Visiting the parents (of my children)

A positive Change

Sounds funny, but it fits in, when I tell you that I run a school. J

We started a school in rural India last year and I wanted to meet the parents in small groups and know there feedback on school and the studies so far. I met people in four villages and ironically, the ones who came had very good things to say about us. Typically, we expect people with grievance and complaints to turn up for such meetings.

I witnessed an interesting change in the outlook of parents on education vis-à-vis my last years interactions. I wish the credit had gone to us, but i think credit is due to “Three Idiots” an excellent creation and enactment by our little master (Amir Khan). Though, I wish my village friends had also appreciated “Tare Zameen Par” as much or even more. I place it above “Three Idiots” any day, especially for young children, where parents and teachers play a significant role in their development.

The parents whose main focus in life used to be, for child to be able to speak in English in front of guests, were talking of “education” to necessarily include games, sports and teaching children good manners (read value-system).

I would like to thank “Three Idiots” team for having delivered a positive message penetrating even the rural community. I hope more such brilliantly entertaining and message movies come out from Bollywood.

First Entry

Hi all,

I am new to this, as says my Blog Title... I had been asked by lot of my friends to start blogging and sharing my weird ideas with the world. I guess it was as good a time to start as any. It is interesting how the blogging site asks you so many things like "Title of your blog" etc. I guess it does say something about your state of mind when you are creating the Blog. For instance, it was the contemplative mood, which made me choose my Blog Heading.

Actually, i felt it was appropriate as well, as they are my musings, that i want to share and start talking to "like-interested" people. I would certainly appreciate like-minded people as well, but people with differing opinions (and minds) will be most welcomed to participate in my blog.

I will start with sharing my thoughts from an immediate concern area on which i was writing for one of my company websites.

Education in Rural India and a debate if education shall be free (and hence remain a regulated subject). Please let me put a disclaimer, the thoughts given below are completely based on my own experience and interpretation from having started a school in rural India. These thoughts are not representative of the overall school management either.

Is Free Education good?

Conceptually speaking, pricing should have nothing to do with Education as far as somebody (government / philanthropists) is willing to foot the bill. However, in practice, I believe that schools should not offer “free education” as an incentive to study. It sends a wrong signal to the society as a whole. If a family cannot afford to pay for teaching their children, then enable them to earn more and afford their family expenses like children education. Their are government schemes like NREGA, that practically insure employment to rural poor. We need to teach rural India the concept of paying for basic services, instead of expecting them to be dolled out in a platter as a right.

I have more specific reasons to insist on dissuading free education based on my own experience in rural India.

In general perception (very true for Rural India) the things which come free are not always of good quality. When a villager works hard to get something, the perceived value attached to the achievement also increases. This is very critical aspect for Education in Rural India, where many parents do not even know the location of their children’s school. Some critical values attributable to “Paid Education” include

• Every self respecting parent shall work towards the education of the child, and hence take a sense of responsibility to monitor their wards progress.
• Paying for education, compels parents to evaluate the “Value for Money” by checking on children and school alike. It acts like a self-reinforcement for children and also a natural check on school management to deliver quality services.
• It is imperative to develop schools on sustainable basis, to be able to provide quality education through well trained teachers