Visiting My First Indian School

Last week, I visited a rural Indian school for the first time in order to get a better understanding of how schools operate in smaller communities. When we arrived, the school was abuzz with activity in anticipation of the Headmaster’s retirement. Nonetheless, the Headmaster and several teachers greeted us and showed us around.

While conversing with the teachers, I learned that before they had undergone the DE training, many were scared to turn on their home computers. They also informed me that with the help of Microsoft Excel, which the school had recently started to use, many administrative tasks could now be done in a matter of hours as opposed to days.

The highlight of the visit was observing a lesson and speaking to students. The teacher spoke about the functions and anatomy of the heart with the help of PowerPoint slides, and concepts that were difficult to explain were taught with the help of visual and interactive material.

No matter how innovative a program and how effective the training, however, basic infrastructure sometimes gets in the way. Ultimately, as with so many other places in Orissa state during the Puja season, the school experienced a power cut which, unfortunately, also cut the anatomy lesson short.

My conversation with the students made it clear, however, that rural India would not be beholden to infrastructural problems for long. One boy, for example, barely knew Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel, but he did teach himself how to use the internet on a mobile phone. As the digital age progresses, it will be interesting to observe how technology and human innovation bypass previously insurmountable problems.
Marina Yakhnis
Clinton Fellow, (AMAT Funded) DE Orissa