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Fortunately, There's Good News
In many ways, it was almost logical for Sister Cyril to pick up the baton. In the course of her 44 years in the teaching profession, she has crusaded consistently and vociferously for child rights and educational reforms. She can be glimpsed zipping through Calcutta's crowded streets on her scooter, white veil flying behind her like some modern day angel of mercy – an analogy which is reinforced by her frequent interventions when she witnesses some form of human rights abuse.
Sister Cyril has advocated the introduction of child-oriented teaching in India's urban and rural classrooms and striven to ensure cost-effective, high-impact education for the country's most disadvantaged children. But her most unique contribution has been her efforts to bridge the chasm that separates India's privileged children from those born to poor parents.
In 1979, soon after she became the principal of Calcutta's Loreto Sealdah – a girls' school with pupils predominantly from middle class backgrounds – Sister Cyril began introducing a series of leveling ideas. In the first year itself, she initiated the admission of a growing number of non-fee-paying, underprivileged children.
Her Rainbow project, launched in 1985, is a school within a school and is designed to cope with thousands of street children who cannot attend school. Rainbow children are taught on a one-on-one basis by the "regular" students – of class V upwards – and each class has two periods allotted per week for this.
Another program, Outreach, comprises weekly visits by Loreto Sealdah students aged 10 years and above, to village schools where they become the "teachers" for their counterparts in these schools. With such innovative, often radical strategies, this dynamic educationalist has helped the school evolve into a center for community development.
The Barefoot Training Programme is the most recent development in this history of leveling ideas. The seeds of the program were sown in 1988 when Sister Cyril was approached by teachers of an adivasi (tribal) group from Midnapur District of West Bengal, seeking practical advice on teaching methods that would be effective in their own environment.
A New Teaching Ideology Takes Shape
Sister Cyril took up the challenge, and with the active involvement of teachers and students of Loreto Sealdah, she not only arranged practical lessons in teaching, but also developed a set of teaching aids, which served the double purpose of providing them with ideas for evolving their own tools, using local materials. One aid was a series of stencils to teach the alphabet and vocabulary skills.
It was decided to use the Bengali alphabet to teach the local Santhal language. Thus, while learning would
be in the native-tongue, the familiarity with the Bengali script would ensure an easy transition to post-primary studies at Bengali-medium government schools.
This pedagogic decision was significant because it reflected a tenet that still remains fundamental to the program: primary learning is most effective when children are introduced to formal learning in their mother tongue. Moreover, since many of the Barefoot teachers work among indigenous minorities, this method ensures that the languages of these groups continue to be living traditions and not submerged by mainstream lingua franca.
"Working with this group," explains Sister Cyril, "made me realize the crucial need for teachers with the know-how to impart effective education in remote areas of the country where even the most basic amenities – schools, roads, hospitals, running water, electricity – are undreamed of luxuries."
Referring to the philosophy that motivates BABTP, Sister Cyril points out: "People need only feet to walk; shoes are a luxury. Given the millions of children who need to be educated in India, a highly theoretical two-year training teacher-training course is an unrealistic luxury. We offer short-term courses, stripped off all extraneous theory, that orient teachers to an education system where children learn through fun-filled activities like song, dance and story-telling. Where dry text books are replaced with simple, yet exciting, aids made from materials available in their environments and customized to respond specifically to the children's needs."
Moreover, by guiding teachers to devise locally-sourced teaching tools, the BABTP taps into the community's traditional skills – like weaving or mask-making – and into its cultural resources of music and dance. The value of this activity is not restricted to education alone: through this, the program often plays a crucial role in the preservation and continuity of the cultural identities of marginalized groups whose traditional knowledge and skills are under constant threat to assimilate with the mainstream.
The typical profile of the BABTP consumer is a young village schoolteacher, or a school dropout who has no access to teacher training, particularly because s/he does not have the scholastic qualifications. Their situations may vary, but a common goal unites the BABTP participants: to empower their community through education.
Initially, when Sister Cyril launched BABTP, she used her vast network of NGO and diocese contacts, actively established over the years in her role as a social entrepreneur in the field of education, to access suitable candidates. Very soon, however, the word had spread and BABTP was flooded with requests for training from all parts of the country (this word-of-mouth publicity sometimes can have amusing results, like the request from a group located in the South Indian state of Kerala seeking information on the Bearfoot Programme!).
Today, BABTP has touched the lives of over 4,000 teachers spread across 15 Indian states, Bangladesh and Nepal.
The Training Module
The standard course is designed as a two-phase, two- to four-week program. Courses are currently held every month, usually at Loreto Sealdah.
A typical day includes classroom observation of primary school teachers in the morning. Afternoons comprise dialoging with these teachers, focusing specifically on methodology. Evenings are devoted to working on teaching aids and in follow-up questions and discussions.
A prerequisite for primary teachers of Loreto Sealdah is that they get their Teachers Training Certificate from the training institute at Loreto House, Calcutta. And, as they are expected to practice in the classroom, this makes them excellent examples for BABTP trainees.
Sister Cyril with teachers
At the end of each day, trainees evaluate the days' training. What is striking is the near-identical pattern in the evaluation charts of every trainee: an initial flat span marking the first few days of the course, and then a sharp incline thereafter. Interactions with a group of trainees from West Bengal districts on the sixth day of a 15-day course helps to explain this.
"At first, we were nervous and a little uncomfortable," said Ashta Naskar, a teacher from Falta, "because everything – the city, other students and the trainers, the teaching methods being shown – were so new. But in a couple of days, we started really enjoying ourselves, especially the demonstration classes and the interaction sessions afterwards."
A defining aspect of the course is that trainees are encouraged to think up solutions for themselves. In the case of teaching aids, trainees are introduced to concepts, but they must actually construct their own aids – the stress being placed on creative use of local materials. And the sheer ingenuity and creativity in the variety of aids that Barefoot teachers everywhere have come up with is truly remarkable.
The Triumph of Ingenuity in the Use of Indigenous Materials for Teaching
In a remote village in Bihar state's Jamui District, teachers build their students' language skills through a series of activities based on a theme that is central to the lives of the community – the jungle. Using natural dyes, drawings on the mud floor teach the children to identify jungle animals.
Masks and other props made of twigs and leaves, dramatize animal stories and hone their handicraft skills. Songs put to traditional beats mimic animal sounds and behavior. In neighboring Orissa, Barefoot teachers of tiny Gudrapara village teach numeracy through seed counters; while puppets made from dry coconut, coir and hay are effective story-telling props.
Miles from these tropical plains, in the lush green, bamboo-rich hillsides of the northeastern state of Mizoram, teachers in Kanhmun village – a poor agrarian community where literacy levels are less than five percent – simultaneous, multi-grade teaching is conducted in classrooms divided into activity corners, with a heavy reliance on the ubiquitous bamboo.
Counting, for example, is taught through bamboo skittles, while number beads are made from the stems. Young bamboo reeds make paintbrushes, and colors are obtained by powdering brick, coal and turmeric.
Closer to home, in the squalid slums of Calcutta, street educators make the alphabet come alive by using wall posters and discarded magazine pictures of Bollywood stars. Rhymes are taught to the catchy tunes of the latest Hindi film songs.
Trainees are also expected to reflect on their roles as teachers and as members of a community. Such exercises not only help in enhancing their self esteem – as they realize the responsibility inherent in their professional status – they often push trainees to identify the disempowering factors in their lives and think up viable ways to reduce these.
"Keeping Track" Keeps Teachers on Track
Training programs are typically succeeded with follow-up courses, when members of the training team visit the participants on-site to monitor progress, provide any required assistance and hold refresher courses. Additionally, participants are encouraged to feel free to contact BABTP trainers with queries and progress reports.
BABTP keeps track of its trainees' performance through feedback from local NGOs and parish personnel. However, when such agencies do not exist, then monitoring progress becomes a problem as the program as yet does not have the resources to hold regular, independent checks.
In several cases, the Barefoot trainers have also conducted first-time training on-site, and actually been responsible for initiating virtually a new primary-school system with active community participation. A powerful example of this was in Kanhmun: while the more educated community members were trained by the three BABTP trainers to become teachers, others pitched-in to structure classrooms and helped the new teachers to create aids.
The core training team comprises eight persons, whose responsibilities are divided between teaching, support and documentation. Some are regular teachers of Loreto Sealdah.
Early in the history of the program, Sister Cyril handed over the coordination responsibilities to Laeticia Gomes, a Loreto Sealdah teacher, although she herself continues to be involved, especially in policy-framing matters. In addition, BABTP draws on other resource persons like a nature-artist; a pat painter (who creates stories traditionally told through scroll paintings); an illustrator, and a science educator who specializes in developing low-cost science apparatus.
An extremely important development in the Barefoot movement has been the emergence of trainers from the trainees themselves. Sushila Marandi, a tribal woman from Bihar, had been a teacher in a district parish school for seven years when she underwent BABTP training. Very soon, she became part of the core team and a resource person for the Hindi speaking regions, her contributions being especially valuable in Bihar's tribal areas.
Similarly, Soumitro Bhattacharya first came in contact with BABTP when, as part of a non-profit involved in education activities, he took the Barefoot training. Today, he is a key support member, especially active in Bengali training programs, and in the area of teaching aids.
In 1995, BABTP conducted a training program in the desperately poor Sambalpur block of Orissa, where most participants came from remote, heavily forested hill areas that lack the most basic infrastructure. Many of them were leaders of local women's groups, with experience in leading their communities through various change processes.
When the trainers returned a year later for a follow-up course, they found that three of these women had not only developed excellent teaching aids (one woman, Felicia, for instance, had come up with an entirely new system of teaching Oriya letters using concrete objects), but had also taken the initiative to train other persons in their region. This had the happy result of an unprecedented boom in the spread of education!
BABTP has been encouraged by the incidence of this phenomenon – which Sister Cyril describes as the "ripple" effect – which is very high in rural areas. In recognition of this trend, BABTP has initiated the Trainers of Trainers (TOT) program that equips Barefoot teachers to train others and become effective resource persons for their area.
The vital role of TOT comes into even sharper focus when one remembers that India has over 15 official languages, and hundreds of dialects and sub-language groups. While so far the core group has not encountered trainees who need to be taught in languages beyond their linguistic pool (English, Bengali, Hindi, Santhali dialects), when this need arises, it can be effectively addressed only if there are regional trainers.
For Sushila, knowing that she is assisting in the preservation of ancient cultural skills among tribal groups is a major motivator.
For Sushila, knowing that she is assisting in the preservation of ancient cultural skills among tribal groups is a major motivator.
The BABTP workroom in Loreto Sealdah is a hub of activity, with members putting together colorful teaching aids, discussing techniques, compiling written and photographic reports about completed workshops. Nandita Bir, who has more than 20 years' experience in education, articulates what for her makes the Barefoot program so distinct: "The trainees are truly of the people; and the training we provide is transferred directly to the grassroots level without any interim interference or adulteration."
She also enthuses about the dynamic nature of the program: "No two courses are the same. Every group comes with a different set of needs and we have to be continuously responsive. In this way we, too, are always learning and being stimulated."
The satisfaction for these teachers comes as much from seeing their training put to brilliant practice, as in realizing the larger impact of their program on the community. Soumitro speaks of the falling drop-out rates as children start actually enjoying their classes and parents find they do not have to spend scarce monetary resources on text-books. For Sushila, knowing that she is assisting in the preservation of ancient cultural skills among tribal groups is a major motivator.
The Pros – and Some Cons
And, for the team, there are few more satisfying indices of accomplishment than when a child like 10-year-old Thomas of Kanhmun – who, statistically speaking, could be predicted to drop out of school and ultimately leave his community in search of employment opportunities in urban areas – voices the desire to study hard after being a part of the Barefoot schooling system so that he can become an agent of change in his village, ensuring "roads, a hospital, better housing and more jobs for my people." In sowing the seeds of community consciousness at such a young age, BABTP can justifiably see itself as a role player in the creation of civil societies of tomorrow.
However, BABTP's success is not always uniform, nor guaranteed. A common hurdle is the conventional mindset of parent groups that recognize only rote learning, punishment and textbook study.
Trainees are therefore advised to explain their methods to the parents and village councils and, if necessary, invite them to observe the classes and judge effectiveness for themselves. While this is usually successful in removing skepticism, if the objections to the performing arts stem from religious conviction, the teacher may have to drastically reduce this element in teaching.
Soumitro explains, "We never advocate conflict with the community. If there is a hurdle, it has to be negotiated through dialogue and, when necessary, a workable compromise."
Interestingly enough, convincing parents of the importance of education for their children is no longer as significant an issue as it was in the past. In fact, the PROBE survey reveals that more than 90 percent of parents in rural India realize the importance of education and more than 80 percent feel that primary education should be compulsory.
BABTP has gained wide recognition and has been acknowledged as the most viable and effective teacher training program for areas starved of funds and resources.
However, when there have been cases of resistance to the very idea of schooling, then the policy of actions speaking better than words has been found to be viable. Take the case of a village in Bihar's impoverished Goya district, an area that resisted education and also suffered from a serious alcohol problem.
A group of teachers wanted to start a school there and asked permission to put up a show with children from neighboring Barefoot schools. The theme was the importance of literacy, and after the lively event, it was the audience themselves who requested for a school.
The team agreed on the condition that the teachers be given two main meals a day in lieu of salary, and that every family with drinking members would contribute five to ten rupees to a monthly school fund from "alcohol money." Not only is the school running successfully today, but alcoholism levels have reduced considerably.
However, the most critical problem is the lack of steady, adequate funding for teachers. Says Sister Cyril, "A community's will is enough to get the school built and running, but if teachers' salaries cannot be paid, that kills the whole project." It is a testimony to their commitment that many Barefoot teachers receive only food as payment, but obviously this is not a tenable state of affairs.
It is Sister Cyril's dream to start up a trust that would eventually help eliminate this problem. The other area where funds are in constant short supply, is the sponsorship of teachers to attend BABTP training. Even though the course fee is minimal (about Rs100 or $2.35 per day – just enough to cover costs), often even this proves too much for the participants. By stretching available grants to the limit, Sister Cyril tries to reduce the numbers that must be turned down on financial grounds, but it is a constant strain.
Pushing the Growth Graph Higher
BABTP has gained wide recognition and has been acknowledged as the most viable and effective teacher training program for areas starved of funds and resources. Uma Ahmed, a member of the first Human Rights Commission of West Bengal and of the Teacher's Centre in Calcutta, speaks highly of the "practical, need-based, environment-responsive training" of BABTP. "It definitely works," she said.
As a condition for providing funds, the National Education Group, a Delhi-based national-level body that funds the establishment of school buildings in poor communities, stipulates that teachers of the school must attend BABTP courses.
But lack of formal government recognition is undoubtedly an impediment, Sister Cyril said. One of the fallouts of this is that in many instances, groups who have undergone BABTP training return to their communities and set up schools that run as parallel competitive educational systems to existing government schools.
But the Sister Cyril insists that the answer lies not in doing away with government set-ups, but in motivating government school staff to adopt the BABTP methods and become more effective. She reiterates to BABTP participants that they must work toward establishing co-operative relations with their government counterparts and draw them into the new plan, using the powers of persuasion and enthusiasm.
In a country of India's size, it is untenable to imagine that development can occur if it is solely dependent on a handful of professional specialists.
In recent years, BABTP has made some inroads into government establishments. Teachers from state schools have undergone the program with encouraging results. BABTP is also working on a project which provides teachers with aids that assist them to use the government-issued textbooks more effectively.
But Sister Cyril has more ambitious plans on this issue. She is currently working to set up a school system in Calcutta, together with various government and non-government bodies, that will play a pivotal role in comprehensively meeting the educational needs of disadvantaged primary school-age children in urban areas. Because the teaching methods would be based on the BABTP principles, Sister Cyril hopes that their incorporation in a government-recognized establishment would soon translate into official acceptance.
In a country of India's size, it is untenable to imagine that development can occur if it is solely dependent on a handful of professional specialists. It is imperative that skills and knowledge be transferred to para-professionals, persons who emerge from the community, and who alone, with their intimate knowledge of the community and environment, can transmute these skills into a holistic service.
The Barefoot teachers are doing precisely that in the area of education. It is through them that perhaps India will ever have a real chance of ensuring the fundamental right to education, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, is translated from paper to practice.
Needs:
Sister Cyril would like to be organize regular sponsorships for those interested in the Barefoot teacher training, and would welcome funding for them. She is also interested in setting up a Trust that would support village schools using Barefoot methods in the poorest areas – and would welcome financial aid in that area.
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offer her students a proper room or sophisticated teaching aids.
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