Teacher’s Diary: Making children responsible for their peers

Ravikant Dwivedi is a teacher in Bhagesar Primary School, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, who is assigning leadership roles to his students to monitor their peers' attendance in the school.

In the year 2016, I was transferred to Bhagesar Primary School in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh. When I joined the school, only 46 children were enrolled in it as parents usually preferred the private school in the vicinity.

I started by introducing some changes to the academic environment and actively coordinated with parents to discuss the progress of their wards. Gradually, we witnessed the enrollment soar to 208.

To ensure that the students attend the school regularly, I came up with a concept of forming groups of students with a leader and an assistant leader. For example, if a classroom has 40 children, I divided it in a group of five with eight students in each group. The groups have been named after eminent personalities like Kalpana Chawla and Bhagat Singh to make the students understand the contribution of these personalities.

Most of the changes that have taken place in our school have been implemented with the help of the alumni students.

The group leader is assigned with the task to ensure that all the children in his or her group are present in class. If someone is absent in a group, then the leaders call the absentee and ask them why they didn’t show up. In some cases, they also visit the homes of the members of their group.

These leaders then report to the teachers about the status of the absconding students. In case, the children find the task to be beyond their capacity, I step in to deal with the continuous absenteeism and drop-out issues.

Also Read: Teacher’s Diary: Journey of a teacher who reformed her school with support from students

Recently, two of my girl students Mamta and Rekha dropped out of school for personal reasons and lost hope to study any further. I explained both that education is their right and they should study further at any costs. They followed my advice and continued to pursue their education. One is in the ninth class and the other is in the 10th standard now.

Most of the changes that have taken place in our school have been implemented with the help of the alumni students. Children are now being imparted education with the help of technology as well. Five of the eight classrooms in the school are smart classrooms with projectors, LED screens and computers.