It is K for ‘Kathak’ at this government primary school in Raebareli, UP

Sarai Manik (Raebareli), Uttar Pradesh

It is not just about dragging kids to school, but to make them want to come there regularly, realised Ravi Pratap Singh, when he joined as an assistant teacher at the Sarai Manik Prathmik Vidyalaya in Sarai Manik village.

The 26-year-old teacher joined the school, located in Dhih block of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, in 2021, and found that only a handful of students made their reluctant way into school every day. “The attendance was low and the environment in the school was far from being conducive to learning,” Ravi Pratap Singh told Gaon Connection.

Along with the others, Ravi Pratap Singh decided to do something to make the school more inviting to the students. They wove in a whole lot of daily activities in school such as making toys from mud, dance, music, etc. They began to enact poems and lessons from the text books, interspersed with dancing and singing. That did it and more and more children began to trickle in.

“Kids who rarely stepped into school now began to attend classes and stay right through the day. Seeing their interest, motivated us to innovate more in the way we engaged with them,” Singh said.

There were 146 children enrolled in the school when the assistant teacher joined in 2021. Today the enrollment has gone up to approximately 220, for classes one to five. There are four classrooms and four teachers in the school.

A graduate of the Allahabad University, Ravi Pratap Singh did a Basic Training Course from the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in Raebareli. He also earned a degree in music from the Prayagraj Sangeet Samiti.

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This enthused him to introduce Kathak, a form of Indian classical dance, in the school curriculum which has become one of the most beloved activities amongst the children.

“We wanted to introduce the children to the traditional Indian dance form. It will connect them to our culture and it is also something they can take up as a profession later in life,” the assistant teacher said. There are nearly 40 students from classes three upwards, who learn Kathak at the school.

“Our aim is to keep the children guessing and wondering what awaits them in school the following day. If we can do that, all reluctance to attend school will be banished,” he said.

The teachers at the school devote the last hour to activities other than academics. These include sports, music, dance classes and storytelling.

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“There has been a sea change in the school in the last couple of years. Ever since we introduced music and dance to the school activities, children have been more regular and enthusiastic,” Sunita Devi, the principal of the school, told Gaon Connection.

“We have noticed that even the parents of the children are more invested in the school and many of them are choosing to send their wards to our government school rather than a private school,” she said with pride.

“We had not even heard of Kathak, when it was first introduced in our school. But now, we love it and have learnt so many different taals,” Kajal Devi, a nine-year-old student of class four, told Gaon Connection. “Along with Kathak, Ravi Sir also teaches us poetry and tells us stories. We are no longer reluctant about coming to school,” she said.

A parent Neetu Devi said ever since Ravi Pratap Singh joined the school, there has been a surge of enthusiasm in her three children who study there. “It is reassuring how much care the school takes of our children. If for some reason my children do not attend school, we get a call from there or Ravi Sir himself comes home to find out what happened,” the 33-year-old mother told Gaon Connection.

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Singh makes full use of every festival or special day to tell his students about the history or cultural significance of that day. He tells the children the significance of that day through stories, music, drama and dance.

“We make a fuss now if for some reason we are asked to stay back at home. We hate missing school,” Ravi Kishen, a student of class five, told Gaon Connection. He said that Ravi Sir had a knack of making every lesson gripping. “He makes us enact every lesson or teaches us with the help of songs and dance. We can never forget the lessons we have learnt that way,” the 10-year-old said.