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Literacy rising among Meo girls

By Soma Basu

BHARATPUR , AUG. 29. Neither did their parents allow nor were they willing students ever. Rather, they loathed the books because they hardly contained words they were familiar with. The texts were alien to their lifestyle, and therefore, the Government-run primary school classrooms remained empty.

But that was till Lok Jumbish (LJ) - an NGO implementing the primary education campaign in 13 districts of Rajasthan - arrived on the scene. Today in this district - where many villages are still without electricity supply - a tide of literacy is rising. The same unwilling students have triumphed over their disinterest and begun attending school with big hopes.

Educational backwardness characterises the Kaman block here which is essentially home to Meo Muslim community constituting 70 per cent of the 1,50,000 population. Of the 204 villages spread over seven clusters, there is ``not a single literate person in 22 villages and no literate female in 47 villages.''

The literacy rate in the block is 29 per cent with nine per cent female literacy rate. But among the Meo Muslims - primarily an agricultural and pastoral community - the literacy rate is as low as 19 per cent with negligible literacy among women. ``Not a single Meo girl so far has passed Class VIII,'' informed Mr. Naim Ahmed, an instructor.

Yet there is hope in the eyes of Naseem, Nafisa, Nazneen, Shahnaz...as these shy girls with their heads covered with a dupatta, gently swinging their bodies back and forth and their melodious voices rising and falling in unison read out of the Holy Qoran. Their faces tell they longed for respite from work but found hard to express because ``education has no priority in the community they are born.''

``It was not easy to replace the hard load of wood and water on their heads with a bag of books,'' said the Project Officer here, Ms. Rita Chaturvedi.

The Meo girls only had the elders' sanction to avail of ``dini taleem'' (religious teaching) in the mosques which run madrassas. Therefore, there were no takers for the Government's primary education scheme because the community feared that sending their children to a regular school would mean an attack on their identity or that it was a disguised attempt to convert them.

For the quintessential `sarkari babus' engaged in implementing Government programmes, it was undoubtedly hard on the field to build up opinion against customs. But Lok Jumbish decided to follow an ``affordable strategy'' because Kaman was an example of a classic conflict which the community was ill at ease to resolve - to bow to the diktats of a seemingly more evolved society with its own set of rules or cling on to a tradition that they valued dearly.

To begin with, the `maulvis' were drawn into some hard talk to erase their two basic and unfounded fears - that if their children learnt Hindi, they would become Hindus and parents were reluctant to send their daughters to any other school except the madrassas for security reasons.

Rounds of persuasive talks with villagers and maulvis revealed that if Urdu was introduced as a medium of teaching, then both ``dini'' and ``duniya ki taleem (general education) would be welcome. Lok Jumbish was quick to respond to the need and demand of the community. Advertisements were placed, Urdu teachers selected, trained and appointed and enrolment started in 1994. In many cases, the local maulvis with required qualifications were also appointed as Urdu teachers as it strengthened the confidence of villagers to send their daughters to study.

Two years of painstaking effort coupled with a readiness to respond has brought success to Lok Jumbish with Meo children now joining the educational mainstream and Urdu included compulsorily as part of their syllabus. The barrier of mutual isolation and confidence overcome, the Kaman model is now better known for its dramatic impact on Meo children. From 28 per cent among boys and 11 per cent among girls, the literacy rate with madrassa siksha incorporated has risen to 82.21 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.

According to Ms. Chaturvedi, the other reasons for education deprivation here were similar to other parts of the State. And the NGO intervened to repair the degraded school buildings, supply sufficient teaching aid and learning material, appoint more teachers and improve the educational standards by making the curriculum interesting.

Giving people what they want helped the NGO make a successful dent. Children are not only learning one modern Indian language, mathematics and science, but are also excited about the new found concern for hygiene and cleanliness. Many parents are now smiling inside many homes here, because many of their children - and particularly girls - are now Class V pass, can read and write letters, read the route numbers and destinations on buses when they go out of the village and much more.

The hitherto cloistered minds are evidently rattling with winds of change. It is important to acknowledge the significance of this new social ethos which the backward and conservative communities of Rajasthan are trying to evolve. But then there is the other side too. When education begins to make people an usual power centre within themselves, ``hitches'' are inevitable.

Section  : Regional
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