Me,Sir! Me, Sir!

One of the most distracting things for me as a teacher has been the cries of Me, Sir! Me, Sir!, accompanied by the snapping of fingers to get the teacher's attention. Most of the teacher's accept this a normal behaviour.

I think I've mentioned before that most classrooms are jammed with students. I have been in classrooms of 130. The size of the classroom doesn't change; the desks are just closer together and the students sit more to a bench. Most students have a notebook and pen. In none of the seven classes I visited this week, did any of the students have a textbook. The teachers must write everything on the board. Many of them are quite adept at teaching the dialogues, including a lot of student involvement. There is no electricity in any of the village schools. The windows are large and at least a cross breeze is created.

The students are generally very well behaved and obedient. In the city school, I observed a bit more of a swagger and less reverence for the teacher. It was a Friday at 4 pm when I noticed this so maybe to be expected.

The school day starts at 7:45 and goes to 12 noon. There is a half hour break at mid morning. At that time, the children will knock mangoes from the trees and have a conveniently available snack. At the village schools, some of the students will walk for about an hour to get to school. Lunch is from 12 to 3pm, the hottest part of the day, and then classes resume for two hours from 3 to 5 pm.

The pictures are of one village primary school at morning break. The teachers are in the foreground. The other is of Me, Sir! though, in this picture, they are actually saying, Missus! Missus!