Teacher’s Diary: Using marbles & spinning tops to encourage students to study

A teacher from Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki shares his experiences of how marbles and spinning tops became vital tools in establishing a rapport between him and his students.

Despite apprehensions (people kept asking me if I was sure I had made the right choice) I stuck on till today, I feel this is what I was meant to do. My students mostly come from underprivileged homes where no one in the family has ever been to a school. So, when we teach these children, they go home and educate their families.

I remember how kids barely came to school in the beginning. I began to visit their homes. As I walked through the village I saw children playing with marbles, blissfully unconcerned that they should have been at school.

I can’t say I blame them. The school in 2018, was in a bad shape. It was unpainted, there was no floor and the roofs leaked. If it rained, there was no way the kids could remain dry.

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But they had to get an education. So, I decided to use marbles that they so loved playing with, as the bait. I told them that if they came to school I would give them free marbles and they could play as long as their hearts desired. They were sceptical but decided to give me the benefit of doubt. I did not disappoint and provided them with marbles. There was no coercion to study, nothing. I went a step further and taught them to spin tops!

Sometimes it is the initial connection we need to make. The dropout rate of kids has decreased, they do not skip classes as much as they should and are learning something new every day. They began to come willingly to the classrooms and I could teach them.

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Today, the condition of the school is much much improved. The building is complete and the kids are loving their spanking new classrooms. We have fans in each classrooms, have bluetooth and the kids love it when we use our mobile phones to teach them a poem or show them something exciting.

Of course, there are days I feel discouraged or disheartened, there is always a need for more and better, but when I am with the children, it is like I get recharged.