Post 1

Research question: Why are students dropping out of school? Is more of an overview/ general question at the moment. Specifically, I would like to understand when the most dropouts occur, why they happen and are there more girls or boys who dropout?  What kinds of pressures do these kids face? Is there a lot of pressure from parents/ peers and/or exam stress? Do parents take their child out of school because they need the child to bring in another income? Are peers who have already dropped out coming back and luring other kids to dropout and start working? Or are the kids feeling too much pressure from schoolwork and exams to continue coming to school and feel that dropping out and working is an easier solution for them? I also would like to look at what preventive measures are being taken by the school to ensure kids stay in school and stay motivated – Are they across all levels (from the trustee, head mistress, teachers to other staff members)? And is there enough communication between the school, kids and parents? 

I feel this an important aspect to look at and try and understand because maybe this research could help the school deal with situations where students are contemplating dropping out. Also it could help with adding certain things to the school to keep students stay in school. It would also help the development of the individual child (as they end up staying in school and gaining an education) and also understand where students are feeling the most pressure and try and lessen that aspect so they are more comfortable.  

Some field notes:­

8:00a.m. – 8:45a.m. I walked into school with some students and saw boys playing together on the field and girls sitting and talking to each other under the trees. I noticed the older girls were sitting in the shaded area whereas the younger girls sat in the sunny area. The students would keep going outside the school is groups of 3-4 -- boys separately and girls separately and buy snacks from the outside stall. What was clear was that older kids would take the younger kids and as they would do this the older child would always have his/her arm around the younger one. I also noticed this same act as students would arrive at school.

As I walked around I noticed that the younger (primary) kids were sitting in small groups (boys separately and girls separately) outside their classrooms revising notes they had (orally in Tamil), whereas the older kids were more interested in playing and/or chatting with each other. Each little group of primary students seemed to have a group leader and would ‘conduct’ the session.

11:15a.m. – 11:50a.m. Standard 8B. I entered class and the teacher introduced me to the children. All of them immediately stood up and wished me. The teacher then proceeded to tell them to be on their ‘best behavior and be silent and work hard’. As I walked in I noticed boys on one side of the room and girls on the other. There were clearly more girls than boys, girls seemed to use up 2/3 of the benches and boys only 1/3.

I sat in a bench second row closest to the teacher. As I walked to my seat I noticed that three kids were sitting on the floor in front of the class. When I got to my seat I also realized that students sat smallest to biggest – so that the shorter kids were able to see the board. Four students sat at each bench. The bench felt cold and hard. It looked old and was engraved with various initials. The students were slightly cramped and kept nudging each other from time to time. I did notice that each student had his or her own textbook. Almost all the girls were focused on what the teacher was saying and followed instructions diligently, where as the boys seemed to be talking amongst themselves and joking around. The teacher conducted the class in English and the students would respond in English. Only from time to time would she translate certain words into Tamil.

One of the girls on the bench behind me had her head down on the desk. Ten minutes after I sat down she got up crying and went to the teacher (they spoke in Tamil) and then walked out of the classroom with her friend. The teacher told me that that student had not been feeling well all morning and felt nauseous. Later her friend came back the told the teacher (in Tamil) that she still wasn’t feeling well. As the teacher took out money to go buy her some medicine one of the boys popped up and said he would go and get it. He asked one of the girls (in Tamil) to tear a piece of paper from her notebook and give it to him so that he could write down the name of the medicine (in capital letters with a red pen), and then left.  He came back with the medicine as the lunch bell rang and made sure that the girl who needed it got it.

I realized that there was a large sense of community within the school between the students. They all looked out for each other, even though they were separated physically within the classroom and during school hours.  Even within the classroom the students were constantly discussing answers with each other. They have ‘bench leaders’ at each bench who are high performers and help those who are unsure and fall behind. All of the students seemed happy to help each other out.

Other general observations: After lunch whilst the students were in class I sat in the field and was surrounded by crows chirping and four dogs that decided to come and take a nap by me. All classroom doors were open and could see the students sitting inside listening to the teacher. I noticed and heard blackboard dusters being constantly banged over and over again against the wall outside three rooms by male students. All students (boys and girls) in the ground floor classrooms seemed to be very focused and listened intently to the teacher, where as from the higher (first and second floor) classrooms I could hear some commotion. 

-Tara