Educational awakening in rural India.

There are three major changes taking place in the educational scene in rural india.

The first is what you notice in this picture- adult education. The young shepherd, is enrolled in an evening coaching programme to help him continue open school learning so that he can upgrade from his fourth standard to High school level. He uses his spare time during the day, while watching over his flock, to continue his learning process. Let me complement his enthusiasm.

The second is the recent concept of community Colleges, where those who learned through the open school system or vocational stream can actually enhance their skills by joining for technical programmes, which  would enable a person to find a job. It is possible for a person to acquire a recognized certificate or diploma which helps him to compete in the job market. This form of learning is loosely structured, not time bound and credits are given to achievements. The exit examination is not the only deciding factor that decides the outcome. Many who do courses in community colleges are already employed, but seek to get advanced learning or a formal certificate.

The third is literacy training for adults. About twenty percent of adults above 40 years in some parts of rural India may still be illiterate. Even if literate, they are not technically comfortable to transact banking independently or fill an application form or access welfare services. There is commendable change taking place in this area, with more non-governmental and governmental initiatives to make rural population 100 percent literate and technologically well informed.

What each of these programmes needs is volunteers who can offer to teach. The centers offering these services offer concessional or free educational service as those who join for these courses are are economically disadvantaged. Most of these programmes need volunteers who can offer free service. In fact volunteers can opt to help during evening hours or during week ends. 

The rural India is getting awakened. Should we not play a role to hasten this!

M.C.Mathew(photo and text)