DIVERSASIA - Best practices

A concrete two storeyed building built sometime back as a cyclone relief centre is the school building of the Government Primary School, Jhautola, in Chittagong City. The ground floor has concrete floors and open spaces protected with a railing. A broad staircase leads up to the classrooms on the first floor. The approach to the school and the surroundings are rough and uneven and can pose problems especially during the rainy season for some children with physical disabilities. These surroundings and the lack of a ramp make the school inaccessible for wheelchair users. The classrooms have windows and are well lit. The school furniture consists of long writing tables and benches(4-5 children sitting on each bench). Girls and boys are seated separately. Three to four girls sit cluttered up on one bench. The boys tend to enjoy a comfortable seating of two to a bench. according to the school norms wearing a school uniform is compulsory. Parents are required to buy the school uniform. The school provides monetary help in cases where parents cannot afford it but to only a limited number of children. There are 2 male and 4 female teachers in the school. The male teachers have higher educational qualifications as compared to the female teachers. The PTI conducts cluster level in service training once in 2 months. It is a one day training program aimed at improving teaching learning methodology. The schools are selected in rotation as venue. The discussion with the teachers in Chittagong Primary School revealed that no replacement teachers are available top fill the gap of those teachers who attend cluster level in service training. It results in an additional teaching load on the teachers who do not go for the training. The class size becomes unmanageable and the quality of teaching suffers. Discussion with the school staff revealed that the supply of books to schools is delayed in the rural areas. The number of books supplied is limited and children are expected to pass them on the next group. Schools are provided with a needle and thread to stitch the used torn books and recycle them. The students appeared to be talkative, happy and vibrant. Discussion with children revealed that girls occupied the first eight positions based on academic performance in class 4. It is an indication that the girls are doing well and this interest level should be maintained and steps taken to see that the advantage is carried forward in the later years. Scholarships are awarded to children on the basis of a local exam at the end of class V and class VIII. Out of the 10 scholarships in the current year 8 were awarded to girls while 2 were given to boys. The records revealed that the overall performance in the last school exam in class V was found to be better among girls than the boys. The head teacher reported having 3 children with disabilities (difficulties in hearing and speech and physical movement). There are 11 members in the School Management Committee. The head teacher says, "I have to put in a lot of effort to ensure that the SMC members attend the monthly meetings. Their contribution is limited. I am keen to raise issues where their help can be very useful. If we jointly approach the local authorities we can probably find solutions to the lack of running water in the school. Another issue worth deliberating upon is the low attendance of children in the school in the lower primary grades."