MOULDING PERCEPTIONS
 

The beginnings of an alternative strategy in Jaipur for providing basic education was initiated by the Digantar School which was es- tablished in 1978. A new Samiti was set up in 1989 and a school started on the Jagatpur Farm of Shri J.P. Singh. Apart from the support provided by Shri Singh for school building, hostel and teachers' quarters, funds were raised from the public for running the school. The school started with an enrolment of 7 children and has now more than 270 children on its rolls and is running school in three places.

The school on Jagatpur farm "has no fixed curriculum", although the basic objectives of providing education - knowledge and cognitive competencies: (observation, categorisation, association, analysis, synthesis, etc.), skills and attitudes - determine the learning experiences for children. The initial entry to school does not require a child to have attended a formal class room. Children, whose ages range between 3 and 17 are allowed to interact with their peers. Learning is integrated. Teaching is upgraded and children move from one level to the other at their own pace.

Teachers, who might not have undergone any formal training, meet frequently for mutual learning and reinforcement of efforts. The sessions for teachers, which are frequent, are often devoted to the introduction and discussion of ideas, correcting each other, analysing and finding solution to problems and so on. These sessions become, in a way, training sessions and teachers learn from each other and from children. Since teachers live on the campus, there is enough time for discussion and "planning of activities for children". Based on the experience in the school, teachers' guides have been prepared on various subjects. A set of charts and learning kits have also been produced. Frequent meetings with parents take place and teachers inform them of the competencies that their wards have acquired. Evaluation of students' progress is done informally orally as well as on the basis of written exercises. Study materials indicate that achievement of children in various skills is quite substantial. Since teaching is ungraded and learning is at the child's own pace, students show varying levels of achievement.

Multigrade teaching is both a challenging and a rewarding experience. The organisation of tasks and making teaching and learning "absolutely" non-formal require considerable skills on the part of teachers, more so on the part of the Head-master. Digantar has many committed teachers and an innovative Head-master who share each other's perspectives and views on what education should consist of and what kind of learning experiences and how they should be provided to children. Digantar is innovative and requires support. Whether the philosophy and practices advocated will at some point of time permeate the entire system of education will depend upon a host of factors: the acceptance by the society of the view that education need not take place in formally structured classrooms established by the state or under its patronage; the extent to which existing educational structures can, all along the line, be changed to make them flexible and open; and the relative value that is placed on acquiring of competencies and skills irrespective of how they are acquired rather than on certificates testifying to the grades completed by students.

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