Q. 1. What have you learnt from working with government schools, and what advice would you give to this Focus Group ? 

A. [from Melli] I have really learnt over the last few years, that while there are general policy issues we should keep pushing for w.r.t to govt. schools (community involvement, etc.), a large part of what we should do is focus on the specific problems of each region. The govt. is the over-arching body, and to some extent treats all schools equally. We (NGOs) have the flexibility to look at each individual school and see what is wrong with it. This kind of intervention I feel is sorely needed.

Q. 2. What is the main reason for dropouts ? What is the relative importance of teaching aids and teaching methods in retaining children in schools, compared to other factors, like say mid-day meal schemes, building/infrastructure, etc. ?

A. [from Melli]  This varies widely from place to place. My chapter works with govt. schools in Karnataka and govt. schools in Tamil Nadu. The Karnataka govt. schools (the district we are working in ) have much better infrastructure, better teacher-student ratio, are getting toilets for the most part, etc. I would say what will retain children in these schools is what they do with their education later in life. In spite of all this the failure rate in class X is very high. There is no point after 10 years of schooling if one cannot pass class X - a very logical way of parents looking at it. So more than teaching aids and teaching methods, what parents really care about is what the education brings to the children.

The other major reason for dropouts is the lack of a middle/high school nearby. Girls will not be sent to the next village etc. Again in Karnataka, the bus charge to go to the high school is around Rs. 10. With 2 or 3 kids the parents cannot afford this. Boys typically get to go, girls end up staying home. The ratio of primary to high schools is very skewed. (In Karnataka I believe there are about 48000 primary schools and about 2500 high schools). (Mehar has been referring to this as 'forced out').

Midday meals in general help.

In Tamil Nadu, unlike this district in Karnataka, the problems seem worse. There is a severe caste hierarchy; with the teachers openly thinking the predominantly lower caste students are dumb. One can see the difference between the way the Tamil Nadu students are and the Karnataka students are. The Karnataka students at least look happier. In this case the caste hierarchy has to go to reduce dropouts and make schooling an enjoyable experience for the children.

Q. 3. In tribal areas why are so many of the government schools residential schools ? This seems counter-intuitive.

A. [from Melli] This is because the residential schools were built with the 'mainstreaming' ideology. Tribal children had to be brought to the mainstream, and if they were in residential schools away from their parents and their living environment, they would be 'mainstreamed' better. This has come under a lot of criticism in recent years, but it takes forever to change a government's way of working on something like that.

Also in many cases, tribal hamlets are very remote and very small. Having a school in each hamlet might not be feasible; giving rise to schools for a cluster of hamlets, and the hamlets might not be within walking distance. And there are usually remote, with no public transportation.