Getting To Know Your International Contacts, Part 2

Maintaining international contacts is challenging, to say the least.  While schooling is a huge priority for me, I need to remember that responding to my questions is not top on my contact’s list of things to do.  Sapna (from India)   is the only one of my three contacts who responded, and I feel as if we are becoming fast friends.  I find her extremely up-to-date on what is developmentally appropriate (although she feels her hands are tied), and I think her creativity is amazing; for the new school year, they are using only home-made toys, and she offered to send me this adorable dog that she created with yarn. 

Her ending comments to me expressed how difficult it was for her to respond to my questions.  She admits to being blunt, only because she is aware that I need the truth.  However, Sapna claims that it hurts her to share what is happening, because in her words, “it’s a very sorry state of affairs.”

While Sapna never described the word quality, it was almost as if there was not such a definition; it was on the back burner.  In her society, it is more important to for all children to get an education… then quality might factor in.  The ministry has state bodies who look into the quality of early childhood education, but the job is not followed through.  A specific uniform curriculum does not exist.  There are different types of schools which house young children, such as state schools, central board schools, private schools, and international schools (most expensive).  I do not quite understand the differences… however, for families who cannot afford to send their children to school, there are municipality and village schools, as well as schools run by non-government organizations.  The quality of teachers in this last school grouping is, as Sapna stated “not always good.”

The teachers need to pass a simple “bed” exam (similar to a diploma exam), and there is basically no follow-up with the teachers once they are hired.  When I questioned Sapna about this, she reminded me that most of the parents are uneducated, so they do not know any difference.  In addition, teachers and parents in the non-government schools have no knowledge as to what the schools should be teaching. 

In rural village India, there are no preschools or kindergartens.  Children start school in the first grade.  In semi-urban or small cities, there are a very few preschool kindergartens (one class with both names).  However, Sapna repeated again that “there is absolutely no curriculum or understanding of curriculum.”

Obviously, these words hurt Sapna, because she knows differently.  She is lucky enough to be working in a private school… but I would agree with her words, “it is a sorry state of affairs.”