My first visit to a Balawadi

This was my first visit to a Balawadi center run by PRATHAM. There were two friends who were also coming and one of them was celebrating her birthday. Being North Indians to ease their communication with the children a center in a Muslim area was selected. The center was a one room operation but quite spacious with a high roof and a shady mango tree outside. All the walls were decorated with pictures and charts. There were about twenty children aged between 3 and 5. They all greeted us in chorus with a cheerful "Good Morning". I was surprised to see a German lady assisting the teacher in-charge of the Balawadi. I subsequently learnt that foreign volunteers (mainly German) come regularly every year. They do volunteering full time spending time at the Balawadi as well as Goverment schools as part of PRATHAM's programs. Soon there were several rhymes recitation by the children which was on par with any kindergarten in the city. Next one of the children gave a hand made greeting card to the visitor and this was followed by the "Happy Birthday" song. Evidently they had prior information of the visit! After sweets were distributed by the visitors and children had their fill, it was touching to see the German volunteer take a broom and clean up the place just as we Indians do. It showed the amount of integration with the local culture that she had imbibed during her stay.

After a long series of handshakes with each of the enthusiastic kids and bye-byes it was time to leave.

While we could not look at the mode of teaching, the specific aids designed by PRATHAM which are used, it was still a good experience which provided a glimpse of the workings of the Balawadi. Going by the children's enthusiasm I can say that the dedication and hard work of the staff is very much evident.

School Hunt

My daughter is finishing her U.K.G shortly at a Kindergarten. When we moved to Mysore the priority was to find a place near home and starting late (to give the extra sleeping time for her since she is a late riser) and hence did not do too much of a research or long term thinking. So now we are on the hunt for a school for her I standard.

Given my software engineering background I took a very structured approach to the whole process (much to my wife's amusement who does many of these things instinctively). Made a list of criteria (distance, timings, class strength, no. of floors which is an important parameter considering the burden they carry, fees, syllabus followed - state, CBSE, ICSE ...) and started visiting the schools to collect data. Just like in software (or any other area) it is easy to capture the functional specifications. But the soft or non functional aspects are always difficult. A visit helps to give a notion of some but not all. For eg: the responsiveness, attitude of the staff, openness in sharing information on fees, formalities do give some indicators. However the quality of teaching cannot be easily perceived. One can take opinions from other parents but again these are colored by thier own values, expectations.

There were schools we liked but had to drop since admission was not available or they charged exorbitant fees (upto 1 lakh!). These posh schools which their steep fees ensure that only students from a certain section of the society get in (either intentionally or otherwise). This shapes the behavior and culture of the students who study there. A family friend of ours who has a daughter studying in such a school while their son is in a more modest school have had bitter experiences of this. It seems the daughter is ashamed to say that her brother studies in the "not so posh" school. Also they have parties for which they get choreographers (at a cost), expensive dresses etc. While parents put their children into such schools perhaps because of their achievement these are the unfortunate side effects.

The other end of the spectrum are alternate schools like CFL, Shibumi (in Bangalore) while there was only one that I could find in Mysore - Arivu. It was an attractive option - very reasonable fees, experiential learning not going to the extreme in terms of doing away with exams etc, the main challenge was the distance - about 12kms from where I reside.

The final alternative was to home school if nothing works out!

I guess as one of bosses would say we are all of middle-class mentality. We want something in the middle of the road nothing too extreme. Our expectations are modest and we are ready to work a life time towards those modest goals. We are sceptical of any overnight get rich proposals. Similarly anything which rejects all current systems is also suspicious. I guess systems were working reasonably well, there were still dedicated teachers who delivered even if they did not inspire, the food we bought in shops had some nutrition, was safe, we could trust our leaders to generally do well for the country. There were always exceptions but the general feelign was of trust of various systems.

Unfortunately this has eroded over time. We are trying to seek solace in systems which are now focused on "business of making money". It is time to get involved in each aspect of our lives to the extent we can and make a difference - whether it is the food, it is the education for our children. Perhaps the middle ground is a mirage and no longer exists?

BTW the school hunt is still on. Will post once the marriage is finally over!

Is it the journey or the goal?

A question that often arises is - the journey or the goal which is more important?

Based on my children's school experiences atleast in that context I can say that the answer is the goal is what matters. Every school seems to be in a race to get the students reach some goal out in the future. Perhaps it is not only the schools to be blamed. It is a reflection of the aspirations of the parents and society as well.

Several examples:

In case of nursery / kindergarten students it is getting admissions to the most sought after schools for I standard.

For +2 students it is all about clearing entrance tests for various professional courses. Most colleges are PUC + CET + AIEE + JEE + ...

For high school students in 8th (at least in ICSE) it is about clearing the board exams in 10th.

Some extreme cases of these are that ICSE 8th standard students start off with 9th standard text books and they study 10th std books in 9th! In 10th they keep writing exams one after another to gear up for the grand-finale board exams!!

I read in the prospectus of a college (which itself started of as a coaching center but metamorposised into a +2 college) that the time students spend on each question of CET (common entrance for Engg and Medical in Karnataka) will be analyzed and improvements will be made!

While yes there needs to be a goal, somewhere the joy of learning for the sake of learning, living in the present seems to have been lost with this never ending focus on the future. Can students, parents and schools not focus on the heart of the matter that is learning and then goals & achievements will follow as natural consequences of that learning?

Beasts of burden

I am referring to school going children of-course! My son goes to a reputed school in South Bangalore. His classroom is on the 5th floor and everyday he has to struggle up and down the stairs with a load of 5-7kgs! This has been on my mind for some time and I was grappling for a solution. There is a concept called "Value" and "Value Stream" in Lean. From a book publishing and distribution point of view I guess it makes sense to package the complete 1 years syllabus of a subject in one book. However from a learning/teaching point of view the unit of values is the one lesson that is currently being taught. While this point may not impact the teacher so much it does result in the huge burden for the student since they need to literally carry the "muda" or waste of all lessons just because that is how text books are published and sold!
We see a clear conflict in the value definition from the perspectives of the two value streams - publication and learning. Considering that the final customer in this whole process is the student and the objective is learning it is important that the production value stream is transformed to meet this objective. This is a challenge as well as an opportunity. I can see possibilities such as print chapters on demand from an online source, text books with detachable chapters - more ideas welcome!
P.S. In case of my son the school agreed to him carrying photocopies of the relevant lessons instead of entire text books. It is an extra cost but a good enough work around for the time being...