Open school education for Assamese kids

Sitting amidst trees and chirping of birds, children in Assam are learning lessons in an open environment. This is a new initiative by the State Government to bring school dropouts back to the classroom.

By Peter Alex Todd

Dalbama (Assam), Sept. 25 : Sitting amidst trees and chirping of birds, children in Assam are learning lessons in an open environment. This is a new initiative by the State Government to bring school dropouts back to the classroom.

These kids, belonging to impoverished families in Dalbama village of Kamrup District, are taught their lessons mixed with a healthy dose of fun to keep their interest levels high.

Studying in a school that has no building, furniture or uniform, the children are allowed to mix their studies with playful activities like swinging on the merry-go-round, rock climbing and trekking.

Boys and girls from nearby villages, who have passed their high school examinations, have been roped in to teach these dropouts.

"These children do not go to school. We call them here in order to create an interest in them for knowledge and education," said Kalpana Rongpi, a voluntary teacher at the school.

The organisers of the open school have introduced the concept in at least six villages bordering the Rani Reserve forest on the outskirts of Guwahati.

"These children keep loitering around. Their parents are not literate. In 2003, I opened a centre for the education of under privilege children, but then I realised that it will not be fruitful unless we take it to every nook and corner of the village. We need to take learning to the children to make them interested, and to educate them," said Uttam Teron, organiser of the open school.

The school provides teaching up to the fourth standard, after which the students are admitted to formal schools.

Assam stands third in the country in the list of percentage of school dropouts.

ANI