How Old Are These Kids?

Here's a strange, confusing story:

The academic school year started this week and in the village of Bhakodra in the Ankleshwar Block of the Bharuch District we visited an Anganwadi (government-sponsored kindergarten) to see how the new year was going. But when we arrived at 10:15am (Anganwadis open at 10) there were only 5 children there and more importantly no Anganwadi worker.

The assistant to the worker, who was there instead, told us that the government supervisor of Anganwadi workers in the area had called a meeting for all Angawadi workers. While I was very skeptical of this at first, the Anganwadi worker’s daily log had a note (dated yesterday) written by her supervisor that said she was calling a meeting for all Anganwadi workers. So that seemed legitimate.

But then...
the assistant Anganwadi worker told us that with the academic year starting this week, all 4 year-olds in the village had been sent to start Std I. The Pratham worker I was with told me that all across Gujarat 4 year-olds were being shifted into Std I. This wasn't right.

So I called into the Ahmedabad office to double-check the facts. Those in the office confirmed that only 5 & 6 year-olds (not 4 year-olds) should not be placed in Std I. They also suggested that we speak with those at the Primary school to see what was going down.

At the Primary school we spoke with the Principal. The Principal told us that only 5 year-olds were enrolled in Std I and that the assistant Anganwadi worker was wrong. I was a little relieved, but with all the confusion in the town, I was not convinced that this was happening, so I thought it would be useful to talk with the kids in Std I.

The Principal walked us to the Std I classroom and told me the students were all 5. I looked around the class and saw a tiny girl in her blue uniform and I asked her how old she was. The Principal told me she was too young and wouldn’t know her age, but she proved him wrong and replied “Four.” We then checked with all the kids in the class and we found that 6 of 35 kids were 4 years-old. To me this was a problem.

The Principal then told me that if the children would be 5 by August 1^st they were considered 5 and fit for Std I. I was very skeptical of this, and tried to ask some of the children there birthdate. My Pratham colleague translated my Hindi into Gujarati but it seemed like the children did not know their birthdates. I asked for documentation, records, etc. but was told it was too early in the year and that they did not have them yet.

It was a very strange visit in Bhakodra, from the Anganwadi worker not being there, to the confusion over the children's age. I was frustrated not to be able solve the problem, but sometimes things just work out that way...

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