A school near Begger's Valley

In Hyderabad, India we visited a Christian school that was so much in need I felt like weeping. It is a school that provides education for slum children. Very near to the school is "Begger's Valley" a valley where the very poorest people live.

The people of Begger's Valley often have jobs that bring in a very small amount of money each day. Sometimes their job is begging. Some of the women begin their job of sweeping the streets late at night after the traffic has lessened.

The children in this school were impressively neat in their school uniforms. The girls had heavy, shiny black braids tied with black ribbons. The classrooms were very crowded and very tiny, about the size of an office in the U.S. The children sat so close together on metal benches that they could hardly move freely.

Most of the teaching was done with workbook-type books. The instruction was rote with the teacher saying a line and all of the children repeating it. When the teacher asked a question the children answered in unison. Many of the teachers have a limited amount of education because there aren't funds to pay the salaries of certified teachers. Because there were no desks, the children held their notebooks on their laps and wrote that way. In spite of the conditions their writing was almost perfect.

In spite of the teaching and learning circumstances, the children score well on the exams given by the government. The exams measure the content of what the students have memorized rather than expecting the children to use that content to think in a new way.

What does this school need?

1. They need money for desks.

2. They need money for teachers' salaries.

3. They need money so that they will be able to educate more children who cannot pay any tuition.