‘My child has learnt more than English here’

My daughter did not talk very much. Now, she rattles off poems in English. When she’s not raving about her teachers, she’s teaching me a thing or two.
NIZAMUDDIN ANSARI, whose daughter studies at AH Wadia School.

MUMBAI: Teachers at Bhavan’s AH Wadia High School, Andheri, faced a difficult first week in June when they became one of the first schools in the city to implement the 25% reservation clause under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

The 20 students admitted to the nursery class under the quota for children from economically weaker sections would stick together as a group. Unfamiliar with their new surroundings, they would walk around, unable to follow the teacher’s instructions to ‘sit-down’ or ‘come here’ — words their classmates were already familiar with.

It’s been three months since then, and these days, three-year-old Alfiya has taken to telling her father to say ‘sorry’ or ‘please’. And he is thrilled.

“My daughter did not talk very much. Now, she rattles off poems in English. When she’s not raving about her teachers, she’s teaching me a thing or two,” said Nizamuddin Ansari, a labourer.

“If social integration was one of the Act’s aims, I think we have been able to achieve it. All the children play, learn and eat together. In fact, I doubt any of them know that they come from economically diverse backgrounds,” said Reema Parashar, supervisor of the school’s primary section.

The 20 students are children of labourers, autorickshaw drivers, and daily-wage earners who believe it is fate that has given their sons and daughters hope of a different life. “We never thought we would be so lucky. My son has learnt much more than English here,” said Salma Sheikh Alauddin, a housewife.