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Information flow, as we know, is the key to efficient delivery mechanisms.
If so, from where do the villagers get the information about the school?
“I don’t ask anyone, because no one knows” is a common response.
“The school master comes to my house”, the key informants in the
two villages said. Teachers have to do a yearly survey to get the numbers
of children eligible to go to school. They go from house to house to gather
this information. From a different village came a reply that they got the
information about the school from the Panchayat (the local government).
Only one of the villages said that the PTA is an important source of information
about the school. Every village has a ration-shop which is often the hub
of all activities. This was cited as another source of information about
the school. Some mention that they get information from the Janpath (elected
govt. members) meetings at the Block level. A local haat (market) is also
another source of information. Women from the village mentioned that the
only source of water in the village hamlet (a public Hand-pump) is near
the school and they can keep a check on the school when they fill water
in their pots.
I visited Dev Jhiri village today and asked them the same question. The
key informant was an old man in the village with a red turban and a long
mustache. He said that he gets the information about the school from his
grandson. After school, he asks his grandson “what did you do in school
today?” His son tells him “today I got food”, “today
the teacher came late and we played”. The old man also said that the
hamlet folks keep track on children loitering around and ask them to go
to school. They would also tell the parents whenever they get a chance that
they saw their child playing and not going to school. I am told that the
village also has a very strong PTA. The PTA President oversees the school
functioning along with keeping a check on teacher absenteeism. “This
won’t do in our village” the PTA President would say to a teacher
who would come late to school. Surprisingly, this community ownership of
the village school is completely community driven and not initiated and
promoted by an NGO. Infact there are no NGO’s working the village.
What makes some communities different?
Radhika Iyengar
Doctoral Student, Teachers College, Columbia University
Consultant, Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Jhabua (www.jssjhabua.net)
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