Fabia Shahzadi

Since our independence in 1971, our country has had prodigious development in the education sector and is now globally acknowledged with high assent. Primary education particularly in the rural areas has strikingly surged forward; retention rate of both boys and girls has also increased remarkably. Dropout rate especially for the female students has also been reduced to a considerable extent. Yet, there is much task ahead to achieve hundred percent in all the above arenas.

1.School Structures and Its Domain:
Since primary education deals with the students at a younger age, they have an inclination to outer attractions. If the school buildings are well painted and the school rooms comprise of well equipped furniture, it is quite convincible to allure the young minds to be dragged into the school premises. Another important aspect to note is to create a playful environment for the children which will require a field or a playground at least.

2.Water and Sanitary Facilities:
The necessity of pure drinking water is compulsory at schools. During summer, in the humid weather, the thirst quenched students find it almost impossible to complete a day without water. If the school does not provide clean drinking water then the possibility of water borne diseases will result, leading to the absence of students from school. This will in return lower their performance on the school lesson and have a negative impact on their grades. Parents might also find it discouraging to send students to school thinking about the hygiene. Another detail which needs to be ensured is sanitation. Without proper washrooms and toilet facilities it is difficult to provide sanitation to the students. Especially for the girls, it is absolutely necessary to provide separate washroom for obvious reasons, otherwise they might not feel comfortable attending schools.

3.Extra Curricular Activities:
To engage the young, high-spirited minds of the students in school, it is essential to arrange occasional extra-curricular activities. In times of festivals, cultural programs should be arranged. Annual sports or recreation programs can also fascinate the youthful minds dwelling in playful essence.

4.Quality and Adequate Teaching Stuff:
The main purpose of education is imparting knowledge from the one wisdom tank to another. In order to do so, teachers who are well trained should be appointed. Adequate, qualified teachers should be deployed who will understand child psychology and how to deal with the young minds of the boys and girls.

5.Community Coaching System Should Be Introduced:
One thing which we need to understand is that majority of the school going students in the rural or suburban areas cannot receive quality education. This is because of the sparse number of schools and the lack of assistance outside school. Most students have parents who are uneducated and therefore cannot help them with the school homework. Insufficient earning restricts them from even sending their students to any coaching outside school. Students in this kind of disadvantageous situation often find themselves lagging behind their other privileged fellow mates. They lose moral ssupport; suffer from inferiority complex and eventually dropout. To overcome this serious constraint of the illiterate families, school teachers and/or school management and/or committee and/or the social elites in the society including the Union Parishad (UP) should come forward to help out these boys and girls with a solution. They can make plans to arrange community coaching for the under privileged children. The senior teachers or educated youth can take initiative to coach these kids for the betterment of the society.
In the light of the above, if pragmatic plans are made and proper actions are taken, the situation of primary education will no doubt improve.
[To be continued]