Rita is a fiery yet humble reporter and social activist from Sheohar, Bihar. A former Khabar Lahariya reporter, Rita understands rural issues and how to resolve them like the back of her hand. When not in the 'field', she can be found either at the local panchayat or at the office of the district administration, meeting officials, screening her videos…

Rita Devi

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Suraj Kumar, a student of Bishnupur Government School, is the first person from his family to have a chance to go to school. His family has big dreams for him, hoping that he finishes basic education and moved up the economic ladder.

But he and his schoolmates are worried about the future of their education. It has been six moths since schools have started, but the classes from 2 to 8 haven't yet received their textbooks. The children, mostly from families belonging to Below the Poverty Line (BPL), have been unable to study or revise the lessons taught in schools due to the delay. Due to the poverty, these children are not able to afford to buy these curriculum books either.

When our community correspondent Rita Devi asked the school's principal Sanjeev Kumar the reason for the delay, he said, "This is a higher issue, from the government's side. In the meantime, we face many issues teaching these kids." The principal has called the concerned officer several times to know the whereabouts of the textbooks but so far, hasn't received an answer, nor the books.

It noted that, ‘textbooks are the basic tool for learning for students, without which no quality education can be provided’. Therefore, it is hard to imagine that a child without textbooks would be able to achieve any level of learning. While there are other factors at play such as the approach to teaching, environment, etc, the non-availability of textbooks is most critical and hinders quality. Especially for children belonging to the marginalised communities, access to education is their ticket to move towards a more equal society. 

Let's give chance to our children to have a quality education across the country. Call Mr Arvind, the Block Development Officer of the district on +91 9934807907

This video was made by a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent Rita Devi.

Community Correspondents come from marginalised communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ they give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change.