A Bangalore school where kids wash dishes and fetch tea

Members of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s standing committee on education, in a bid to motivate students taking the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), set to begin in April 2011, visited a school and college at Bairaveshwaranagar, Nagarabhavi.

The committee members were interacting with students, teachers of the government primary school nearby were seen getting utensils washed by students.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the BBMP standing committee for education, BV Ganesh, along with other members, visited the BBMP High School at Bairaveshwaranagar, Nagarabhavi. With the SSLC examinations round the corner, the chairman and members held a discussion with students. The members tried to inspire students by speaking of the rewards that would follow if they scored well in the examinations.

Even as the members offered students a pep talk, children from the government primary school nearby were seen washing dishes. While one child attended to the dishes, another was seen going to a nearby tea stall to fetch tea. The teacher was seen receiving the tea in a small steel glass. A tip of Rs2 was offered to the child.

The teacher of the primary school said that there were more than 350 students in the primary school. Midday meals have been supplied by the Mohsin Shariff Educational and Charitable Trust (MSECT). “The food supplied by the Trust is good. On Saturdays, besi bele bath is supplied, which the children do not like, and are reluctant to eat. Also, the Trust does not offer the children any yoghurt, which is part of the regular meals for students in schools that get the midday meal from Iskcon,” the teacher said.

Deputy director for public instructions (DDPI), C Nagaraj, said, “The primary school does not have peons or attendants. There is no staff hired for the purpose of cleaning utensils. Primary school children are expected to clean their own plates, and there is no harm in such a practice, as it teaches children the dignity of labour. About the child fetching tea for the teacher and then receiving a tip, that is a matter I will look into.”