July 2002
MITHRA
At our recent Board
Meeting we agreed that each member of the SD(B) Board would act Raphael Bate's report on an Indian SD project where he has been working for three months
Mithra Foundation is a grass roots level organisation working in seven slums in Bangalore, South India. Health professionals started it in 1995 to help the underprivileged community living in the slums and on the pavements of the North-east of the city. It is also a resource agency giving training on child-related issues.
Susila Dharma Britain is in partnership with Mithra to support their education programmes through work in Pre-schools and a Primary school.
The aim is to reduce the drop out rates from primary school of the poorest children, especially girls, who become child labourers. Deprived home backgrounds and lack of nursery education result in the lack of basic skills. This is the main cause of children leaving school to work in exploitative situations.
The concept of active, creative, discovery learning is absent from the educational approaches in India apart from a few
rare schools that are for middle class children. Drills, passive learning,
command style teaching and endless turn-taking seems to characterise government sector schools in India.
Mithra's vision is for the poorest children to experience an education that is holistic, active, creative and appropriate to their needs.
Child Labourers Day at Mithra
Rajeshwary, a building labourer, earns Rs 30 a day; Shakti, domestic work, Rs 10* daily. Her mother is an alcoholic. Dinesh has been a bullock cart driver, Rs 300 per month for 5 years since he was 10. His mother is ill and his father is dead. (* 10 rupees = 18p)
Pre Schools
Balwadies (Pre schools) tend to encourage passive, constrained children in their overcrowded rooms. Mithra provides seven pre schools with 166 children in the slum communities of N.E. Bungalore. Creative and active approaches to learning are embodied in the Mithra pre schools.
We have established a model nursery at Vijinapuram and Elizabeth, a Subud member, is inducting the new teachers into the
High Scope type approach to active play / learning. The hum of absorbed activity prevails in the children's play area; it has grown over the last two months since the setting up of the new, larger space. Even the smallest pre schools have been transformed through the resourcefulness of the more experienced teachers and the resilience of the human spirit.
There will be three primary classes when the school term starts in June this year: 2002. The pressure of the
cramming style of teaching and the narrow curriculum adopted in most govenment schools prevents children from developing holistically. In order to prevent dalit (lowest caste) children dropping out from school a more active approach to learning and teaching is provided in the school.Traditional house building was a theme for standard two children. They were involved in all stages of construction: measuring, writing, drawing, designing and mixing the clay and stones. A number of the parents work as building labourers. So when they heard of the project they thought we were using the children as cheap labour !
I am sending my child to Mithra school to escape from this way of life.
We realised that it was important to include the parents in our educational programmes at the monthly parents meetings. We explained the concept behind such meaningful learning projects.
Supplementary Education
From 3.30 until 7.00pm local children get help with their homework. The numbers of keen children that attend are overwhelming for the size of the buildings.
Recent Developments
A vocational Centre is being built outside the city limits. This will provide training in skills of tailoring, catering, plumbing, electrical work and training in nursery education. It will complete Mithra's educational provision from 3 to 17 years.
Visit Mithra and South India
The second visit for Subud members and friends to Mithra and South India, in January 2003 is being planned. Contact
raphael@susiladharma.org.uk for info.
Friends of Mithra
A support group for Mithra has been set up by Roberta Palfreyman. For updated information contact:
friendsofmithra@hotmail.com
Human Rights
Mithra leads a collaboration with The Indian Social Institute to provide a Human Rights Education Programme. It is growing rapidly to include most of the large private secondary schools in Bangalore. This is an integral strategy to bring about a change in attitude to the low castes and the handicapped, and to help empowerment from a different angle.
Joe Rosario, the founder of Mithra, has been awarded a scholarship to attend a six week course on Human Rights Law in the University of the Hague, Holland in June 2002.
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