I now know what it feels like to be a celebrity. How do you ask, does an ordinary high school teacher become a celebrity? It is simple, travel to another country and tour a school. Students were cheering and asking for autographs. It was enough to make me laugh.
Our group toured two schools today one a public (for Americans that is a private school) and the other a government school (for Americans a public school). Trying to keep the distinction between the two schools is difficult.
First off, we toured a public school. I don’t know what I was expecting but it was an experience. Our bus meandered (hurled at death defying speeds through Bangalore traffic dodging all modes of transportation) towards the school and then the road shrank and we had to park and walk the rest of the way. Two students from the school came to meet our group and lead us through auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, scooters, dogs, and cows. We were lead into a building with stacks of televisions on both sides of the hall. We wandered past all of this to the office where the owner of the school spoke to us.
At this school tuition was about $6 a month and all students were tested and teachers recommended if they should attend the school. Not only were the students tested but the parents were checked as well. There were video cameras in all classrooms and classes were taught in English. But classes were packed with up to 45 students in a class and some of the teachers were barely out of high school.
When we entered the classes the students wanted us to sit beside them and they asked us questions. They wanted us to take our pictures with them and the funniest of all was that we were swarmed with students asking us for our autographs.
As a teacher I don’t know how those young women could teach so many students in such a confined space. All of the class materials were either stacked in the corner or a a shelf in the classroom. Most classes used chalk boards but there were a few smartboards being used in classes.
To go to the rest of the school we had to leave that building walk two buildings down and enter through a curtain. We walked past an apartment and storage to the staircase where we could here the students voices coming from down the stairwell. There were classes on the next three floors.
Our next school visit was at a government school. Either by this point the death defying rides don’t phase me or it was fairly calm trip. I am thinking that I have got used to the traffic.
The infrastructure of the school was better with the school in one building, a computer lab, and much smaller class sizes. The teachers in the government school actually were trained teachers and their classes were working on a variety of activities. There was a nice covered courtyard in which students gathered for assemblies or ran chasing a soccer ball.
There was also a nursery program in the front hall of the school where smaller children were being cared for and a preschool class that had numerous activities that they were doing.
However this school was at a disadvantage because the better educated parents and those with resources pay to attend a public school (there is a huge range in quality). They accept whatever students live in the area. The principal arranged for donors to provide a second uniform for students to wear.
Both schools had similarities: students wore uniforms, attended classes on Saturdays (my students, ok me too, are cringing at that), and largely boys. These schools also taught in not just one but three languages: Kannada, Hindi, and English.
These were both schools that were actively working in improving the lives of their students. But even though I saw the potential I am troubled by the limitations that these students will have because of their education.
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