Pratham Education Foundation

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Chronicle of the Bumihar Women

Pratham 2:56:00 PM

By Serdane Baudhuin

Intern, Pratham

A long time ago, King Hershevardhan Sing offered a family of deserving farmers ownership of the piece of land of their choice. After a six month search for the perfect place, the farmers singled out an area in the kingdom of Betiah, which became their property. They thus came to be known as the Bumihar : the owners.

The Bumihar started farming: they grew mangos, maize, spinach an much more.

For Bumihar men, all was well: the land was fertile, crops grew easily...

So easily, that there was no need for women to go out to work in the fields. This allowed men force women into invisibility : they were not allowed to walk out of the house, to show their faces, or to address men.

This would go on for centuries, until at last, a women, Neraaj, dared to wander past the borders of Bumihar fields, and came across Pratham Cluster Learning Center in Chanpatiya block of Champaran District.

Neraaj instantly felt a desire to be part of this colorful new world. She passed the test, and was selected for one of the faculties in one of the Pratham Cluster Learning Centers.

To Neeraj's amazement, her decision was met with enthusiasm by the Bumihar women. Her sister-in-law Priya, has been particularly supportive, and offered to take care of Neeraj's family while she is away.

Neeraj now works full time with Pratham Education Foundation. She teaches middle school children and travel widely.

Today, Neeraj sits confidently next to her father in law. Just a few years ago, this would have been completely unthinkable for a Bumihar woman. Neeraj truly has changed the dynamics of Bumihar families.

But there are many women out there still, who yearn for such an opportunity, for an other Pratham to be part of, for an other Cluster Learning Center to open near their village...

Monday, July 15, 2013

Voices of Pratham

Visiting an Urban Learning Centre

Pratham 11:45:00 AM

By Serdane Baudhuin

Intern, Pratham Education Foundation

"Piggy lost his mother, so he went out to look for her. Around the corner, he encountered Mr. Dove. Oh, you must be my mother- Piggy says. Coo coo - answers the dove. Oh no says Piggy, that's not the right noise, you can't be my mother. So Piggy walks away, and encounters Mister Crow."

The children of the Dallupura Balwadi Centre are engrossed in the story of piggy searching for his mommy, sometimes even telling it along. And when piggy eventually finds her, all cheer with happiness.

The Pratham Balwadi Centre aims to inculcate school going habits in children with a focus on their physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. These children are aged three to five and the Balwadi teachers engage them in various activities which include telling stories and poems, singing and art and crafts work.

Upstairs, a group of older boys work on improving their reading skills with the help of a teacher. At first the boys appear to be rather shy. But the mood rapidly changes and in no time, we are surrounded by the whole group enthusiastically opening up about their thoughts and narrating their experiences. The children are also eager to share their dreams for the future : we have a soldier, a choreographer, and an entire cricket team !

In the afternoon, we meet a class of girls aged 5 to 7 as a part of Pratham’s Balwachan programme. The group meets us with a great deal of curiosity, giggling and whispering ideas about what our names might be, or where we may have come from. It is soon clear that the witty girls will only answer our questions once we have answered all the ones that they have about us.

Documenting the Center has been an enriching experience. I have greatly enjoyed observing different teaching methods, participating in some of the activities, and meeting the children. Talking to them has given me insights into their situation that I could not have gained from reading reports. This has convinced me of the need to actually confront ourselves with realities different from our own in order to truly understand them.

It has been truly gratifying to have had the opportunity to visit one of Pratham’s Educational Programmes. However, let us not forget that bringing actual social change to the world takes enduring effort, part of which consists of hours spent sitting behind a desk. Participating on the field is something that brings perspective those the hours. My understanding of what goes on in reality is something which I hope will be able to aid me in my work during the rest of my internship at Pratham.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Voices of Pratham

Uttar Pradesh: Notes from a Field visit

Pratham 1:20:00 PM

Visiting a Summer Camp in Barabanki

By Reeti Roy

I have been working with Pratham for just over a month and my first field visit was to Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India known for its food, its hospitality and its fierce monsoons. Unfortunately, like many other Indian states, Uttar Pradesh is also a state that faces severe changes in terms of its primary education.

When I reach Lucknow at 6 a.m, I am greeted by Saurabh Mishra from Pratham Lucknow and after resting for an hour, we leave for Barabanki.

Upon reaching Barabanki, I notice that at Kurmin Purvah High School, three classes are taking place simultaneously. Two classes are being supervised by volunteers and a third one is being conducted by a Block Resource Group (BRG) member Virender.

There are 25 children in Virender’s class, out of which two children are at word level and all other children are at letter level. Virender has divided the classroom into two groups. The children at word level are made group leaders. Husna Bano leads Group A while Chand Mohammad leads Group B. All of these children are in Classes 3, 4 and 5.

When I enter the classroom, the children are participating in the mind-mapping exercise. In the mind-mapping exercise, an alphabet is used and children learn to formulate words on the basis of those alphabets.After the mind-mapping exercise, Chand's group appears the clear winner. They have managed to come up with four more words than Group A- Husna's group.

The children are excited. Virender is not amused. “Acche Bacche kaise rehte hai? Shor nahi karte hai na?” he says to them gently. (How do good children behave? They don’t shout, do they?) The children nod their heads vigorously.

Saurabh smiles at Virender and says, “These are just one of his many skills. His chicken curry is famous amongst all the BRGs here!”