Ninad Solanky| P39035| Section A
State of Education in the Village of Majawad
Role of Education in Rural Areas
The Education must contribute for the upliftment of socio-economic status and
development of rural areas. Due to lack of Education, Social and Economic development of rural
areas become a challenge. Education can help for specialized training, decision making, creating
more opportunities for employment and income generation sources. It can lead to increased
productivity and public participation of the rural people. The educational development of rural
individual can empower him to reap the benefits of various Government schemes and hence pave
the way for an escape from poverty trap. Educational programs pertaining to local needs for the
development of family, community and society will definitely reduce poverty and lead to equity
of income. The role of education is to trigger social change and transformation. Noble Laureate
Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach understands poverty beyond income. It refers poverty beyond
a range of means available to achieve human capabilities like Literacy, longevity and access to
income.
State of Education in the Village of Majawad
When one talks about the education system in any village, the conversation doesn’t involve
more of positive comments. Be it the level of education, infrastructure, number of teachers or
availability of amenities like laboratory, computers etc., the picture painted is very dull. So was
the situation in Majawad. There are four schools in the village, three being government schools
and one private. Children from nearby villages also travel to Majawad to study due to non-
availability of schools in their own villages.
Table 1
Types of Schools
School ID School Name Type Grades Taught
Government Senior Secondary School, Higher
1 Govt.
Majawad Secondary
2 Happy Home School, Majawad Private Middle
3 State Primary School, Satiyathal Govt. Primary
4 Government Middle School, Majawad Govt. Middle
Source: Village Schedule
There are a total of 376 students studying in different schools of the village with the highest
portion going to the senior secondary school. Out of the 376 students, 195 students are girls which
form 51.87% of the total. When compared with the data of students going to school five years ago,
there has been a slight increase in the proportion of girls admitted to school. It shows that the
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awareness regarding the importance of educating the girl child is growing in the village. When
asked about the reason behind this trend, the households praised the continuous efforts made by
the local Panchayat as well as various workshops and lectures undertaken by the NGO’s located
near the village.
Figure 1
No. of Students in Schools
No. of students in schools
Now 5 years ago
221
247 98 31 21
119 37 32
School School
Id 1 School
Id 2 School
Id 3
Id 4
Source: Village Schedule
Table 3
No of students Dropped-out
No. of Students who Dropped-out
School ID
(Total of last 5 yrs.)
1 75
2 40
3 0
4 0
Source: Village Schedule
;
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The incidence of school drop-outs has been primarily due to two factors- sub-standard level of
teaching and lack of interest towards education. Most of the students, who left the schools work in
the farms along with their parents, or are employed as casual workers in the nearby areas. Many
students cancel their admissions to study in a private school which provides better education and
infrastructure facilities compared with that of village school. There was no connection found
between school drop-outs and the incidence of absenteeism of teachers.
The basic infrastructure facilities in a school must include well-furnished classrooms with
round the clock electricity, provision for drinking water, functional toilets with continuous water
supply, different labs and a playground for the students to enjoy their leisure time. None of the
schools had separate classrooms for every standard. Usually the primary classes are held together
and the students are taught by a single teacher. The lack of availability of teachers is the prime
reason behind it.
The school buildings were well constructed with cement roofing. All the classrooms had
proper ventilation. Some of the classrooms didn’t have adequate furniture for students and
therefore they had to sit on the floor. Chairs, tables, black-boards, chalk-duster and other items
required by teachers were present in all schools. No school provided computer, internet or
laboratory facility. Toilets were constructed in every school but none had a functional water supply
facility available at all times. They were not properly cleaned and maintained as well. The school
imparted hygiene education and its importance to the students. As a result, there was no evidence
of open defecation or urination around the toilet block in the schools. The schools have a proper
facility for potable drinking water. Water is either drawn from wells, hand pumps (private school)
or overhead tank created specifically for this purpose. The general cleanliness around these
facilities is at average levels. (Source: Average levels as mentioned in the Village Schedule,
Section 7 that considered no litter and waste collection; less or at times, no insect and/or animals
near the water facility as the average level)
The MDM scheme is operational in all the government schools. The students are served
according to the menu that has already been fixed. In addition to the food, children belonging to
class one to five are served 150ml of milk whereas children of classes six to eight are given 250ml
of milk on a daily basis. The food is cooked within the school premises by a person specifically
hired for this purpose in all the schools. The supervision, monitoring and management of the MDM
scheme is done through an established mechanism comprising of officials from departments such
as Education, Block and Health.
Causes
There are a few systemic factors which has led to the factors which compromise the levels of
education in the village. First and foremost, the lack of infrastructure is a one of the major factors
for the problem. All the students from primary school sit in the same class and are taught by the
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same teacher. This is one of the major factors because they there is a lot of commotion in the class
for a learning environment to foster. This does not let the teacher focus on the individual learnings
of a student or pay proper attention to each student individually. Also the teacher to pupil ratio is
also a little low which is also one of the causes for the state of education in Majawad. The
geography and the remoteness of the village also plays a role. Since the village is located in the
valley and is surrounded by mountains. The nearest city is an hour away with lacking transport
facility which reduces the accessibility of the schools in the village for the teachers. This is one
of the other factors which makes the village less attractive to teachers from outside the city. The
major problem which also affects the education the students is the lack of role models and the lack
of motivation to study. The students never had someone to look up to. Everyone in and around
them has worked in the field or some form of job and all their life have been told that there is
nothing kept in education and you have to work the fields when you grow up.
The main reason why students do not pursue higher studies is they are not financially stable and
have to start working to support their family. The other reason is that there seems to be a lack of
awareness about other options available. There is a lack of dreams and even belief that you can do
something else to their liking. Even if the students join college everyone pursues Bachelor of Arts.
When asked about their reason for choosing this course, they say it is the only course available.
The other major problem is the lack of role models for the kids to look up to. There are no people
from the village who have become engineers, doctors, lawyers for the kids to look up to. Everyone
has looked up to their parents who have worked the fields or stayed at home. They neither know
nor have seen anything else. They feel like this is what they will have to do once they grow up.
Factors like these lead students to believe that nothing good comes out of education. That is why
they believe should start working sooner rather than later. They get caught up in the idea of earning
money now but fail to see the bigger picture. They do not understand the importance of education
because no one among them has got anything out of studying.
This is where I believe the idea of a youth resource center comes in. This entails setting up a group
of school going and college going kids to hold activities in the village so that they can channel
their energy in the right direction. The main function of the group is to organize and do activities
that promotes youth engagement. The group can organize talks for students, organize festivals,
sports activities, skill development camps and interactive sessions to promote youth engagement
and increase awareness among the youth.
YRC- An Introduction
We were constantly in search for new creative interaction formats that will engage and motivate
the youth of Majawad to be productive individuals for the society. We wanted to move beyond the
classroom boundaries to ensure that being a resourceful citizen doesn’t involve excelling in
education only. There are spheres which aren’t yet tapped by the villagers such as skill
development activities and engagement in sports. We wanted to leave them with a powerful and
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engaging learning experience that will help them in the future as well. And therefore, the idea of
creating a Youth Resource Center in the village sprouted in our minds.
To grasp the attention of the youth regarding the same, we came up with the idea of conducting
interactive sessions involving talks on career counselling, showing inspirational videos about
successful rural entrepreneurial works, and organizing a cricket league to increase the interaction
between school and college going students.
In our first session, we pitched in the idea about opening a Youth Resource Center in the village
which would be fully operated by them. We explained the need and importance of YRC, roles and
activities to be undertaken by them, and asked about their thoughts on it. Their response was not
very positive.
Later, we conducted a buzz session wherein participants were clubbed together in groups that focus
on a single topic. Within each group, every student contributed his thoughts and ideas without any
hesitation.
Then finally we had a Q&A session. We asked them to jot down questions pertaining to the subject
matter on small cards. After collecting and mixing the cards, we called students randomly to read
and discuss the student-generated questions.
These sessions were helpful in raising the critical issues that the youth encountered in the village.
They pointed to the lack of willingness among students to pursue higher studies and also to
inculcate key skills that would help them in getting better jobs. They were hesitant to approach
their teachers or parents during times of difficulty in studies. To overcome this, we suggested them
to approach their seniors or college-going students whenever they feel like that they are stuck at
anything. We then asked the Vice Sarpanch to arrange a small space in one of the Anganwadis for
the students to create their own library wherein anyone can donate and issue books. By doing so,
students would inculcate the habit of reading and develop a liking towards studies.
To increase the interaction between them, we even organized a cricket tournament. The students
chose the four captains and formed the teams by selecting children from all age groups. After the
teams were prepared, we formed the fixtures in accordance to their convenience. The students
showed great excitement and enthusiasm for the tournament. After the first match was over, we
gave the students the responsibility of hosting the remaining matches.
The hunger for motivation and inspiration is always an added advantage to the existing hard work
and dedication put in towards achieving the target. To instil positivity and find the desired
direction, we planned to arrange a computer for the students so that they could read or see the
inspiring stories of how people contributed to the society with what they had, coming from a
similar background and working their way upwards. However, to make the pitching events
meaningful for both sides, it was necessary to set up an effective backchannel that will connect the
active participants with the prospective ones.
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