“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” -Nelson Mandela
“Education is the movement from darkness to light” -Allan Bloom
But, this powerful weapon seems to be not so sharp enough to cut through the darkness in rural face of our country, as we miss to understand that it is not only the weapon that needs sharpening, but also the awareness of how to do it!
Does the parents responsibility ends after joining their ward in school? Aren’t they the stakeholders who need to know their ward’s skills, issues they face and the provisions that are made available by the government for their improvement?
Taking cognizance of the fact that by virtue of education, a country can be developed in socio-economic conditions and for which the wider gap between parents and the teacher’s role in bringing a significant difference to a child’s skills needs to be bridged, Vizhithezhu, an event with a new dimension was organised, where the campaign was conducted across 100 rural households in the areas of Madurantakam, Thiruporur and Uthiramerur panchayats in the outskirts of Chennai, on how much parents know about their child’s education. This was carried on by Grama Valarchi Trust, an NGO in tie up with SPI Global company on 12th March, where a group of 1000 young professionals from the company joined hands to assess the children in the age group of 5-16 years in their parents’ presence. Parents were then informed about their ward’s level of skills against their current standard of education and the provisions of the Government on School Management Committee (SMC) for voicing their views for enhancing their child’s skills. A control room was set up in the SPI Global office premises in Adyar with a helpline number in place and the volunteers’ movements were tracked, looked up for any sort of guidance inquired by them by a team of coordinators, who were seen answering the phone calls providing the required assistance.
Amidst a number of Acts and programmes introduced by the Government, School Management Committees (SMCs) has been constituted in all elementary schools as per the section 21(1) and section 21(2) in the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. This mandates government and government-aided schools to carry out a more effective way of decentralizing the education system and encourages participation of parents in the decision making process. SMC has the organs namely, General Body of School Management Committee and the Executive Council of School Management Committee which constitutes the elected representatives of local authority, parents and guardians of children admitted in those schools. A number of powers were entrusted to these forums to channel the child’s required skills, for which the first step in achieving is that the parents must know that there exists an opportunity to discuss about their child’s position with their tutors and school management.
This effort essays to analyze the contribution and the functioning of how effective SMCs were implemented in rural areas and to create the awareness among the parents, who have the 75% stand in the committee. The survey comprised of basic questionnaires in Maths, English and Tamil, which the children were asked to read, write and solve to ascertain their skills in these subjects and the details were shared to the stakeholders. Also, educational quality and infrastructure were other points that were enquired upon. The response from the parents and children was overwhelming and immense support and encouragement was extended from the key people throughout the initiative.
With the results being published, the takeaway is that is is a greater work to educate a child and the issues concerning their wholesome intellectual growth to be sensitised based on the study on the knowingness of SMCs among parents, followed by drawing the action items that seek government intervention in the longer run. Also, a united front by people from the State is in need in bringing about effective solutions with the help of NGOs.
Finally, the ultimate conclusion that can be delineated from this crusade, as stated by Benjamin Franklin that “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” can be attained only by acknowledging the best interests of children through the eyes of the investor!
-Bhuvana Ramamurthy
Grama valarchi 