School in the Same City!

I got a chance to visit one of the Govt. Girls Senior Secondary School in North - East District of Delhi (almost touching UP border). Before even landing at the school, a blur image was constructed in my mind. For instance, children seated in classes, teachers busy with the usual record maintenance work, some basic infrastructure (including table, chair, blackboard), and so on. However, my city gave me a shock. As I entered the premises of apparently the only 'bada school' (Sr. Sec) catering to a pretty large population of a semi - urban area.



Some much - visible observations:

- Only Class 10th and 12th were privileged enough to sit under a roof, rest of the classes (6, 7, 8, 9 and 11) were suppose to enjoy the sun after almost a week. Yes, after a  week as it rained thus no school for last 4 -5 days.

-  The arrangement was so temporary that at chhuti time (end of the day) girls picked up blackboard and dhari (woven sheet) and placed them in the store room (space utilized under the stair case).

- Some fortunate teachers occupied space under the trees, rest were left with two options either the corridor or  sun basking.

- Teacher sat on a chair, 4 ft above children who placed themselves on Dharis. Even if the teacher was willing to teach her voice could hardly reach beyond the third row. It seemed as if the class ended after first - two rows as rest of the girls were either busy copying notes/homework or chatting.

- School offered different timings for different classes. Std. 6 - 8 (10am - 12:30pm), Std 9 - 11 (7am - 10am), only girls in Std 12 had classes from 7am - 12:30pm not to forget without any official break time.

-   As the classes merged into each other, there was no distinction some girls took advantage and utilized their time catching up with friends in other classes, However, this act was just not acceptable by a teacher who went around hitting them. The Ultimate shocker of the day.

Probably all of the above is pretty much imaginable, But what really kept me thinking is...that this is the same city. Same city where nursery admissions in top notch schools become headlines, where even a small pat on back might risk a teachers job, same city where AC classrooms, swimming pool, smart boards are quintessential points for parents to decide and rate the school. Same city where in some schools speaking in Hindi leads to a fine. Same city where young minds opt for private teaching than teaching in a govt school. Same city where more the donation more it is considered a matter of pride.

One of those days, when you put your head back and retrospect for a while!