PREFACE
Article 45 of the Constitution of India which was accepted in 1950 declared that within 10 years of its coming into force, the Government should make every effort to provide free and compulsory education for all children up to 14 years of age. However, in this, the fiftieth year of our Independence, although it is estimated that even in rural areas 90 per cent of children have access to schooling facilities within a radius of 1 km, literacy rates in the various states vary between only 38% and 90%. The struggle continues and currently the Government of India is committed to, by the year 2000, the Universalisation of Primary Education. This would mean that all children in the age group 6 - 14 years would be both enrolled and more importantly retained in school.
Provision of facilities is not enough! --- students will not remain in the system unless what is offered in the classroom is perceived as meaningful by both parents and students alike. The provision of an authentic learning environment that encourages the individual child to engage in critical thinking poses a challenge even in countries where material resources are plentiful. How much more of a challenge is it therefore in the Developing World? Yet democracy can only be sustained if all members of the future generation are encouraged to become independent learners, the children need to develop sufficient self confidence to question established dogmas, and to provide fresh perspectives to the analysis of contemporary problems.
The Diamond Jubilee High Schools, Mumbai in 1997, paralleling the country itself, are also celebrating fifty years of their existence. We could not have chosen a more auspicious time to share the experiences of the last 8 years with the general public. We feel we have been on a fairly unique journey. The first steps were taken in 1989 when we were fortunate to obtain funding for the first phase of the School Improvement Programme through the Aga Khan Foundation. It has had its moments of both of exhilaration and despair. In 1989 we thought we knew where we were going ----- but we soon learnt that educational change is like the children's song :
“The Bear went over the mountain,
The Bear went over the mountain
The Bear went over the mountain
And what do you think he saw ?”
-------------- THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN !!!!!!!!
The solution to one problem quickly raises fresh issues. However, the joy of traveling together energizes and provides momentum for further progress.
This is the message that we want to share with the outer world. No simple recipe exists for positive change. Constraints in terms of finance, material, time and space are multiple. Yet the Developing World has no lack of human resources and it is universally recognized that all individuals have vaste stores of untapped resources of creative energy. What is it that energizes individuals to contribute to their optimum? Not, Government statutes, inspired specialists or even well meaning training initiatives! It is the degree to which each individual in a system is involved in formulating and actualizing the organizational vision. Whether it be the school management, principal, teachers, parents or students! All have a basic need for involvement in decisions related to their own destinies or those of their wards. Only then will the individual experience a desire to contribute meaningfully. Organizational Development is not a mechanical tinkering with isolated components (curriculum, methodology, discipline, resource management etc. etc.) It is more of an organic holistic process. Each individual brings to its arena his/her own fears, strengths, weakness, perceptions, misconceptions, and aspirations. These impinge in a complex manner upon any attempted initiative. The time has come to celebrate our successes with others whilst not denying the pain.
When the author
began to write the book we were unsure as who we wanted the readers to be.
Slowly it dawned on us that we wanted to produce a readable travelogue which
may stimulate others to set out on their own journeys. It has not been written
in a highly academic style. That would have undermined the very objective of
writing the book. We want it read! It is dedicated to the lakhs of educational
practitioners in
In the fiftieth year of the Diamond Jubilee Schools we would like to invite others to join us in our search for educational processes that would be of a quality that would capture the imagination of our children to an extent that they in their turn would provide richer opportunities to the next generation.
I would like to thank all my colleagues, both professional and volunteer for participating both in the process itself and supporting Sucharita Narayanan in the preparation of this document. We felt that Sucharita was the most appropriate person to undertake such documentation as she has shown a unique capacity, whilst being simultaneously involved in the process, to stand back and objectively review its deeper implications. We feel in writing these pages she has performed a remarkable feat.
“Has it worked?” is the ultimate question! The participants themselves have until recently been largely content with a “gut” feeling of success. “After all”, they would say, “Once you attempt to measure quality you miss out on the very quality you are seeking”. However, recent testing has shown that our Diamond Jubilee students who have been through 8 years of the progress are mathematically and linguistically performing better then similar children from our control schools. In addition they have greater confidence in expressing themselves and are able to generate a greater range of creative responses. We do however, recognize that we have a long way to go. For this reason we look forward to the Third Phase in 1998, when our learnings can be assimilated and validated by those of others. We will then together be able to significantly impact the school education of the next generation.