Mother faced the ordeal of giving birth to a child! She was supported by a village house-wife and I was there. Father and all the elder brothers and sisters chipped in to help the mother and child. Among the natural settings of Kerala I started my life's journey as a toddler and grew up with the other little brother and little sisters playing games and eating the niceties of the cashew nuts and cashew nut fruits and jack fruits and many other fruits which were available around in those days!
Father helped in refurbishing us with the daily needs and I went to school out of curiosity! Then in quick succession I changed schools as there were compelling reasons for a child coming from difficult circumstances! But father, brothers and sisters closed in to see that I go to school. I found many of my fellow students falling out of schools as they many a time did not have our kind of closed rank brothers and sisters or lacked a loving father or mother at home. That was the first land mine in life's cycle, I saw.
Then came the Government schools where there was no close watch on the children or their education. Let alone, their family circumstances or their understanding of the subjects. Those who could grasp something survived. Second mine! Those who could not, fell on the way side and went out of the schools to face the world! So often children had doubts and there were no body to turn to. I had my elders to clear my doubts and give me support in my studies! Then father was there, rock solid to support me in other matters. Those who did not have, fell out of school. If someone did not come back to school, no body checked on them.
Many children understood the meaning of the words and lessons wrongly and the number of children in the class was too high for the teachers to correct them. The teachers were generally not interested in the students. The children had a lot of problems at home from among which they used to come to school. If they felt uneasy at a point, that was the end of their education!..No body ever checked on them, thereafter.
Then for those who completed the Secondary School Leaving there were two options. To leave school to try for work. Those who opted to study further go to college to do their Pre-Degree where they faced formal Teachers called Lecturers who lectured to at lease 60 students and at the most 85. If the students could understand, good for them. Half understood! The other half come and go. Then there are side shows to spend time in the form of various programmes which the unsuspecting students fall into out of being too very straight and wanting to putting in their bit. But, they did not know that these cut into their very valuable study time. Most of the students who came from villages had to spend quite some time in travel.
If all these did not prevent the students from continuing their studies, then is the real test of getting into professional colleges! Get an admission if you have first class marks in those days! If you don't have 60% or more you register and wait your luck in the college notice board! If that did not work go through an intermediary which is generally called recommendation route! After all that you are in the class but the college Lecturers have no special or personal attention to the students! Students may or may not learn. This becomes a problem with the students coming from the village homes and poor families! Some students will have political leanings and they may organize strikes and all the poor students become spectators and return home without studies. Portions do not get completed many times and this affects them in examinations. Those who are from well to do families and those who have educated parents see other means like special tuitions and helps to cover all the portions and face the Board examinations and come out with colours! Others fall on the way side, unless they are prodigies!
Father helped in refurbishing us with the daily needs and I went to school out of curiosity! Then in quick succession I changed schools as there were compelling reasons for a child coming from difficult circumstances! But father, brothers and sisters closed in to see that I go to school. I found many of my fellow students falling out of schools as they many a time did not have our kind of closed rank brothers and sisters or lacked a loving father or mother at home. That was the first land mine in life's cycle, I saw.
Then came the Government schools where there was no close watch on the children or their education. Let alone, their family circumstances or their understanding of the subjects. Those who could grasp something survived. Second mine! Those who could not, fell on the way side and went out of the schools to face the world! So often children had doubts and there were no body to turn to. I had my elders to clear my doubts and give me support in my studies! Then father was there, rock solid to support me in other matters. Those who did not have, fell out of school. If someone did not come back to school, no body checked on them.
Many children understood the meaning of the words and lessons wrongly and the number of children in the class was too high for the teachers to correct them. The teachers were generally not interested in the students. The children had a lot of problems at home from among which they used to come to school. If they felt uneasy at a point, that was the end of their education!..No body ever checked on them, thereafter.
Then for those who completed the Secondary School Leaving there were two options. To leave school to try for work. Those who opted to study further go to college to do their Pre-Degree where they faced formal Teachers called Lecturers who lectured to at lease 60 students and at the most 85. If the students could understand, good for them. Half understood! The other half come and go. Then there are side shows to spend time in the form of various programmes which the unsuspecting students fall into out of being too very straight and wanting to putting in their bit. But, they did not know that these cut into their very valuable study time. Most of the students who came from villages had to spend quite some time in travel.
If all these did not prevent the students from continuing their studies, then is the real test of getting into professional colleges! Get an admission if you have first class marks in those days! If you don't have 60% or more you register and wait your luck in the college notice board! If that did not work go through an intermediary which is generally called recommendation route! After all that you are in the class but the college Lecturers have no special or personal attention to the students! Students may or may not learn. This becomes a problem with the students coming from the village homes and poor families! Some students will have political leanings and they may organize strikes and all the poor students become spectators and return home without studies. Portions do not get completed many times and this affects them in examinations. Those who are from well to do families and those who have educated parents see other means like special tuitions and helps to cover all the portions and face the Board examinations and come out with colours! Others fall on the way side, unless they are prodigies!
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