From grinding poverty to graduation

Hello Everybody,

Time for another update.

I would first like to share with you an open letter written to the Chief Minister of Bihar by a concerned professor, and published in the Times of India.

I know you are all so busy but if you could take the time to read it the article shows the need for our scholarship programme. We wish things were better and students in Bihar got more care, we can only hope for improvements in the education sector in the years ahead.

Here is the letter,

Dear Nitish Kumar Ji,

I am a proud Bihari and really feel privileged to be so. But it personally hurts when I find the state in which Bihar finds itself today. When you first took over the reins, your statesmanship had raised the expectations of every Bihari. People had looked for real change, particularly in your second stint.

But a lot of things have since gone wrong in the state under your watch. For now, I would like to focus on Bihar’s crumbling education system.

There has been a steady slide in the education system of Bihar, once home to world’s ancient universities like Nalanda, so much so that the state has become a laughing stock.

While studying at Havard University last year, I felt disgraced when The New York Times carried a picture of people clinging on to the windows of an examination centre in Bihar to help the candidates. Had the system been delivering quality education, students and their relatives would not have resorted to such shameful means.

After that picture of ignominy, I had expected your government to act and take education reforms seriously. But that was not to be. Instead, the ‘topper scam’ came to light this year.
Recently, I visited Katihar, my hometown which I love more than any place on earth. My curiosity to find the state of government schools and colleges took me to Maheshwari Academy, which used to be one of the best schools in the district during my childhood.

The visit made me more despondent. Surrounded by tall grass and bushes, it appeared like a haunted building. The campus has completely lost its charm. Suddenly, I saw a marble stone on the science block, which pointed out that you had inaugurated it in 2007. But it looked more like an abandoned building.

Interestingly, bang opposite this block is the office of the district education officer. I wondered whether the DEO’s gaze had ever fallen on the building. What I gathered about the school later was more shocking. There are only ten teachers for about eleven hundred secondary school-level students and no regular teachers for higher secondary classes. There have been no new appointments in last two years and students pay to bring in retired teachers who prepare them for the Board exams.

Bihar still lags behind in pupil-to-teacher ratio (PTR) with 1 teacher for every 51 students against the national average of 26. Moreover, in government schools, most teachers are under-qualified with only 44% having a professional degree. Compare this with the national average of 80%. No wonder, only half of the students manage to clear the Class X board examination.

Sir, you are the one who showed light to thousands of girls by providing them bicycles to attend school, a move that reduced the dropout rate. But over a third of the schools still lack toilets for girls. How do you expect girls to spend long hours in school without such basic facilities? Mere increase in number of students is not enough. It’s the quality of learning that lies at the core of an education system.

Over two lakh classrooms need to be built to provide space for students. Cramped, poorly ventilated classes cannot enhance the experience of learning. If your government could build record stretches of roads and improve supply of electricity during the first two terms, what prevents you from changing the face of education in the state? It’s so ironical. I used to study with kerosene lanterns because of poor power supply but schools were comparatively better and now students enjoy better power supply but quality of schools have deteriorated.

How do you think Bihar can bridge the rich-poor divide with government schools in such deplorable state? How can change happen when bright students leave the state? Education has to be a much bigger agenda for governance and needs much deeper involvement.

I would urge you to make education your first priority if your government is serious about harnessing the potential of Biharis. A better education system integrated with life skills is the crying need of the hour.
Sir, involve parents in the school committees and encourage parent-teacher engagement. Public schools are beyond the means of majority of our young boys and girls who have tremendous potential. They too have a dream. Please help them realise it for themselves and the state.

And now something from one of our sponsored students, Pramod.

Namaste,

"My name is Pramod (name changed). I want to thank you all so much for helping students like me achieve my dreams. I am now studying for my competitive examinations for Banking which if I am successful give me a career I could only dream of before People First sponsored my college education. I came up through the village schools run by People First .  

Mt family are poor farmers I am the first in my whole family to receive a full education, let alone go to college.

Education can change the world, thank you for changing mine beyond my dreams”.

Pramod

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