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Teachers in India's slums transform children's education
Above: Here are the Teachers, also known as Bal Dosts, from project partner, Centre for Development (CfD), who took part in the interview
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29/07/2011
Meet our project partner's Bal Dosts (pictured above). They're the teachers working with Centre for Development (CfD), providing education to children denied a formal education in the slums surrounding Ahmedabad, west India.
Find out more about our project partner, Centre for Development (CfD), and the work they do in West India.
Why did you decide to become a Bal Dost with CfD?
After visiting Piplaj and seeing the need for education in the area we wanted to do something about it.
What has been the biggest challenge for you as Bal Dosts?
Getting the children to attend the school at the beginning is the hardest thing to do. Many parents are labourers and their children are involved in some kind of labour as well. Convincing these parents to let their children attend the schools is a huge challenge.
Should there be more teachers and education facilities in the area?
The community leader (Mumtazbibi) feels that there should be more education centres in the area to make education available to all the children who need to go to school.
Do you enjoy teaching?
Yes, very much so. It has become a daily habit for them to go to the schools and it has become a part of their life. Even the children do not like to have holidays as they like to attend the school.
You learn so much by reading and writing but you learn more by doing. Use practical activities and games.
In terms of the future, where do you hope the Education Centres and Bal Dosts will progress in the next few years. Are they looking forward to having the government step in with a local school?
It is absolutely essential that a school is established in the area. For the past few months they have been trying to get children to be allowed to write the formal school examinations and have also been working to get birth certificate registrations which are essential to get admission into schools.
As of now the education centres have set the standards for what education should be. Earlier the parents had seen the bad quality of education in schools but now after the education centres they know what they should expect from education systems and teachers. They have also seen how education can help their children.
There are regular Teacher/ Parents meeting with you. How has the parents attitudes changed towards education in particular and in what way?
They understand the importance of education rather than sending their children into the work force as child labourers. They have confidence that the Bal Dosts are looking after the children. Initially lots of children who came to the Education Centres were children who had dropped out of school. Most of these children had had some form of education but still did not know how to read and write. After they joined the education centres, the parents saw that their children could actually read and write. The parents have gained a sense of pride in their children’s improvement in reading and writing.
Did you face problems with children dropping out?
The Bal Dosts noticed that a number of older children were dropping out/not attending the Education centres. In the parent teacher meetings, when the Bal Dosts asked the parents what the reason for this was, they told them that the elder children (especially the girls) stayed back at home to take care of their younger siblings. The Bal Dosts thus decided to open the Bal Mandi where children between the ages of 3-6 would receive pre-school education and be taken care of. This helps both sets of children.
What changes have you seen in the children’s attitudes and behaviour?
The children are cleaner and using better language. The teaching of the peace modules has had a direct effect on the respectful attitudes being expressed by the children. This has also directly trickled into the children’s family life which the parents have noticed and feedback to us.
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