Smiles – Reflections of Happiness!!!

This is Grade 3 of Pravat Secondary School of Chhibang 8, Rukum. There are 61 students studying in the same class. These hilarious children have been taught by the same teacher not only in Grade 3 but for three years. From Grade 1 he started teaching to them, when they went to Grade 2, the same teacher taught and now also he is teaching. The teacher doesn’t feel bored, neither the students, it seems as if it is a large family in which the siblings are being nurtured with the tutelage of a father.
The class is crowded, but it is a good indication that all children have come to the school – a successful part of the RtF program. There is 100% enrollment of the children in the adjoining villages. The children love to come to school, smile with friends and teacher, talk with them, dance with them, sing with them, play with them … … … this is what a true child friendly environment is. They are not taught but the environment conducive for learning makes them learn and they are learnt without explicitly knowing when they learnt … this is what a child-centered teaching means. The teacher knows the areas of weaknesses and areas of strengths of each and every child and provides remedial teaching when necessary. With the accruement of the progress report throughout the year the children are promoted … that is what a true implementation of CAS and LPP is.
Looking around the class, there are posters, blackboard on their reach, warm carpet on top of floor-bed and well-ventilated clean and bright room. No desks, no benches, no chairs but a floor that gives them a lot of comfort and the environment comparable to an ideal home of the remote district Rukum.
If it is a normal school day and it is 9:30 AM, then all children are in the assembly line of their respective grades. A student would be found narrow-casting the school news for the day, a senior student holding a microphone gives a speech on the topic of his interest and all children listen carefully.