A few days ago, there were a couple of emails that went back and forth between Ed, Ina and myself about two opposing ‘schools’ of thought regarding rural education in India, prompting this three part blog in which I’ll talk a little about formalised schooling, alternative education and some interesting schools Ina’s found to visit.

This is part 2. The previous post introduced some of the problems with the formalised education system and suggested there was a void that may be filled by the alternative education movement.

This section offers my perspective on the alternative education movement and how it also seems to be failing the rural poor. Alternative schools are by definition more diverse in their methods & philosophy than the formalised education system, but I think there are some common(ish) characteristics that are worth being aware of:

-         Again most are based in urbanised and developed settings rather than the rural underdeveloped areas- the areas we believe the current system is failing most.

-         They can be quite elitist establishments designed for the upper & middle classes.

-         Often non-formal, means non-replicable as well, with limited sharing of what works, where and why- the emphasis seems to be on context to highlight the difference between themselves and conventional schooling.*

As can be seen from my slightly generalising list of characteristics, it doesn’t seem that the alternative education movement is making significant contributions for the benefit of rural education in developing countries either.

The picture I am trying to paint is one of systemic problems within formalised education as we know it, but a lack of systemic solutions coming from advocates, pedagogues and schools. If anything the alternative schools seem to shy away from these activities in order to create an alternative for the privileged, not those that need it.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t organisations working well in rural development and education to find small solutions, however they are rare, under-resourced and fragmented meaning what they have learned is often not shared or replicated elsewhere.

It’s not all bad new and failures though…In the next post I’ll share a little document written by Ina about some of the alternative education organisations we have found around India that we feel there is something to learn from…

*One quite separate part of the ‘alternative’ education movement believe the entire idea of educating people is defunct and that the education system is a hegemonic tool for manufacturing and manipulating people. This again we feel is something that is easy for the privileged to talk about, having already benefited from the same education system they complain about.