Empty Classrooms In Rural India

Education Minister Kapil Sibal very recently announced the development of a laptop by Indian technologists for the Indian students priced at a low of Rs. 1500/-. The aim was to make the rural Indian children computer proficient. But the point is when the teachers in these rural schools dont turn up and children wait for them; who will teach them how to use these computers? The corollary is just as true; when 8 year old Priyas mother is ill then, Priya is expected to sell the flower garlands that her mother makes at the village market. She is marked absent for the day.

Likewise when Banwaris father wants him in the field during harvest, he just has to be there. There are no conflicting thoughts of having a proxy attendance marked as city dwellers think. Its clear cut, he has to be at the fields without any second thoughts. An analysis of the psychology of these rural parents show education is not their priority. They all have big dreams for their sons and daughters but most of them have a hand to mouth income, no rural investments for their children or themselves a very strong sense of physical labor and lastly an inbuilt concept of living in the now not in a tomorrow they havent yet reached! Irrespective of however much emphasis is given on education, knowledge, and literacy education doesnt seem to have progressed very much in the rural areas after Indias Independence from the British rule.

There still seems to be a wide divide gap between rural and urban India. Will introducing a new series of laptops especially for these rural children be of any help at all when school drop outs are a major problem in India? With school enrollments going up on one side lured by the motivating advertisements children watch on TV, the number of students withdrawing from school is just the same or perhaps more than new joinees. In a study conducted by a local educational NGO, children in the age group of 6-14 form the majority of drop outs. School drop outs can throw the entire education system into jeopardy. The earlier the factors for school drop outs are determined, the greater the chances of ensuring all children have access to educational opportunities. Some of the prime reasons leading to drop outs at the primary school level across India are as follows:

The lack of support from the parents: Most parents are uneducated and view going to school as a sheer waste of time and prefer their children earning an income.
No understanding of the Importance of education: School is not an attractive option but a time waster since there is no immediate income.
It is more important for children to support the family with an income. This is a major cause for rural children dropping out of school.

The school fee is another barrier, even though primary education is free in India, there is no value for education.