Enhancing Education in Rural India

By: Carinne Meyer

BANGALORE, India. Outside the bustling technology hub of Bangalore, India, beyond the towering corporate parks and modern apartment buildings, a simpler life carries on.  In rural Thumkur, two hours outside the city, farmers prepare their fields with oxen-drawn plows and pause in the midday heat to drink milk from coconuts. 

While so many in Bangalore are looking to join the global economy, the people of Thumkur are focused on their families, their land and the strength of the rains each monsoon season.  In support of this way of life, Operation USA and the Honeywell Corporation are meeting the needs of 10 rural schools by creating healthier places for children to grow and learn.

Ten village schools in the Thumkur District have been selected as model schools which will receive a package of interventions that will improve their current states of health and hygiene.  These schools were selected on the basis of teacher commitment, parental support, lack of funding from the government to accomplish these changes, and the large student population.  They vary in size and in grade level, but all 10 schools boast of teachers who have been teaching for over fifteen years, active parents’ associations and a robust group of enrolled students who attend school regularly.

In addition to the above criteria, there are currently no sanitation facilities available to children at these schools. Barefoot primary school students walk to soiled corners of school grounds to relieve themselves.  Last year, two young girls were trying to find a clean place to go after a rainstorm and attempted to use the nearby drainage ditch.  As they tried to manage, they fell into the flooded ditch and drowned –their deaths causing a great concern throughout the community.

In addition to the lack of facilities, schools facilities are not planned in terms of waste disposal, drainage and clean places for students to congregate during breaks. Many grounds commonly serve as animal pens during the night, which, although a regular part of rural life, produces a less than healthy school environment. The grounds are not cleaned the next day and reminders of the animals presence litter the area in front of the classrooms. 

Older students are faced with a similar lack of facilities; high school girls are at the greatest disadvantage.  They miss an average of three days of school every month due to the lack of girls' latrines. A focus group of eight female high school students determined that the girls’ first priority in terms of school improvements would be having clean private toilets.  The girls stated that they currently deal with the lack of facilities by training themselves to wait until they return home at the end of the day – this method may be a cause of the high rate of female-specific infections.

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Operation USA Awarded Four Stars By Charity Navigator For Fourth Consecutive Year
"This 'exceptional' designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Operation USA from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust." ~Trent Stamp, President Charity Navigator