Reaching and Teaching Rural India-Thinking Beyond Urban-Rural Dichotomy

Taking a look at surveys from all over the world, the numbers will make it clear that the vast majority of out-of-school children are mostly from rural areas. For those, who are enrolled in schools, most of them drop out even before completing their primary school. We can’t deny the fact that there’s a great disparity between the quality of learning in rural and urban areas, and as a result, these children score low on tests, and have lower levels of education and skill development, which translates to lower incomes and worse life outcomes. Rural communities, thus, have twin challenges: first, there’s a great need to expand education, and second, there is a need to raise the standard of education that is being offered.

Before we get to the standards of quality education, we must also look at it from a different angle, which explains why it is so difficult to provide any education in rural areas. It is because people in rural areas are more spread out, either system must provide more schools or more transportation to enable students to go greater distances, both making the cost of providing schooling higher than usual. For the same reason, most teachers don’t want to work in rural schools. Fewer teachers, coupled with higher rates of turnover and absenteeism, all lead to compromised learning. We also can’t ignore the fact that these children are mostly malnourished, which also makes learning and concentrating harder for them, moreover, they are less likely to have resources to complement their learning at home.

There is considerably more to the distinction between schools in rural and urban areas than just those two types. Lack of data, however, is one of the obstacles to putting into practice efficient policies that address the unique requirements of distant and rural schools. A large metropolis or a small city could be considered “urban,” whereas being three hours or less from a small city could be considered rural. There is a notable disparity in the availability of services, towns three hours from a small metropolis may have a far harder time attracting highly qualified instructors than communities an hour from a major urban center.

Today, when education budgets are squeezed, more granular data on how far the population lives from existing schools and urban amenities can help maximize the efficiency of education spending. This can also ensure that resources get to the schools where they are most needed so every child receives an education. This can also help in facilitating efficient placement of teachers who can teach kids in a language they are already familiar with, speeding up their reading and writing development.

In an exclusive conversation, Anoop Singh Bishnoi, educator and entrepreneur, talked about how the rural learning ecosystem needs to be stimulated on multiple fronts. He said, “Our education system, today, stands at an inflection point, where our choices today will reverberate long into the future. Right now, we need to focus on holistic solutions, a multipronged approach to ensure sustainable, long-term development with optimal learning outcomes, for which we need to focus on narrowing inequalities and improving access, creating modern infrastructure – both physical and technological, working innovatively and most importantly, empowering educators.”

Talking about how flexibility and creativity are crucial factors in reaching and teaching children living in underprivileged areas, He added, “Familiarity with the local culture, traditions, and customs, is essential when teaching kids in rural areas. Valuing their voices, and assigning them activities and projects that allow them to incorporate their perspectives into their learning process is the key to successfully ‘teaching’ them. It is also absolutely necessary to include life-skill learning in the rural curriculum. This way, children can learn to apply their knowledge and skills to practical situations and break various barriers that limit them. By trying the best of the tried and tested approaches, our aim should be to ensure that no learner is left behind, wherever they might be.”