Warles Surin gave up his job at an IT warehouse and returned to his village, which is along the Red Corridor, to open a play school. He started the school in 2011 and runs it from his home, along with his family. “I was working in the city for seven years. I learnt a lot during this time, but I…

Warles Surin

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Tingina, Jharkhand: Nabh Primary School was started in December, 2012. Currently, the school has 80 students and 4 teachers. Classes are conducted out of a room in the headmaster’s house as there is no school building. The children do not receive a mid-day meal. Facilities promised by the government are not available, and the teachers are working without any salary. There are no provisions for books or uniforms for the children.

Call to action: Please call District Education Officer on +91-6525225701 asking him to inquire into this matter and help us reach a solution.

It is not unusual for schools in rural India to be without adequate infrastructure, access to water and nutritional food or a proper student teacher ratio. All these have been found in more than half of government schools across India. However, Nabh Primary school is different as the teachers strive to provide the children the best they are able to. “Initially we had only around 9 students who didn't even have proper uniforms. We provided them that out of our own pockets and also bought books and stationery for them,” says Suchar Mandhi, a teacher at the school. Adds Asmita, another teacher at the school, "I have been working here since 2011 but haven't got a single penny as salary. I haven't been provided a single thing in this school since the day I have joined."

Not only does this highlight the lapses in the Right to Education Act which aims to provide free and compulsory education to children aged 6-14 years, but also the everyday struggles of people to access a decent education.

Strategic interventions are being planned and recommended across the country by various pro-education groups as the government comes face to face with the harsh reality that RTE is failing the very children it was designed for. VV's correspondents resolve issues on a hyper-local level. More localized, focused attempts reap better and lasting results – as an issue is resolved in one village, it almost always triggers a domino effect in neighboring villages - catalyzed and facilitated by our community correspondents. This model is effective given that, in 2014, VV was able to solve 1 out of 4 issues raised via the IndiaUnheard network.

Community Correspondents come from marginalized communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ They give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.