesha out of my bag, and voila, another mini-shrine with petals and coolness. Yesterday I got Hanuman and Lord Shiva out of my bag (gifts for a couple of you lucky people!) and now I have a parade of pretty on our front table. I’m thinking of purchasing more statues just to see what their limit is….