Up, Down, Down, Up, Down, Up, Round about

Up, Down: I had the pleasure of being placed in an Akanksha school – I was really looking at this a perfect platform to make a difference, as Akanksha and TFI had such close ties. As it turned out this was the first year of Akanksha in our school, and we were confronted with a host of issues between the building authorities and our school administration: frankly, it was an overwhelming feeling. To give you an idea to the extent to which the issues had escalated, the school administration had decided that if the non-cooperation from the authorities continues, we might exit from the school. But, instead of buckling under all the pressure we decided to persevere – and it paid off. The antagonistic nature of all the skeptics were slowly won over, one person at a time. The successes of the school are sweeter today, as they have in it the changed mindsets of many who questioned our very existence.


Down, Up: When school started, the parents were questioning. What are they learning in school – you don’t make them write anything in their books, you don’t give loads of homework and you are not strict with the children since you don’t hit them? The parents of these very children are noticing the changes by the last PTA meeting. Other members of the community are recognizing that their children are speaking in English and their behavior has changed for the better. Now, these parents are coming in and sharing these stories of change with others.

There is a student, who left our school to join another private school after paying a sizable donation. She has been forced into a second standard classroom though she was a bright third standard student and no one around in her new school converses in English. Now, she is repenting joining the other school and misses her superstar classroom. I hope to bring her back to the superstar classroom.


Down, Up: The enormity of the task at hand was baffling me – my kids could not read simple three letter words in English and writing was a huge struggle. The phonics program I had put in place was having immediate effect but, the weaker students were lagging behind. I was finding it difficult to take my stronger kids to the next level, while giving differentiated phonic corrections, as it required near individual attention. I really wished I had a co-teacher and my cries for a volunteer had not yielded much result from Akanksha or TFI yet. Then, I put a plan in place which I shared with my PM – I needed an array of volunteers to give individual attention to my kids, I needed a library for my children to read books from and I needed money to equip my children with workbooks or other resources, as needs came along. This wasn’t going to be easy so I talked to everyone I know, posted on Facebook, sent emails, connected with friends and relatives – but most importantly I patiently persevered.

Then magically as a perfect well-orchestrated Teacher’s Day gift, suddenly everything seemed to fall into place. I reached the critical mass of 8 volunteers to execute the remedial program I had planned. My friend Rutuja from the US called up and said she is bringing back 50 pounds worth of donated books and $200. My dad called saying he is going to raise Rs 15000 to help obtain resources for my class. This could be more than what I could ask for in a day.

And slowly the wheels of change began to turn. Within 2 months my children registered phenomenal progress with just 2 hours of remedial classes a week. The small groups of just 6 students were working as intended. The weaker students were getting even more individual attention and were registering the most progress. By the end of the semester, all the students were reading and writing using phonics. While, we can quote many numbers to demonstrate growth, the results were phenomenal.

The 50 pounds of books have arrived in the classroom and are opening a whole new world for these kids. The money collected has been spent on buying workbooks to give practice to the children in all subjects. Many of the students are using this as a useful tool to guide their studies. All of a sudden, this success story has made my optimism a pragmatic reality – so much has been possible in such a short time, I cannot wait to see what will unfold over the next 1.5 years.


Roundabout: Once the wheels turned, they gathered speed quickly. One thing after next fell into place that exposed my kids to something new. The first amongst them was the “Design For Giving” project. We started a 5 weeklong project where the kids implemented random acts of kindness everyday. This was a fantastic project for children to imbibe human-values, while simultaneously developing their spoken English, communication and group-work skills.

While my kids were learning in the classroom, I was learning by visiting their homes and communities. The home visits exposed me to realities of our city – ones I would just drive past nonchalantly. As I interacted with the family members of the kids, my respect for them and their challenges grew. I imbibed a sense of empathy of where they come from and what mindsets they have to overcome to succeed.

Then, my kids were exposed to a world outside India as two foreigners – Clement and Kristin – came volunteered with us. My plans of taking the kids for a field trip finally got realized when we went to Nehru Planetarium and Nehru Center “Discovery of India” exhibition. This was fantastic experiential learning for these kids. On Gandhi Jayanti, we visited a School for the Deaf and interacted with the deaf children and saw them in action while they were learning. It sensitized the children to various issues in their surroundings. The kids celebrated Navratri and Diwali in the school along with all their peers and realized that school is not just a place you come to learn but also one where you rejoice and celebrate togetherness.


Up, Down, Down, Up, Down, Up, Round about. The roller coaster ride that has offered much to learn from. While, we learned much from the successes, it was really the failures that taught us the most. And through this I effectively learnt to celebrate both highs and lows.