Classroom and its realities

?Our recent visit field visits across various remote rural areas of India, allowed us to meet with many young people in the age group of 15-18 years and engage with them on various life-skills, career pathways, self-awareness, and critical thinking. These visits gave us a chance to observe two situations inside the schools that led us to believe that one shouldn't always jump to conclusions or form perceptions around individuals based on direct evidence or experience. Instead, each piece of evidence or experience has a story about which the listener or viewer may be completely unaware.?

A key stakeholder in Karta's work in India is the youth in classes XI and XII. It seems that there is a huge gap between their aspirations and the plausible future awaiting them. Many of these ?highly aspirational youth study in the public schooling system with minimal support from their parents and families, with a heavy dependence on peer influence. In the hostels and classrooms, peer learning becomes a critical aspect of students' thinking, which reflects in their immediate choices. While hearing and listening to the students who make these choices, one may form early conclusions about the students.

I am presenting the reader with two cases. Readers are requested to read the statement, pause, and then read the story presented in the case.

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Case 1:

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Statement - A student from class XII said that she has online subscription worth INR 50,000 from one of the leading Edtech companies, to prepare for the JEE.

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Story:?The student comes from single parent family and attends a government residential school, intending to become an engineer. She believes that schools do not have good teachers and that school pedagogy will not give her the results she desires in engineering entrance exams. Back home, her family does not own any land; her mother runs a small tailoring shop. Her parent had taken a loan to pay for the Edtech subscription, in the hope that the youngster would be able to crack JEE with the help of online coaching, which would help her get a good job and eventually she could repay the loan.?

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Case 2:?

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Statement: A student with around 65% marks in class XII says that she likes to stay silent in the classroom and seldom asks doubts or questions in the classroom.

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Story:?The student belongs to the minority community in the district and has always been in the village's ancestral home in cultural clothes. While coming to school, she discards the usual clothing she wears at home to look?"normal"?in front of her friend, who otherwise will call her names. The teachers usually talk to her in the third person and often neglect her presence. The constant neglect has led her to believe that the teachers in the classroom will never cater to her questions or doubts and that she will constantly be subjected to neglect, thus leading her to not ask questions.

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For anyone interested in learning more about the public education system in India, the above two cases will be fascinating. In light of the examples mentioned above, it can be seen that the public education system in India is currently facing several challenges, including a lack of quality teachers, religious biases, and the strong influence of edtech platforms on classroom management. Public schools in India are not the only places where biases exist. Additionally, social and political biases permeate the education system, and the young people navigate them without proper mentoring or support.

Ultimately, it is in the best interest of the students and teachers that the leadership in the schools reflect on the interplay of community, gender, caste, religion, lack of quality teachers, and the influence of edtech platforms which provide context agnostic coaching, in the classroom.