Chetan's Musings

"The redemption of this education system cannot happen," says the gentleman to my left somewhat pontifically, "till the time the children have the katora (bowl) in their hands!" I am in Hardoi, a district to the west of Lucknow in the heart of Uttar Pradesh, for a new Edulever project. Rains have eluded this part of the state this year, and a disconcerting sultriness hangs in the air. Hardoi town, with a population of 170,000, seems like any one of the numerous small towns that dot the north Indian landscape. Its most recent claim to fame is that the 2012 Bollywood movie Ishaqzaade was shot in the district. Over two-and-a-half days, we visit a few senior secondary schools - also known as Inter Colleges - in parts of Hardoi. These schools typically run from Classes 9 to 12, and the ones in the villages are usually plain-looking single-storied structures. Enrollments vary - from as low as 50 students in Classes 9 and 10 in some cases, to as high as 750 in others...

A brick road runs through the center of the village. It had rained heavily the previous evening; we are greeted with the warm smell of fresh earth and cowdung. Chaitasangma is one of numerous villages that dot the landscape of north Bihar, situated around 100 kms to the north of the capital city of Patna. I am there as part of a recce for a forthcoming project for Edulever. The people aren't sure what we are doing here. They look at us with a mixture of suspicion and anticipation. The people are largely the women and the children - the men of Chaita are in far-off Delhi and Punjab, some working as construction labor, others as rickshaw-pullers. The women lament that their children have no option but to grow up without their fathers - who are here only for the festival season. Since Chhath , the largest festival of Bihar, is round the corner, the menfolk's arrival is eagerly awaited in Chaita. It's not 10 am as yet, so the children are not in school. Not yet. So...