Dr. Madan Lal Dewan Vaikalpik Shiksha Kendra (Alternative Education Centre), Sabli

Education and knowledge have a direct bearing upon the quality of life of the masses as also their economic status. The literacy rate in Tehri Garhwal district (55.8%) is far below the state average (60.1%). The literacy rates amongst the females in the district (41.9% as against the state average of 50.4%) are abysmally low and this is primarily responsible for the following:

• Low social status of the women.
• Drudgery of the females.
• Non-participation in decision-making process.
• More children.
• Early marriage and early motherhood.

Education holds the key to the liberation of the women folk and superficial cosmetic effects are not going to have lasting impact. It is therefore a must for all likeminded organisations to join hands for furthering this cause.
The founding fathers of our Constitution could clearly foresee the correlation between education and welfare of the masses and therefore they enshrined this issue in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases; Provision of free and compulsory education for children). More than five decades of democratic governance have however failed to ensure equal and just educational opportunities for the poor; and specifically so for rural poor and that too of socially deprived sections of the society. Over the years education has been relegated to certification alone and attainment of knowledge has been relegated to the backseat. The prevailing parallel system of education in our country further discriminates against the poor.

The prevailing discriminatory system of the country very often results in rural poor ending up doing menial jobs in their surroundings despite having been educated. The educational system is often divorced from practical knowledge and thus fails to prepare the children for real life challenges. It is therefore not a surprise that the rural poor still look upon education as spere waste of time (more so for the females) and they still perceive children as an asset for their livelihood chores. The more the number of children the more working hands the person has and there is no denying the fact that this is one of the prime reasons for the failure of our population control programs and in turn deepening poverty.

It is widely accepted that burgeoning population of our nation is mainly responsible for the deepening poverty and education holds the key to the liberation of major portion of our population from the clutches of poverty. Education therefore needs to be given its due share of importance in the developmental sector. In the post-independence period major thrust has been on setting up institutions of advanced and specialised learning but the primary education has been grossly neglected. This has led to a boom of schools in private sector and this directly affects the disadvantaged and poor sections of the society. Moreover the human learning curve suggests that the impressions cast during the early stages of learning have the most lasting impact and therefore it is this phase that needs to be given the most importance. Serious efforts are therefore required at the grassroots level for providing better elementary educational facilities to the masses.

The surveys undertaken earlier in the region indicates that the school drop out rates are high (particularly so amongst the girl child) and a large number of children of the region are engaged in menial jobs. The people from weaker sections of the community have little incentive for sending their children to school and this is reflected adversely upon the economy of the region.

As stated in the previous section an overwhelming large proportion of the rural population fails to correlate school education with their requirements and therefore have little incentive to send their children to school. Moreover the school curriculum that is divorced from practical knowledge needs fails to sustain interest levels of the playful children coming from rural backgrounds.

It is a common observation that many a children coming from humble families of the rural areas do not find the routine curriculum of the schools interesting enough to continue their education and this is one of the main reasons for high school drop out rates. Apart from this the economic and social compulsions are also responsible for the alarming school drop out rates in the region.

It was with an aim of providing education specially to the children of the socially deprived and not so well off families that HIMCON has started Vaikalpik Shiksha Kendra at Sabli. Every attempt is made at this Kendra to impart the knowledge to the students in a mode that interests them and arouses their inquisitiveness to learn more. Apart from the normal subjects the students of the Kendra are being imparted knowledge regarding their surroundings, their traditions as also mountain environment, agriculture and horticulture. Over the years the following inputs have been added to the regular school curriculum to make the students environmentally responsive and aware of the problems of their region:

• Regional geography and history.
• Agro-climatic condition of the region.
• Resources available in the region.
• Folklores of the region.
• Traditional resource management practices.
• Principles of modern agro-horticultural interventions.
• Environment and human existence.
• Environmental state of Himalayas.
• Environmental degradation.
• Disasters proneness of the Himalayan terrain.
• Simple mitigation measures for warding off disaster threat.
• Value addition of the local agro produce.
• Exposure to state of art modern computer and other technologies.

The prime objective of this venture is to provide Quality Education to the children coming from weaker sections of the community and to make them aware of the various socio-economic and environmental problems of the region. At the same time the mission is to make education fun and to arouse the inquisiveness of the children so that they come forward for seeking answers to their innocent quarries.

It is for indulging the students in environment friendly initiatives and propagating the message in favour of an environmentally responsive community the students at the school are exposed to environmental issues and are encouraged to participate in these. HIMCON believes that the environmentally sensitised students would prove to be an asset and pave way for a more responsible and environment friendly community. Besides sensitising the students through organisation of lectures, demonstrations, painting competitions and debates the students are also made to participate in plantation of the fruit plants on the wastelands around the school and the school children are encouraged to look after the plants planted by them individually. With the identification mark attached to every tree the students taking good care of the same are awarded at the annual function of the school.

The State Government of Uttaranchal has come forward to officially recongnise this effort of HIMCON and at present the Kendra has around one hundred students. State of art audiovisual, computer and entertainment tools are being utilised at the Kendra to make learning a fun.

The Kendra is being run by the personal adoption of the students by people from far and wide. HIMCON keeps the adopters informed of the progress of their wards. Very often debates and discussions are organised in the Kendra to have a feel of the perception of the students regarding the various problems facing the region and it is interesting to note that most of the students regard access to water as the major challenge for the region.
After having visualized importance of focusing upon elementary education and having conceptualized the wider framework of the scheme of things materializing these into reality was the biggest challenge. The land came as a gift from fellow HIMCONian  while agglomeration of like minded people helped in mustering funds for building a modest infrastructure for housing the school. Constructed in phases depending upon the availability of resources the school building in its present shape has a training / lecture hall, teachers room and principal’s room apart from the five classrooms.

Though there exists provision of charging nominal monthly tuition fee of Rs. 50 (Rupees fifty only) the fee of most of the students is waived off as they belong to economically deprived sections of the community. Depending upon the economic condition of the parents the students are even provided school uniform (2 pairs per year) and stationary free of charge. At present the strength of the school is around 71 and is likely to go up in the coming academic session.

The school has modest audio-visual facilities at its premises and films on environmental and social issues are screened for the students. The students at the school are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities that are a normal feature in the school.
A polyhouse has been set up in the vicinity of the school and the students are exposed to modern agro-horticultural practices at this facility.

It needs to be noted out here that all the expenses of the school are being met by personal contributions made by friends and well-wishers who sponsor the student’s education. HIMCON runs a regular campaign for student’s sponsorship. Even the building of the school has been raised by personal donations received by HIMCON for furthering this cause. At present the school is being managed by the services of volunteers who have a passion for educating the children of the region. The details of the students of Alternative education are as given below.