Rural education is proving to be an important factor in improving the quality of life in the developing world. Mamdu learns the importance of education in this episode
The bell rang and children ran out of the Phoolbun primary school. A rudimentary building of two rooms of muddy walls and floor without a ceiling. Children disappeared and school began to look like a ghost bungalow. Yani Apa, Babul and I thank the teacher and ask her permission to leave. For writing her blog on the state of rural education, Yani Apa had to spend a day here. Babul passed his fifth grade from this school. He was the one who introduced Yani Apa to the teacher. When we reached home, Grandpa and Uncle were waiting for us. We sat together over a cup of tea and biscuits. If the topic of discussion is educational deprivation, it is usual for Yani Apa to get emotional. She said. Education is the basic right of every child. As essential for the growth as food, clothing, home, family, love and affection. I kept my body language serious but amplified her emotions by saying. I am convinced, but what should I explain to friends who ask the benefit of education? Grandpa said. Without education, the concept of life and the world are incomplete Mamdu. Education opens the window of the mind. We come across the reality as it is, and the fresh breeze of new ideas comes in. Your friends dislike the old-fashioned methods of traditional education, I think. Uncle said. The present system of education in the sub-continent is over 300 years old. British imperialists established it following their own needs. They required clerks called babu and native officers called Kalay Saheb. They need their help to maintain British rule. These were small parts of a bigger bureaucratic machine. Assistants who can read, write and know basic mathematics. Transferable from one area bureaucracy to another. Decision-making, enlightenment, critical thinking, creativity and future planning. All these qualities were not required at all. The template was so strong that still, the same product is coming out. Now, the quality is even poorer. Yani Apa said. We are now living in an age of revolution. Access to affordable manual computer devices is being common. Like wooden slates, they will be in the hands of all rural students soon. Educational video games will help the learning process. Writing, reading, and doing calculations and learning different languages will become so easy. We are moving towards radical change in the way we run our schools. There will be a transformation of running offices, markets, hospitals and transportation system. We must make sure that no new imperialism emerges to stop human progress this time. I wish that the coming times will be the winner of creativity, innovation and freedom of the human mind … To be continued