>> Nothing I will tell you, can explain you what it feels to be in that place- I only hope no other kid goes through that ..
I can understand what you're trying to say, the problems, issues and challenges are on so many levels and there are so many layers that unless you experience it yourself there is no way you can put words to it ...
- first of all, parents are uneducated and to motivate them to educate their kids is the biggest challenge of all ...
- then double it with lack of resources (this includes time, money, energy, good schools, good teachers etc.)
- triple this with no free schooling in india, not even primary , there may be few government schools which are like good for nothing (although there might be an exception like one in million)
- then there is peer pressure for parents whose kids are not earning but spending time in school.
- then there is huge corruption and bureaucracy
- then there are other family responsibilities like getting your sister married (when u dont even have money for your kids school fees or even worst when you cant provide proper food, clothing and shelter) OR taking care of your elderly parents when you cant afford medicines OR someone died in the family and you have to burden the burial cost etc etc etc..
And the list goes on and on.....
SO I SALUTE to all those parents who won uphill battle by going against the tide and made sure that their kids are well educated ...
One of the very interesting aspects of Indian culture is that there is (or used to be) a very high social respect for a "well-educated" person. So if you have a PhD, then even if you don't make a ton of money, you get the same social status as a wealthy businessman. I don't know why this is so, but it has led to nearly everyone desiring their children to have a better education than they did and escape from the grips of poverty.
There is a paragraph in Richard Feynman's "What do you care what other people think?" where a carribean cab driver asks Feynman how is it that his Indian neighbor (presumably of the same economic standing) has a son studying medicine at Maryland? Which is when Feynman explains this hypothesis.
There are still parts of India where there is tremendous social respect for "well educated" people. This can be easily seen if you observe Matrimonial ads. It would be clearly mentioned that people are looking for someone with college degrees, post graduate degrees etc.
On a tangential, I have always found matrimonial ads a very interesting mirror on the Indian society. The way these ads show people's ambitions and fears is amazing.
I can understand what you're trying to say, the problems, issues and challenges are on so many levels and there are so many layers that unless you experience it yourself there is no way you can put words to it ...
- first of all, parents are uneducated and to motivate them to educate their kids is the biggest challenge of all ...
- then double it with lack of resources (this includes time, money, energy, good schools, good teachers etc.)
- triple this with no free schooling in india, not even primary , there may be few government schools which are like good for nothing (although there might be an exception like one in million)
- then there is peer pressure for parents whose kids are not earning but spending time in school.
- then there is huge corruption and bureaucracy
- then there are other family responsibilities like getting your sister married (when u dont even have money for your kids school fees or even worst when you cant provide proper food, clothing and shelter) OR taking care of your elderly parents when you cant afford medicines OR someone died in the family and you have to burden the burial cost etc etc etc..
And the list goes on and on.....
SO I SALUTE to all those parents who won uphill battle by going against the tide and made sure that their kids are well educated ...