Education

September 12, 2008

We visited schools in Bangalore this morning.  The school that I attended was a government funded middle school.  It was a small school with about 400 students and 70 faculty members.  We went around the school and were introduced to most of the students.  We were able to go into their classrooms and talk to them for a short period of time.  Each desk was a long table with a bench attached to it and about 5 students shared each one.  We were given an opportunity to talk to the children and ask them questions.  Most of them told us that their favorite thing to do is study.  I started to think about this.  I wondered about the types of responses we would get in the US.  The children at this school are fortunate because they have the opportunity to learn and educate themselves.  They are living in a country where so many of the people cannot even sign their own name let alone read a book.  These students are putting everything that they have into this education because they understand how important it is.  I heard that the referendum just passed in Red Wing to give the schools more funding.  I realize that we have higher standards for education in the US but I wonder why there is a difference in the students.  In the US, it seems, students take their education for granted.  We think about it in terms of “we have to” instead of “we get to.”  We live in a privileged society and I wonder what this school in Bangalore could do with the kind of funding that many schools in the US receive.  Everything at this school looked second hand to me, but I guess I feel like that a lot in India.  I feel like everything has been used so much.  I think that if Red Wing school kids could see how these children go to school they would perhaps realize how lucky they truly are, how lucky we all are.  I try to find someone to blame in this situation.  The government is giving the school funding but how much more could it do if people in the government actually played by the rules.  The children at the school asked us about school in the US.  I didn’t know how to answer them because they schools are so different.  I didn’t really want to tell them about how awesome the schools are in Red Wing compared to this.  I never had to sit 5 students to one small desk.  I always had a clock to look at to learn how to tell time.  There was a playground outside instead of a cement courtyard.  We had bathrooms that were always stocked with toilet paper and hand soap.  How can I tell them how much better things are for many schools in the US?  How do I not feel guilty about the life that I live at home?  I wonder why the US gets to live a privileged life while so many others suffer.  Perhaps the lifestyle of the US can only exist if places like India exist.