Gangs of Malpura….Anurag Behar
Change is fired by institutional structures that support intellectual exchange and capacity development, fostering a sense of connectedness and being valued
Change is fired by institutional structures that support intellectual exchange and capacity development, fostering a sense of connectedness and being valued
The room was 20ft by 30ft. There were about 40 of us in the room; 34 government school teachers and six of us observers, all sitting on the ground on dhurries.
The flaming flatland outside, with only clumps of thorny babool in sight, was at 44 degrees Celsius; the inside felt more like 50. The fans stood still, with no power. I was bathed in sweat, no one else was. They were all used to these conditions, living in villages and towns around Malpura. This town with a population of about 30,000 is one of the block headquarters in the district of Tonk, south of Jaipur.
The group had collected at 10am, coming from villages and towns around the block, some as far away as 50km. Working in six smaller groups, they started with the distribution of a reading on how to use microscopes, and what wonders could be discovered through them.
Each group had a basic microscope, glass slides, slicers, dyes, and material to make slides from, e.g. potato, capsicum, and dirty water. After 15 minutes of reading, the room broke into a frenzy of activity. Cutting and slicing the vegetables, dyeing them, moving the microscope to where there was adequate light. Scrambling to see the slides, and to show with pride to others, when a good one was made. Drawing what they saw, and comparing it with the diagrams in the reading. Identifying the different cells and structures, or the microbes floating in the dirty water.
I was dragged from group to group to witness the wonders of their slides. The heat had drenched me; I was amazed how they seemed cool and comfortable, with that level of energetic activity, in that oven-like room. The meeting was scheduled from 10am to 12 noon. They refused to stop. They had to be dragged away from their activity at 12.45pm.
They settled down with difficulty in a circle. Goel and Pathak, two of the teachers from their midst, took charge of the proceedings. They facilitated an outstanding debriefing session. The goal was to articulate what they had learnt, and how they would use it in their classrooms. In 30 minutes of intense discussion, they came up with 12 points, some specific (dyes have to be fresh) and some fundamental (collaboration leads to better learning in activities).
Having gone there all the way from Bangalore, I was given the opportunity to chat with them for 15 minutes. That ended the session at 1.30pm, having started at 10am, without even a tea-break in between. They collected their bags and went out in the sun, to ride their two-wheelers back to their homes, the scorching look in their face, with the temperature at 46 degrees Celsius.
This group is one of the two voluntary teacher forums in the block of Malpura. It was formed in 2009, initially organized by my colleague Devendra, and over time with increasing organizing ownership of the teachers. The two groups have about 150 such government school teachers in all. The block of Malpura has totally about 800 teachers.
The teachers attend these sessions voluntarily, there is no order from the government or an official. They attend it on their time, not school hours. The session that I have described was on a holiday. With homes quite far away, and poor public transport, they brave the conditions, and spend their own money on petrol for their two-wheelers. They get no credit, no money and no external reward for being a part of this forum.
The only question that I asked them was: Why do you come here, on a holiday, spending your own money, in this heat, when no one has asked you to and there is no reward for it? And, they do this twice a month.
One of the privileges of my job is that I get to meet such people every few days, across the country. The answer that I heard in Malpura for my question is much the answer that I hear across the country: We come here because we want to learn, to teach better, so that our students learn better. As simple as that.
There are 15 such forums that we are involved with across two districts in Rajasthan, with 800 teacher membersthat makes it about 15% of the government-teacher population in those two districts. Across the country, we are involved with scores of such groups, and there are probably many more facilitated by other organizations, including government agencies.
There is enough goodness in people (thats what teachers are), in enough numbers, to be at the core of sustained improvement in education. Change is fired by institutional structures with some support, on a sustained basis; structures that support intellectual exchange and capacity development, while fostering a sense of connectedness and being valued.
Lets extend this hand of support to these good women and men, instead of reviling them. They are the reason for hope, however long and tough the journey.
Anurag Behar is chief executive officer of Azim Premji Foundation and also leads sustainability issues for Wipro Ltd. He writes every fortnight on issues of ecology and education. Comments are welcome at othersphere@livemint.com