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Journalism of Courage
Loneliness and boredom aren’t the words one would associate with a primary school, which is generally a place filled with the chaotic hum of learning, fun and mischief. In scores of schools located in hilly areas of Pune district, however, classrooms are uncharacteristically quiet, marked by empty benches.
Schools in hilly areas of the district—such as those in Velha, Mulshi, Purandar and Bhor talukas, barely a few hours travel from Pune city—have seen the population of students dwindling in recent years. There are 374 zilla parishad–run primary schools of the total 3,638 schools in the district, which have less than 10 students. In fact, 21 schools have just one student each on roll call.
This is largely because villages have been depopulated on account of their residents migrating in search of a livelihood, as per locals and government officials.
Earlier this month, a teacher at a zilla parishad school, Arvind Deokar, ended his life by consuming pesticide at the school, allegedly out of frustration, as the school where he was transferred two months ago—Hole Vasti in Daund Taluka—was left with only one student after parents withdrew nine of 10 students who were enrolled in the school when he joined.
Data obtained by The Indian Express from the education department of Pune zilla parishad shows that in 2022, the average number of students in its primary schools was 66, but was much lower in hilly areas which have seen the most severe outward–migration of population.
In fact, of the 374 schools with less than 10 students, 209 were in hilly talukas. At village Kashedi in Velhe Tehsil, The Indian Express found that only two students – Aryan Navgune of class 3 and Ranjana Margale in class 4 –were on the roll of ZP single-room primary school. The teacher Vinod Sonkambale said he makes every effort to ensure that students excel in studies and even outperform those from city schools. “You can ask them anything and test their merit,” he challenges, but agrees that they lose out on group activities and games.
Datta Navgune, a local, said that three other children of the village who study in classes 5 and 8, go to a slightly bigger school in Koshimghar, five km away. “That school has eight students,” said Sanskruti Navgune of class 6.
As per Datta, the village has about 40 homes but only 10-12 people live in the village. “The rest have migrated to Pune for work,” said Navgune. He said that when he was young, “there would be 40-50 students in a class. But now most children live in the city.”
Exodus for work
In Tekpole, another village about 10 km from Kasedi, ZP’s primary school was found locked. Local residents said that since there was only one student in school this year, both the teacher and student were assigned to a school in neighbouring Mangaon.
“Only elderly are left here,” said Shankar Bamgude (70). He has two sons who shifted to Pune for work and four grand-children studying in the city. He lives in Tekpole with his wife. “There’s very little farming now. Most youth live in cities and the elderly can’t toil hard,” he said. The village has a population of about 400 with 70-80 families on government record but only about 50 stay in the village.
Amol Nalawade, who represents the area in zilla parishad, said that while the terrain is not conducive to farming, there are no industries or businesses either.
“The only farming done is paddy during the rainy season in the khachars (small plots that are carved out from the hills for farming). It’s very labour intensive but isn’t profitable. There are no big businesses here so people are left with no option but to shift to Pune or Mumbai,” said Nalawade.
Earlier this year, Pune ZP opened a “cluster school” in Panshet in Velhe taluka to provide a better educational option to students studying in single-teacher schools in the periphery of 10 km. The two-school building has been redeveloped in the place of an existing school, with funds from industry donations and has eight classrooms and six teachers. It also has an e-learning room equipped with computers, and a chemistry lab. This school has the capacity to accommodate 300 students.
Before it opened in June 2023, officials had expected that enrollment would go up from 100 to 210. At present, however, the school has managed to improve its cumulative roll call to 121.
“There was resistance from parents of other villages to send the children, especially girls, to a distant school. Recently, we acquired two vans with private donations, and this may persuade parents to send children to school,” said Pune ZP Education Officer (primary) Sandhya Gaikwad.
On Monday, The Indian Express reporter saw teachers venturing out of the school for an excursion to the tribal Sandavghar village, about 10 km away. They tried to convince children to join school with the van as an attraction.
“We found that 10-12 students in Sandavghar were enrolled at a school in a neighbouring village but they were irregular as they needed to cross a hill and walk 5 km. We spoke to their parents and they are ready to send them to our school if the van picks them up,” said Shabana Pathan, the headmistress.
Cluster school solution?
Primary teachers outside the jurisdiction of Panshet cluster school welcomed the idea of more cluster schools in the region. “We have no social interaction at work as there is no other teacher. For students, schools with better facilities and more friends will serve them well,” said a teacher who requested anonymity.
Education Officer Gaikwad said that recently the Principal Secretary (School Education) Ranjit Singh Deol visited the Panshet school. “The government will decide the future course, based on the success of the Panshet experiment,” said Gaikwad.
