MP collector's mission bears fruit: Women, kids who dropped out flocking back to schools
MADHYA PRADESH: Salma Bi, a mother of two daughters had left school after passing Class X through Open School system a decade or more ago. But it was a ‘tad embarrassing’, as she confesses when she was told that she was ready to take the Class XIIth examination with her daughters.
“It had not struck me by then, that I was really passing the school system with my daughters! But bless the young district magistrate. She gave me a chance to get back to formal schooling and here I am,” she blushes.
Thanks to the young collector of Rajgarh, a district in the interiors of Madhya Pradesh and listed as among the ‘most backward districts of India’ by the Niti Aayog in 2018, hundreds of women and children who could not make it to school for various reasons are now flocking back to the formal school system and proving successful in their attempts. The experiment has been truly empowering too.
Dreaming big
As Salma recalls, “Attending the special classes with my little daughter initially seemed a big embarrassment, but seeing many such women like me prepare for their academic future guided by ‘Collector Maam,’ I started preparing for the exam with redoubled energy. Now I can hope to find a job, or start something with government help to shape the future of my daughters,” exclaimed Salma.
Rajgarh indeed has embarked on an ambitious mission to re-educate school dropout girls and women and at the centre of the mission is the smiling and unassuming Nidhi Nivedita, a medical doctor turned IAS officer, who has taken it upon herself ‘as a personally satisfying project in sync with the objectives of a welfare state’ and determined to put them through to success.
Over 2400 such girls and women who dropped out of school before taking Class X or Class XII exams were re-inducted last July and recently passed the secondary and higher secondary examinations conducted by Madhya Pradesh State Open School Education Board. The December end examinations mark the culmination of Nidhi’s ‘Badal Par Paon Hain,’ project, a unique initiative aimed at paving the passage of girls and women towards self-dependence.
“In the weekly Jansunwai (people’s hearing), women came complaining of ill-treatment by in-laws, husbands; sometimes their own parents. But despite that, they requested us to talk to their family to take them back. At times, they would even refuse to go back.
‘Walking in the clouds’
“In such cases, we would keep them for some time in government-aided facilities. But the problem remained. We thought it better to educate them to ensure they became self-dependent, which ultimately proved to be the genesis for ‘Badal Par Paon Hai’,” recounts Nidhi. Like other projects, this initiative too had teething problems, as of the thousands of dropouts identified, merely 300 of them turned up for initial baseline test. However, follow-ups and sustained teaching by set of motivated teachers, including Nidhi herself and other government officials at 38 centres helped the numbers swell to 2000-plus, within next few weeks.
“Three months of continued teaching later, the girls and women appeared in a mid-term test, which marked a world record of sorts for being the biggest conglomeration of school dropouts under a single roof,” said Nidhi.
“The results were astounding. 95% passed the test! The happiness of the tutors and the taught was unbelievable. It was like finding a lost treasure. That provided the momentum,” she added.
“The entire exercise with the first batch concluded with the Open School examinations this month. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the results in February 2020, which we expect will be replication of the mid-term test outcome,” the young bureaucrat hoped.
Empowering action
And it’s not Nidhi alone, who is keeping her fingers crossed, but also the tutored who aspire to self-assertion and respect, come the results.“I dropped out before Class X, some 14 years back, due to weak financial status of my father and marriage. Thereafter, I had three children and could not get back. I’ve been living with children at my brother’s house after being thrown out by my husband. After passing Class X I’ll also fill form for Class XII and after clearing it I’ll be able to get some job to ensure that me and my kids don’t have to depend on anyone else and can live a respectable life,” said Tabassum Bi, who is among those who appeared at the examinations, said.
Another woman Uma, who dropped out of Class X exam due to family problems, hopes that she can get a government job and leave behind a life of stitching clothes. “Efforts have been redoubled to co-opt more women. The district administration has teamed with Mumbai Exports Credit Guarantee corporation and the local Urs Committee to help realise the larger dream. Keeping our fingers crossed,” said Nidhi.