SEVA WEEK 7 (18-24 Apr 2011)
r e f l e c t i o n : ON EDUCATION
Education means quite differently to different people. Some see its meaning in a piece of certificate. Some make it pure rote learning. Some loathe it. Some enjoy the challenge to outsmart others. Some see it as gathering of information. Some go through it because they were told to. Some are clueless about it.
I feel education should be about learning how to learn. And school is where one is subject to a methodical training to learn the skill to learn. When you become competent of being able to learn, then you know you are able to acquire any knowledge or skill, and few obstacles could survive you long.
But today's school has become overly prescriptive. School imposes upon us a right answer, rather than exposes us to possibilities, to every question. School teaches us what to think, rather than how to think. School decides for us what is, rather than facilitates us to discover and decide what might be. School punishes us for making mistakes, rather than encourages us to uncover truth through trying. School moulds us in conformity and dullness, rather than breeds richness out of diversity.
How we are schooled, we tend to school our offspring in a like manner. Until we encounter a strong enough experience to revolutionalize our way of thinking...
When would Education be about facilitating a student to see the entire spectrum of colours so they could experience them all in order to make a conscious decision for himself or herself? When would Education focus on providing facts and facilitating students to discuss and arrive at their own conclusion?
And when would Education evolve to begin with a lesson on Self Realization because that's where it should also end.
You and I have a choice on the flavour of Education we embrace for it has the power to decode our life, and that of our future generations. |
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 Tribal School Project @ Jharkhand
We arrived Ghatsila on the night of 17 Apr from Bhubaneswar after a 23 hour long train journey. Arindam and Chakraborty received us at the train station and took us to the VVKI Office on a jeep that says "Mobile Dispensary". Enroute, we immediately got a feeling that we'd entered a really small town even more remote than Gadag. We were so glad to finally meet Chawlaji, the inspirational director of Tribal School Project.
Chawlaji took us to all 10 tribal schools in the Ghatsila block over the next 3 days so we could grasp the real situation, meet the teachers and most importantly the tribal children. Along the way, we would evolve our specific seva here. It was magical to personally experience a project that started from zero 12 years ago and carefully nurtured through love and devotion by Chawlaji and his dedicated team of sevaks, staff, teachers and donors. Seeing the schools and the tribal children is like being transported to what we have read about in Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stone Into School". We presented these 2 books as our gifts to Chawlaji.
We were delighted to have John Ong and Serene Lim, our first friends from Singapore to join us in our Seva 2011 journey, on 18 Apr. They made their way up from Chennai to Kolkata, and then to Ghatsila, a mighty long journey to be with us to see for themselves how they could contribute to the Tribal School Project. Robyn was especially elated to have the company of her two iPhone die-hard's! :)
Simple Living
We felt at home here despite the more than sparse living condition. Power outage and water cut are predictably unpredictable. After experiencing our first hot stuffy night at Jai Gurudev Hotel without aircon, we managed to get an aircon room at the Hindustan Copper Ltd Guesthouse, a corporate lodging meant for the staff of HCL. The aircon here was a shade cooler than room temperature but at least we were blessed with no power outage, which was crucial to enable us to work on our MacBooks and Internet communication with the outside world to pull in support for Tribal School Project.
Ghatsila is best described as a town in the middle of nowhere. There is not a mini-mart and few eateries. Our meals were taken either at the VVKI Office or at HCL Guesthouse. And daily meals meant rice, dhal and vegetables.
Tribal School Education: No-Frill, Primitive But Definingly Enlightening
We got tremendously inspired at the tribal schools and we fell in love with the tribal children. Chawlaji's work here, inspired by Guruji, is simply awesome. We intuitively know that all 3 of us could contribute in our own ways to the Tribal School Project. On 18 Apr night, John and Serene "parachuted in" with more value-adding ideas. After banging our heads (and hearts) together with Chawlaji, we whipped up numerous seva projects and jumped into action at warp speed.
On our 4th day here, 21 Apr, we launched the Arts Festival Summer 2011 and the Digital Expression Contest for 5 tribal schools. A total of 206 children participated. John and Serene left on 22 Apr but not before deciding to sponsor 2 sets of School Solar System (more on this later). Jin, Robyn and I spent the week going from school to school to conduct the drawing competition and to get to know the students, teachers and their way of life. It was a wonderful experience.
Here, we attempt to capture the essence of the various Tribal Schools we visited and depict the life of the Tribal Children in words and pictures...
| Kalchiti Primary School |
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Every morning before 7am, you'll see all the students of Kalchiti Primary School enthusiastically at work cleaning up the school compound, watering the plants, tidying up the classrooms and even sweeping the main road. Yes, unlike most schools, there are no cleaners here.
The sense of Belongingness is so strong that you cannot but feel that these children cherish the school like their home, and care for one another like brothers and sisters.
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| BELONGINGNESS. You feel responsible for something that you feel belonged to, and you naturally take action to love, care for and protect it. This spiritual slice of education is admittedly lacking in many of our schools and home. While Individualism steers one to fight for self interest, Belongingness brings out in one the love for all that is our very nature. I believe this awareness alone will bring about world peace and achieve harmony with Nature. I wish our MOE and school principals would make a study tour to these Tribal Schools... |
Daily morning cleaning duty by all kids.
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The kids sweeping the main road. |
After cleaning, the students will say a prayer to offer their gratitude to the Divine to begin another blessed day of learning and growth.
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Pranayama and yoga are an important component that helps the children achieve peace and calmness in their being, and better concentration. |
Academic lessons are important...
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So are outdoor play and fun times... |
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Tiffin (snack) and midday meals are provided free to the children.
As there are no staff in every tribal school apart from the teachers, children fend for themselves. Older kids will take up the responsibility to boil the milk, prepare the snack and organize the distribution of meals to the rest of the children.
L: This boy set the fire to heat up the pot of milk for all in the school. |
Tribal School has established such a good reputation that parents with kids in government schools are keen to transfer their children over. After an admission test given by Manager Pradip, this boy was admitted to Class 3 in Kalchiti although he was from Class 8 in a government school.
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We are most touched by the keenness in these children to learn, their hunger for knowledge, and their love for reading and drawing. We are impressed by the dedicated teachers who give their best despite being equipped with little or no teaching aids. Teachers often have to rely on their innovativeness to teach.
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| Kesherpur Primary School |
Kesherpur Primary is situated 21km from Ghatsila, tucked into a forest environment. This is an unlikely spot to find a school filled with kids holding books. |
There's insufficient classroom space. Fortunately, this open shade is cooling enough. It's amazing that 2 classes could be held here without any partition.
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The interior of tribal school is spartan but practical. Children sit on rugs with low wooden tables. They rely mainly on natural lighting as power outage ensures that the lights and fans rest more often than work. |
Chawlaji recalled how challenging it had been to construct remote schools a decade ago when there were no paved roads into the school sites. They had to haul bricks and cement in the back of their jeeps. |
| Halludbani Primary School |
At Halludbani School, the children created a beautiful garden with a wide variety of flowers and vegetables. They take care of the plants and tend to the gardens with loving care.
There's also a demonstration organic farm, brainchild of Arindam, that produces guava, tomato, papaya, chilli, etc.
We are seeking volunteers to help promote and guide the tribal people to start organic farming on their land as chemical-free produce is not only healthy but also income generating. To volunteer, email Chawlaji.
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Constructing a school is easy. Maintaining and running it becomes a life-long responsibility.
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Chawlaji and Robyn at Halludbani School. |
A new classroom being added at Halludbani.
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| Chhatardanga Primary School |
This is the farthest school, in the middle of forest land, within the Ghatsila Block, 23km from Ghatsila town. The road was so bad that we all got a thorough massage jolting over numerous potholes. |
Swapan and Chawlaji, 2 of the key people driving the Tribal School Project. You can literally see their eyes and faces light up when they are in the presence of the tribal children.
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Knee-height wooden desks are the only furniture you'll see in all tribal primary schools. |
Tribal kids practise writing using chalks and chalkboards made of black cardboard. |
| Hindoljuri Primary School |
Teacher and children are like a family here.
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Hindoljuri School, another Art of Living miracle. |
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Robyn reading an English passage with a tribal child. These children practise reading and writing, but lack an English speaking and writing environment to hone their language proficiency. We hope to set up a Befriending program for Singapore friends and especially children to connect with these tribal kids so as to encourage regular pen-pal communication. |
Robyn was so impressed with these children's neat handwritings that are better than hers!
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Midday meals, comprising beaten rice with water, are provided free to all tribal children to supplement their nutritional needs.
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A medical camp is held fortnightly at the school to provide free medical check-up and medicine to the students and the local villagers.
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I simply do not have the words nor the skills to describe to you the joy of being with these little souls of purity and aspiration. Come visit them yourself. |
| Babuline Primary School |
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Babuline School was previously run by the Hindustan Copper Ltd for the children of its staff. The school was closed a few years ago for some reason. One of the current teacher approached Chawlaji to take over under the Tribal School Project. This is the only tribal school that is located within Ghatsila town.
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Students here are better dressed with proper footwear instead of slippers... |
And enjoy having proper desks and benches. |
| Deuli Primary School |
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Inside this simple brick structure is one single large classroom that houses SIX classes!
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Teacher Fudan and kids from the nursery class watching their schoolmates at play in the field.
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Deuli School
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 I can't describe how astonished I was when I first entered this school. Children were all sitting orderly, filling up the interior floor space with 2 teachers, Fudan and Shanti, speaking to them, one on each side. I noticed a cluster of very young kids sitting near the entrance, and other clusters of varying age groups arranged facing different directions. When I learnt that the 2 teachers were actually conducting concurrent lessons for 6 classes, my limits of what's impossibly possible got stretched a mile longer.
It's a challenge to hire the right teachers. The best teacher for a tribal class is one from the same tribal village who understand the local language and the children's conditions. But there are very few educated adults in such tribal areas, and even fewer who are eligible to teach. Most of the tribal children are first generation learners in their villages, and there is hope that some would become our future tribal school teachers. It's gonna be a long wait... |
The adjacent field is perfect for conducting outdoor play sessions. |
Boys are boys, they simply love chasing a ball around and kicking one another.
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 As in all other tribal schools, kids here help the teachers to organize meal-times, prepare and distribute food, clean and wash up, and take care of one another.
Frankly, this is an observation that I'm very impressed with the Tribal School, and an aspect that I feel is blatantly lacking in modern schools where care and service are outsource to labourers.
I'm eternally thankful that Robyn is here in person to take it all into her consciousness, for I know it'll lay in her a knowing that will serve her well in the years ahead. |
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"Jai Guru Dev"
is the standard greeting for all Art of Living family and it simply means:
"I see the victory in you with the wisdom and child-like innocence."
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| Hindoljuri Middle School |
Each year, as the tribal students progress, a new level of class has to be added. This is the first middle school built by the Tribal School Project and its students are the pride and hope for the future of the tribal community.
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Classrooms are equipped with better furniture.
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But there's not enough classroom so the assembly hall stage doubles up as an open classroom. |
When teachers are busy, senior students will teach to reinforce as assistant teachers. |
Students run most of the school affairs, including tailoring school uniform for new students. This is education in a very holistic manner.
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Mid-day meal time is also interaction time. The kids are amazingly disciplined and orderly, with no need for any prompting or yelling by teachers, unlike in S'pore... |
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< Jin chatting with students.
Robyn coaching the tribal students on how to use PhotoShop and PowerPoint software. This school is equipped with a dozen PCs to expose students to IT.
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Tribal School Project
The Team
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Director: Brij Chawla |
Swapan |
Pradip |
Arindam |
Chukada |
Anindita |
Mohammad |
Bratati
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Manzar |
Paritosh |
Shyarmila |
Raj |
Ranjana |
Gurucharan |
Kranti |
Putul |
Jayshree |
Deben |
Gokul |
Rajshree |
Krishna |
Fudan |
Shanti |
Kanai |
Kabita |
Mrinal |
Malati |
Ramasinha |
Mitasen |
Naresh |
Kajal |
Tarun |
Ramjit |
> Week 8: Online Support for Tribal School Project...
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