Challenges in Rural Education

Challenges in Rural Education

 (By Rounakshi Dey ) 

Image By:- Sukriti Singh

“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” by Malala Yousafzai. India has the largest population after China. Providing education for all is a mammoth task on the part of the Government. More than education, it is poverty, the Government needs to deal with. The role of education is not just limited to the individual’s pain, but also the overall economic and social progress of the Nation. Education is critical in removing poverty and the eventual progress of a Nation. But, considering the percentage of people below the poverty line in our country, it is a challenge to provide quality education to all children alike. Convincing the parents to send their children to school regularly, is the toughest challenge the Government faces regarding rural education. After partially overcoming this challenge, many more lie in the path of the Government.

What are the Challenges?

Challenges are innumerable in rural education. They can be categorized as:

(1). Awareness among the people of rural areas regarding the importance of education. Most of the parents send their children to work once they are ten years or older. They feel that education is a luxury that can be afforded only by the privileged sections of society. If the child also earns along with his parents, the economic conditions will improve. Hence, we have a huge number of dropouts after primary schools. The first step is making the parents as well as the children aware that it is education that can actually elevate their economic conditions. If children are well educated, they can get better jobs as they grow up instead of working as day to day workers since childhood. Girls are looked as a burden and the parents try to get them married as soon as they reach eighteen years. Child marriage still continues in some parts of the rural areas though it is a punishable offense. Even if the girl is not married before eighteen, she is expected to stay home and do the household chores. Education of girls is a rare sight in villages, especially after primary school. Hence, rural people need to be aware of the importance of educating their girls and boys alike.

(2). Lack of experienced teachers. Most of the teachers in rural schools are not full-time employees. They are part-time, hired on contract, teachers working simultaneously in a number of schools. These part-time teachers are generally young and inexperienced. But, they form the majority of the teachers in school. Whenever they get some better jobs, they leave their part-time teaching profession. The students suffer in this ongoing process. They have to keep on adjusting with the new teachers. The adjustment between the students and the teacher takes some time to sink in every time a new teacher replaces an old one. The time lost in the adjustment hampers the education of these students. The government should ensure the presence of an adequate number of permanent teaching facilities in rural schools, such that there is no compromise on the quality of education.

(3). Rural Schools lack proper infrastructural facilities. The school buildings are dilapidated. They do not receive annual renovation. There is an absence of proper desks and chairs for the students and the teacher. New furniture is hardly bought. There are no digital facilities in any rural school. The students are too poor to afford an individual internet connection and smartphones. At least, if the school is digitally improvised, having a stable free Wi-Fi connection, the students can use that to know about the outside world. Online teaching can be arranged for these students once a while by reputed teachers from urban areas. Under the supervision of the teacher, the students can access the internet to know the standards of education in the urban areas and also watch various online tutorials available for free. They can also study extra suggestion books apart from their textbooks on the internet. This will enrich the students and also reduce the gap between rural and urban children in terms of education.

(4). Lack of individual care. Students are many in a rural school in comparison to the number of teachers. Weak students do not get individual care and hence they lack behind. We have private tuition facilities in urban areas, where the weak student receives help from their tutor after the school is over. The lessons taught in school need to be learned and revised at home. But, due to poverty, these students are unable to afford a tutor after school hours to provide individual care. The Government should introduce schemes for free tutoring so that after school hours, the students can stay behind and clear their doubts. This will improve the quality of education received by the students.

The problems are many as we sit to count them. But with the aid of the Government and the privileged people, we can reduce the huge divide between rural and urban areas. Various NGO’s tie-up with Government Schools and provide online classes for these children. Reputed teachers from urban areas teach these children through various online modes. With technology, these children receive a quality education. Some NGOs also arrange for volunteers from urban areas who provide free tuition classes to these children in their spare time. The children who lag behind in class get special attention from these volunteers. We, as privileged citizens of the Nation, should volunteer and try to reduce the huge rural-urban education gap. We should aim for a Nation where every child has access to quality education. After all, a Nation progresses only when all its citizens are educated. Let’s work towards a better future for our beloved country.

Disclaimer:-

The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Light de Literacy and LDL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.