Education Facilitator cum Resource Person
Dil Se Campaign—CENTRE FOR EQUITY STUDIES—New Delhi
Dil Se Campaign PROJECT DISCRIPTION

The handyman had taken apart the control panel of the small electric oven which had gone dead just as an apple pie was being put to bake. The repair job was going smoothly and a small rubble of clipped wire ends, old charred toast crumbs and other oddments was strewn along the counter. I picked up the cover of the control panel to clean it before it went back in place and then looked closely at it. Along the bottom lay three small oblong clusters of compacted dust – spider webs, or maybe insect hulls. I peered at them and amazement bubbled up inside.

When the NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) initiated a nationwide discussion on the drafting of the National Curriculum Framework (2005), many people asked: ‘Even if the curriculum is improved, who will transact it?’ Apparently, they were sceptical about the value of curricular reform if it was not going to be followed up by reforms in teacher training. Some thought that teacher training should precede curricular change.

The recent years have seen a plethora of attempts to raise the standard of school education through reform efforts, alongside a massive expansion of the education system and a subsequent increase in the enrolment at the primary and the upper primary level. At times these reform efforts have also attempted to change aspects of provision and practice.

A recent article in a Canadian newspaper (The London Free Press, 15 March 2008) made several interesting comments about children. This article was written during the March school break when children in Ontario schools have a week of holiday. At the outset the writer stated, ‘We do our children a favour by giving them the opportunity to spend a few days at play… It’s called unstructured free time and it’s crucial for a growing mind. All you have to do is look at the face of any child on March break to see proof of their enjoyment.