The Challenges of Teaching Kindergarten in India

My nephew is almost three. Sidhant is mischievous and smart. Above all, he is the apple of our eyes. Sidhant will attend an interview for nursery soon. My sister's worries know no bounds. She is apprehensive that Sidhant will throw a tantrum, and all the hard work (of getting him remember poems, etiquette etc.etc.) will be lost.

Modern life has bought many comforts for us, but it has also shortened the span of childhood. Now a kid is expected to dance even before he has learned to walk. When he ought to be making stories out of his own imagination, (whenever it's Sidhant's turn to tell a story, he improvises the ones he has been told by me or other elders.) he is forced to cram and parrot rhymes whose meanings he doesn't know! A child is taught artificial expressions so that he can entertain the guests and parents can revel in the praise bestowed upon their child. Teachers also put the same pressure of their unreal expectations on students.
It is the nature of the children to be curious. But most of the schools in India prefer that children learn to be sheep that are to be hurdled. Rational thinking is discouraged. What ever the teacher says it is true. I remember once my mother corrected the name of Prime Minister of India (The book was old edition and a new PM was posted after the elections). Our teacher didn't follow current affairs or she wasn't happy with my mom's intrusion in her work, she told me that I am wrong. And I followed her word instead of my mother's.

Nursery classes in India are breeding ground for developing life-long, intense dislike for books and knowledge. Children are fed irrelevant facts. Can I ask what does it matter to a child if a seal lives in Antarctica or on Moon? Wouldn't it be practical to show him a picture of peacock which he is habitual to see around? At least he will get to know the names of birds and animals of his surroundings. But Indians have a fixation with everything foreign, names of so birds and animals are to be imported for sure.

How to go about it then? It may sound crazy and impractical but you have to be a one man army of musician-cum-dramatist-cum-story teller-cum-parent-cum-teacher. A teacher should be keen to learn, should plan the day's work ahead, and create an atmosphere in which the kids feel free to express themselves. It helps them in self-learning. Different teaching methods and aids can be used to help children understand a concept or topic. Puppets, story sessions, music have been very successful as teaching aids, but in Indian schools these methods are simply unheard of.

Most of the kindergarten teachers in primary schools never know the meaning of child psychology. The school managements are only concerned with making money, whether the person is suitable for the job is not for them to ponder over. The salaries are pathetic. A primary teacher of an unrecognized school gets six to seven hundred rupees. The recognized school may pay $2,000 to 2,500 rupees to their kindergarten teachers. How can you expect any devotion from the teachers when they are working for such meagre salaries? Many kindergarten teachers have no professional training, have a minimum education. Some of them may be BA, B.Ed. They are always waiting for better opportunities. You can't expect a teacher to work for pennies and still keep his enthusiasm intact. It is the duty of the school management to provide and recruit staff which is capable of handling such impressionable and delicate minds.