Other grans don’t allow their children to go to school instead they just
say, what do you benefit form school just stay here and do the work.
It is important to note that this was the case only with some children as other
children said granny encouraged them to go to school (see below)
Children also reported that sometimes grannies were gullible and naughty
children could pretend that they had gone to school when they had not.
- If you are staying with your mother and father it’s easier because your
mother or father will chase you to go to school, but for granny she is no
longer energetic to make a follow up whether you are going to school
or not.
- Some children just wake up as usual in the morning pretending they
are going to school while they end up in the forest and they just come
back at the time when others are coming from school, they join them.
A heavy workload means less time for school work
The children talked about the fact that the heavy workload they had meant
they did not get enough time for school work.
(Children don’t go to school) if they have a lot to do and they don’t get
an opportunity to go to school. Home activities so they have to work a
lot at home.
Sometimes they just stop from going to school so that they can do
something at home, do their work at home.
One issue raised by the children was that they had to stay away from school if
their granny was sick. A few children often had to look after ill grandmothers.
I miss school instead I go to cook food for her because she is sick. I
never did the examination last year because my mother was sick and
now my granny is sick. I will do the year (grade) again. I am in Grade 3.
Children also mentioned that once you fall behind at school it is hard to catch
up and then you fail and have to stay back and this is a problem.
If you have been in the same place (grade) for more than one year they
get tired and decide on their own to no longer go to school.
Being chased from school
The most common problem reported about schooling was related to the fact
that elderly-headed households were poor. Granny could not afford to buy
new school uniforms, socks or shoes, nor could she afford to give the children
money for fees, stationary or books. All groups reported being chased away
from school for periods that varied from a day to two months with three of the
children having dropped out of school altogether. Some children reported
being absent frequently for 2 or 3 days because they were sent home from
school.
If the teachers at school have sent them back home because of no
shoes and socks so they will just stay at home until they get shoes and
socks. Because I had no shoes I stayed at home for a month before my
granny had money to buy me shoes. So after the month my granny
could have money and she bought me plastic shoes.
Another major issue for children was soap. They reported that they often
missed school because there was no soap to wash uniforms or themselves.
They also reported that they were teased by children and that teachers
punished them because they had not washed. This issue was a particularly
painful one for the children to talk about.
In a single desk we sit two, now it happens that one goes to the
classroom with that old uniform, they make groups in the classroom
and they start discussing about you. What kind of a student stayed for
a long time at her place – Friday to Monday and she couldn’t even
manage to wash the school uniform but you sit on your own and you
know the real situation – that you could not get soap to wash the
clothes, in fact there is no soap.
Money to shave hair and for kerosene to study at night were also seen as
problems related to school going.
The reason we fail at school it may happen that during the day you are
busy with the family work and at night when you have time to study you
are stopped because there is no kerosene.
Children also talked about how being hungry affected progress at school.
Sometimes somebody starves at night and then thinks of going to
school and there is nothing to eat at school and then he or she decides
that they won’t go to school.
Children living with parents had more chance of success in school
The issue of progress in school was explored with the children. They were
very clear about the fact that children who lived with parents had more chance
of doing well at school because parents could afford to get their children extra
tuition, they had money for kerosene to work at night and children who had
parents did not have to work so hard so had more time for school work.
Children who are living with granny miss school more. Because I am
living with my granny its not easy for her to buy shoes (for school)
instead she buys food for us.