When Inclusion is Prejudice

“I love school.”  For educators, such declaration from a student is the best testament of ‘success’. However, Priya, 8 years is not among our ‘usual’ pre-schoolers. She lives under the flyover in the slums of Kandivali near our school.

While it’s been a while that we had opened our doors and hearts to the children of Teresa Ocean of Humanity Foundation, around 30 feisty street children aged 4 to 16 years, this most impromptu confession, with twinkling eyes and one that prompted other more reluctant children to also coyly break into a jiggle and express their happiness is perhaps one of the most surreal moments I have experienced. 

It is during such moments we realise the impact we can have on improving lives through some basic additional efforts. In this case, from just helping Priya and other children like her experience the joy of a well-kept school premises and other resources.  Or even in dedicatedly training a group of tribal children in self-defence, education and hygiene.

It made me think how much we could really achieve if each of our children could attend quality school programmes (which is the basic right of each and every child as per the Indian constitution) right from the preschool level and not just from primary. What does the term inclusion really mean?

We have always prided ourselves in being an ‘inclusive’ school.  Through our initiatives we have tried to extend it to ‘social inclusion’ too. While our children at Kangaroo Kids Preschool and the children of Teresa Foundation have already set the wheels in motion in terms of learning to respect and share each other’s spaces, I constantly wonder why must there be a need for schools to be ‘inclusive’ in the first place. Should that be a goal?  

The RTE Act has set in pace the mission to achieve universal elementary education but can inclusion be suddenly forced upon when there are so many learning, cultural, linguistic impediments to grapple with? Have reservations at colleges, institutions helped us get the desired effect of ensuring that the opportunities presented be translated to effective outcomes?

That is the keyword we must analyse - the outcome, in terms of empowerment. A dipstick survey report by Parikrama Humanity Foundation, a non-profit company in the field of primary education, found that only 8 per cent of the jobs in well-known IT companies in Bangalore are held by people who have emerged from government schools. Yet, of the million-plus schools in this country, 94 per cent are government or government-aided institutions. Alarmingly, in India’s emerging knowledge industry, more than 90 per cent of jobs are held by people from 6 per cent of its schools.

Higher education fares better than primary education but has only about 10% of the population having access to it. Also, 3 million graduates a year, being dispensed out of faulty education systems into various enterprises – locally and globally. Out of these a whopping 90% are deemed unfit for the job-market. What do these numbers tell us?

1.     We need a well thought out and tailored approach for real ‘inclusion’ to take place factoring in the social, economic and bureaucratic elements. It must clearly run deeper than sweeping Acts and Reservations that sound ideal but must be pragmatic and in sync with ground realities.  

2.     In a country where 74% population still depends on agriculture as primary means of livelihood and earnings of less than 100 rupees a day, where do we stand at vocational education and training (VET) in this skill-based economy? A dismal 10% of workers receive formal education in vocational education, compared with 65% in US and 70% in UK. China is training 90 million youths against our 3.5 million youths in VET! We need more and more social enterprises that also focuses on truly empowering people across communities.  

3.     We have the lowest spends on Education and Health – the two most critical components that build a nation! India beats sub-saharan Africa, known over the world in term of hunger parameters. How do we expect our children to study when they aren’t healthy? How does anyone grow financially if he is bogged by debts due to escalating healthcare costs – since our public healthcare is also such a failure?  Our public expenditure on healthcare is just over 1% of GDP. In education it is about 3%, lesser than sub-Saharan Africa.

For true empowerment through inclusion, one that transcends the social, economic, cultural factors, it must have 100% involvement from the entire ecosystem. We need to start early, young and work together. And not just through reservations or categorisations, which further divides us.   We need to connect at the ground level and encourage the communities to explore, engage and enrich each other’s perspectives while also advocating their equal rights to be included in the societal framework with the freedom of also retaining their respective identities. 

While inclusion is a way of abolishing various degrees of inequalities, it shouldn’t be an end. The goal must be empowerment.

After all, doesn’t the term ‘inclusion’ imply Prejudice?

 

 

Cleanliness and G(o)odliness!

A recent international study by Rice University has established a well-known truth. It states that the feelings of disgust associated with an unclean work space might give rise to unethical behaviour. In other words, ethical behaviour can be promoted by keeping the immediate environment clean!

While this further gives an impetus to the much-touted Narendra Modi’s ‘Swacch Bharat Abiyan’, it just reaffirms what traditional sciences like FengShui, Vastu Shastra have delved on since ages - the importance of clearing of clutter to attract good energy.  

If one were to pick up the newspaper and look at most issues which are critical, these rule at any given point – vector-borne illnesses and deaths, garbage disposal and sanitation issues,  health of citizens, social issues like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, malnutrition. It is tough to overlook the connection between apathy towards the environment and corresponding impact on its surrounding.

While under the Cleanliness Drive initiated by the Prime Minister, many municipal schools and societies across are taking the broom, hardly any program sustains in the long run without a holistic approach. Here the issue, apart from cleaning up mess is to stop generating mess.

Perception plays a key role in changing of behaviour and in turn habits. When a three-year-old sees his/her father or mother littering, or observes cleaning the house is the maid's cross to bear, How many such adults are going to own up to the mess accumulated outside one’s house? Much of this is due to apathy and ignorance.

It’s time the government started environmental education in schools and preschools. There needs to be a separate subject dealing in environmental education and separate project. Let alone need-of-the-hour initiatives as garbage recycling, garbage segregation, water conservation which goes a long way in preserving the environment, we need to sensitise people about the effects of inappropriate disposal of waste.  

Throughout the regular cleanliness drives we take, the most crucial ones forming the base, is the environmental awareness we induce in our tots. You will be surprised to know how receptive and conscientious a toddler can be. We have had parents share with us how their three-four year olds patronise them for a minor oversight – leaving the tap open while brushing teeth or throwing a wrapper out of the car or spitting gum on the road.  These young children serve as the best mirrors to the parents. Reflecting truth, not deflecting it. 

It is habits that form a society and also define it.  It’s hardly any rocket science that no good can come out of unhygienic, filthy and mauled environments. Neither a human being nor an animal deserves to dwell in such spaces.  

Cleanliness is G(o)odliness. 

MISSING - the ‘Care’ in Early Childhood Care Education!

Meera, a software engineer and a young mother was distraught when she had met us a year ago. She was at her wit’s end trying to get her child, Kiara (3.5 years) enrolled into a ‘good’ playschool. She had already tried two preschools – one a smaller establishment closer to her locality and another a larger one integrated within a renowned K-12 school, though the traveling time doubled. None worked. One had failed to engage Kiara at a holistic level and the other was a gigantic system which threatened to engulf Kiara’s uniqueness at such a young age. Having met and counselled numerous parents, it definitely wasn’t the first time I had encountered such agony. And a valid one.

Being a mother foremost and an educator, I can empathise and appreciate the concerns parents like Meera have. For a simple reason - it reverberates with the need to provide holistic, inclusive, quality and research-based education especially, Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) programmes, which has been a personal two-decade mission. It is an irony that even though the demand for ECCE has shot up considerably with numerous preschools and K-12 schools sprouting in every corner, parents are still devoid of options when choosing good ECCE programmes which are accessible, affordable, engaging, developmentally-centric and relevant. Most are compelled to compromise at some if not various levels, albeit critical. Many garner admissions in K-12 schools to avoid admission hassles later on without even checking if the school’s ECCE programme is relevant, enriching and suitable for their tots. At others, parents enrol their children in preschools with great infrastructure but poor ‘learning’ outcomes. The glut of poor-quality preschools due to lack of regulations in the sector compounded by lack of awareness among parents about benchmark practices has led to this vacuum. The cost of this oversight is unfortunately being borne by the children.

What defines a good preschool? There are a myriad of factors. However, according to me, it must definitely measure against these key three factors – Focussed and constructive attention to children, Enabling of Holistic growth, and one that facilitates seamless integration of the children into the primary programme. It is critical to ensure that every child is given the requisite attention to develop as per his/her potential and through methods that aren’t standardised. Perhaps opting for a preschool affiliated with a good K-12 school would be the best choice considering the focussed objectives, customised processes, guaranteed admission into the primary section of the affiliated school and ease of operations facilitated by the smaller setup as against a large K-12 school. However, undoubtedly, a well-researched, relevant and developmentally-appropriate curriculum, teacher qualifications and training, and an enabling environment are non-negotiable when it comes to choosing a good preschool.

The government needs to urgently look at setting policies and regulations for the setting up of a preschool while also expanding accessibility and provision of such ECCE programmes to all children. While the NPE (National Policy on Education) 1986 stressed upon the holistic nature of ECCE, and has been successful in bringing ECCE in balwadis through ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services), vast majority of such programmes are running as little primary schools, both in the government and private sector. Such formal didactic methods of teaching three-six year olds can actually prove detrimental to their overall development. A sound ECCE programme is critical for the success of the universal elementary education under the SSA, taken up by the government. Bridging the large gap in terms of skilled teachers, administrators, therapists etc. also need to be pursued doggedly (Read - Bridging the Skilled Resource Gap in ECCE) . In fact, it would do a lot good to have a minister of state for ECCE education, considering the significance, growth and expanse of this sector.

Every society’s abilities and resources are being constantly tried and tested to cope with the needs and development of our young generation. The need to make them future ready in this dynamic, ever-changing 21^st century should be the one guiding factor for our policy makers. Research after research has indicated that neurons and positive brain connections are critical in this age bracket between 0 to 6 years. Neurons that are wired together fire together!  Without a doubt, there is hardly any other surpassing need than the urgent one to invest in our young. NOW.