April 2004

From the Editor's Desk

Hello readers!
Our new financial year started this month. We have planned to take up new initiatives and quite a few activities, which hopefully will lead us to fulfill our objectives. Through this newsletter, we try to keep you aware of what we have been doing, and by your response, we can feel encouraged, rectify our mistakes, and together we can tread the path towards our goal of making quality education a reality for all children. Do write back to us.
- Anupama (Editor)

Change must come…

We mentioned about the free and compulsory Education Bill, 2003-04 and its flaws, in our last issue. Gradually, it stroked in our minds that why not share this draft bill and its potent dangers if passed without necessary changes, with other people. And as we did not want this issue to be confined to a restricted circle, we planned to organize a round-table in Kolkata, bringing various opinion makers in that space, and know what they are thinking. Mr. Ashok Agarwal (Convener, Social Jurist) has been involved in this cause in Delhi. We invited him to come and join us, which he very willingly did. The broad purpose was to add a fresh dimension to the discourse.

The consultative Meet was held on February 28, 2004, at Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata. Invitees included academics, Educationists, politicians, social activists, journalists, and advocates. To name a few: Dr. Amiya Kr. Bagchi, Mr. Poromesh Acharya, Prof. Bhabesh Moitra, Prof. Ranju Gopal Mukherjee, Mr. Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, Dr. Soumitra Basu, Mr. Uttam Sengupta, Prof. Sougata Roy, Mr. Pradip Bhattacharya, Mr. Rabin Deb, Prof. Abhijit Mukerjee, Manas Sinha et al. The discussion turned out to be a lively and informed one, which brought in a variety of perspectives. What was heartening and encouraging for us was that the people present unanimously expressed that the draft bill does not deserve to be an Act, unless necessary changes are included. People suggested to build public opinion against it, initiate a movement, and if possible, frame an alternative bill. Criticisms ranged, from the bill having no definition of ‘education’, no mention of the term universal, not addressing children of 0-6 age group, legitimising child labour to the multi-track education system, the leeway given to private schools, and many more. Mr Agarwal shared his expertise on how the bill is contradictory on several fronts and why it should be discarded.

This event revitalized the process, and we are happy to bring together a resource pool, who are with the cause!

Enacting History

Children often do not find history books interesting since they are stuffed with contents, which are age old, narrative in nature, and comes to the child as dry and lifeless. We thought .. why not make the subject more interesting by involving the teachers and children of Nabadisha in a process of knowing local history and at the same time enjoying the entire experience!

And then started our innovative and adventurous journey.The teachers of Nabadisha were taken to some places of historical significance in Kolkata like Town Hall, Eden Gardens, Victoria Memorial, etc. – there was interaction with some resource persons there and the teachers got to know many things. In the next stage, the students got involved, they went around with their teachers to their centres’ neighbouring areas, collected usually unknown relevant information and wrote it down. The thing did not stop there. We encouraged the children to conceptualise drama out of it all, and this needed a workshop, to develop in this children an idea about this art form.

Initially they felt shy to open up, since this type of workshop was totally new for them With passing of days, they started loving the things they were learning, like: the concept of space, sharing of space, forming individual structures and group structures, concept of sound, intonation, etc. The children, with some peripheral assistance by us, wrote stories (bringing in local history, as they had gathered), scripted it and started acting. They were so enthusiastic about the entire experience that they, with full energy and fun, enacted three short dramas in our annual cultural programme. History can be enjoyable after all, it is the approach that makes the difference.

Vikramshila's Diary

Workshop on educational issues

A three-day workshop was held in Kolkata, during March 23-25, with many organizations that are working on education and related matters in West Bengal. The workshop was on educational issues, and was quite new for the participants. It was a step forward for us as well, since it was challenging. The aim was to build awareness among them on educational matters. We want to keep the process ongoing, and this was resonated by many of the participants also.

Ikri Mikri 2004

Nabadisha’s annual cultural programme “Ikri Mikri” was held on March 30th at Rabindra Sadan. The children participated in dance, songs, dramas, and recitation. It turned out to be a wonderful event, with the children who were in the audience, clapping every second minute, which was echoing throughout the hall. The children shared some nice time with world-renowned magician P.C. Sorcar (Jr.).