Written by: Natanya Robinowitz
She interned with Asha in the summer of 2006 for six
weeks. For four weeks she lived in
Natpurwa, visiting schools and researching the village’s sex worker
problem. She is a fourth year
undergraduate student at
Schools visited:
1.
2.
3. Dalkhera
4. Sukhukheda
5. Lala Mowmawai
6. Naroiya
Schools were visited between
Teachers: Bikki, Narendra, Mamta and Durgess.
Hours:
The
The children range in age from 5 to 13. In the days that I visited, the attendance was between 25 and 45 students, of which 2/3 were boys. Teachers explained that more students usually come to school but during this time many are working in the paddy fields.
The students study math, English, Hindi and science and do so through a combination of dictation, copying from books or the chalkboard, oral teaching and games. The younger children use slates and chalk, while the older children use notebooks and pens. The children have limited schoolbooks
Natpurwa is a village of about 1200 people, where 50% of the families are estimated to be involved in the centuries-long tradition of female prostitution. Residents of Natpurwa are predominately dalit, and the village borders the upper-caste Sickroriha village.
It is worth mentioning that Bikki is an exceptional teacher. He is devoted to his students and is the lead teacher at the school. He works incredibly well with the children, playing games with them, explaining new concepts and approaching the material creatively. He is particularly devoted to the school and to the children, and this deserves to be pointed out. He lives in the neighboring Barahi village, which is predominately Muslim.
Teachers: Hansaraj, Uma, Chandralekha
Hours: July-September
The
The school is conducted at night, and the majority of the students go to the government school in the daytime in the neighboring Sikhoria village. A small number of the students go to the Asha daytime school at Guddu’s home. The materials used are mostly from the government schools.
During the four times that I visited the school, there were between 35 and 40 children. The boy to girl ratio varied, but there were always more girls, and sometimes twice as many.
The ages in the school are 6-15 and the children study Hindi, English, Math and science. Additionally, Hansaraj teaches the children discipline and good manners that they otherwise do not learn at the government school.
Hansaraj is worth noting as an incredibly hard-worker who
believes passionately in the importance of education. In the morning, he teaches from
I also visited the government school in Sickroriha and would
like to mention it in order to underline the necessity of the Asha Natpurwa
schools. The primary school has 340
students and 4 teachers. Of the four teachers, two work
for government and two are paid by the Shiksha Mitra project. (Hansaraj included.) The school starts at
Teacher: Putan Lal
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, Now,
The
On the day I visited, 35 students were present, 12 of whom were girls. Fifty-eight students are registered in the school. The students come from classes 1-7.
The children attend the government school in the mornings and then come to this school afterwards. The government school is 3km away, despite government regulations that there should be a primary school every 1 km.
The school had minimal resources. There is only one teacher and two torn and nearly unusable alphabet charts. The children wrote in notebooks with pens.
Teacher: Siri Nivas
Hours:
The
On the day that I visited there were 21 students. Forty-five are registered and Siri Nivas reported that 30-35 usually come. Of the 45 children registered, 15 are girls and 30 are boys.
The children study in classes 1 through 4. Many of them register in the government
school (1.5 km away), and use the free materials to study in the
The teacher, Siri Nivas, lives in Sickroriha and travels the
3 km to Sukhukheda by bike every day. He
received his B.A in
Sukhukheda is a village of about 1200 people. The children in the school are all low caste and their parents work in agriculture. In the village, the high caste minority owns the majority of the land.
The government junior high school is 3 km away.
Teacher: Ram Naresh
Hours:
The
There are 25-30 students registered in the school, 15 of whom are girls. They come from classes 1-5.
When I visited the school, the children were just beginning to arrive. These children attend the government school in the daytime and then the Asha school in the evening. Therefore, the materials come from the government school.
The total population of Mowmawai is 1,000. Some of the students’ families own land and
some do not. The Asha school
has been running since 2003 with the same teacher. Ram Naresh completed his B.A in
Teachers: Kamlesh Kumar, Puspendra, Karuna Shankar
Hours:
When I visited Naroiya, the timings had changed, so I was only able to meet with the teachers.
The school has 40 students registered, and the boy-girl ration is 1:1. The students come from classes 1 through 8.
The school is currently conducted in a house. The building they normally use is located on government fields, and there is currently a problem with using this building.