Back to School...

Introduction:
After so many years, I again got a chance to relish my memories of school. I got this opportunity to visit a school for under-privileged children in Bangalore. The school was set up in 1907 with an aim to up-bring the lower and lacking part of the society. It was started with the noble aim of facilitating the children of sweepers and scavengers who were not supposed to get education at that time.


The Research Begins:
Aim/Research Question:  
What type of environment students of the school get at home?
Does this thing affect the behavior of student at schools? How these students are different from students of the middle class society? What type of challenges do school management and staff have to face in dealing with these students?


A day in The School:
Morning assembly/Prayer: 
The assembly was a typical school assembly where students were singing prayers together. There was a Physical Training session in the morning assembly. A difference that I noticed during the Physical Training session was  that there was different physical exercise for girls and boys. Students were not standing in class wise rows they were standing randomly but in systematic rows. Senior boys and girls of Class 10th were taking care of the discipline during the assembly.
Prayer they sang were those old prayers which we used to sing in our school days. After that they sang the Karnataka song and National Anthem.


Talk with the Head Master:
The Head Master there was a senior Gentle Man who was about to get retirement from his job in school. He introduced us to the person who'll be offered the post  next to him. He gave us some of the information about the school and the management. Some of the information he gave us about the school is here-
1. It was a government aided school but the management take care of the infrastructure.
2. The school is specially for children of Below Poverty Line(BPL).
3. It was started by Late Mr. Rao Bahadur B. P. Annasawmy Mudaliar in 1905.
4. The primary school is 71 years old and the high school is 46 years old.
5. There are 10 teachers and 380 students in high school.
6. Number of girls in the school is more than number of boys.
7. Result of last two years of school was 93% and 71%(pass percentage).
8. School also organizes remedial classes for students, as students are more happy at the premises.
9. Month of June and July have more concentration on field work.
10. To get into the school there is an admission test but it is just a formality, they never disappoint any child who is seeking admission.
11. In the school, they teach importance of education to students.
12. Independence day is one of the largest event which the school organizes. Other big events are Founder's day (23rd Jan) and Sports Day.


The Tamil Lecture in Class 9th-B:
 Me and two of my friend attended the Tamil lecture in class 9th-B for observation. Some of the things I observed there are:
1. Girls and boys in the class were having separate seating arrangements.
2. The teacher spent the whole period in showing and discussing the examination answer sheets.
3. Teacher was scolding students for less marks.
4. Vice-captain of some house was distributing the answer sheets.
5. The teacher was quite strict then also back-bench boys were making annoying noises and disturbing the class.
6. Classroom was not having fans but it was well ventilated room.
7. Although it was a Tamil medium class, student were comfortably communicating in English and some of them were speaking Hindi too.


 The lunch time:
We had wonderful lunch in the school. The lunch was provided by the Iscon Group. It was a wonderful experience to eat with those children. After having lunch we played games with children and enjoyed a lot. I also noticed one thing in the lunch time, after having lunch some girls were sweeping and washing the wash area and when asked they answered that only girls do this job in school, boys check if the places are clean or not. 
When the lunch break was over students made class wise queues, and returned to their respective classes. Students of class 10th were helping juniors in making queues and maintaining the discipline.


It was really a quality time we spent there and made us to know more about the education system in India. I hope my coming visits to the school make me more clear about my field of research and fulfill my objective of research.




--Pragya Sharma--