Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan-III

Her name was Deepali. And she was in Class II. She went to the government school.
"Do you like going to school?"
A very emphatic shake of the head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Sirji beats me."
Her mother piped up:
"If you do not study, will not Sirji beat you?"
And this was very common across villages. Sirji beats us. But if we do something wrong, it is but right that Sirji beats us.
I do not know whether Sirji beats because these are dalit students or Sirji generally beats because he believes that is how children should be taught.
It was also funny how the children always referred to Sirji. There were no madamji. Male teachers predominate in schools. Aanganwadis, on the other hand, are always run by women.