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------------------------------------------------------------ Easy money luring beach-belt school students ------------------------------------------------------------ Despite various efforts school drop-outs still continue to be a problem in Goa. The Navhind Times presents a series of reports covering different areas. ----------------------------------------- The Dropout Problem - 1
Joaquim Fernandes
Poverty as well as affluence are causing students to drop out of schools along the Calangute tourist belt. The poor children, mostly of immigrants, take up jobs in hotels, shacks, supermarkets and other commercial establishments.
The late-night hours take a toll on their health and they finally drop out of school. The children of the nouveau rich, especially of those who run shacks, guesthouses or hotels are simply too distracted or too bored with studies.
Despite the kind of work their parents put in, the feeling among them is explained as, "if money is so easy to get, who needs to study?". It is some consolation that many children from both these categories end up in the open schools run by the government or NGOs.
First, the have-nots. It is common for students, mostly of poor immigrants, to take up jobs as waiters, dish-washers, supermarket attendants, apprentice mechanics, etc, either to supplement their parent's meagre income or to substitute for an alcoholic father.
According to the headmistress of Mark Fernandes Memorial High School, Calangute, Ms Flavia D'Souza, these students work well past midnight in the hotels or shacks but still attend school the next morning. They are unable to concentrate in class due to lack of sleep and some even complain of headaches, she said.
Having experienced the heady feel of money, many drop out of school to earn money full-time, said Ms D'Souza, adding that last year itself, about eight students left the school and many of these were reported to have taken up jobs.
On the other side of the drop-out crowd are the children of the newly affluent. According to a senior teacher from the Little Flower of Jesus, Calangute, many children of people owning guesthouses, shacks and other such tourism-related businesses are too enamoured of their foreign guests' bohemian lifestyles.
"In one season, their families make lakhs of rupees. I could not make that in my entire 15 years of service," said the teacher. She said with this "easy money", comes motorcycles, mobile phones, flashy clothes, rings on the ears of young boys, who all want to ape the tourists.
So aggrieved was the teacher, that she was moved to say: "At least as far as our school is concerned, tourism, television and the Internet are not a blessing but a curse for today's children."
The headmistress of Little Flower said around five students dropped out of the school last year.
The headmaster of St Joseph's High School, Arpora, Mr Tomazinho Cardozo, says it is difficult to tell the exact number of students who actually drop out of school.
Earlier, it was presumed that those who do not collect their leaving certificates had dropped out. But now students collect their leaving certificates saying they want to join another school. They then go and take up jobs and this is only known when other students inform the management.
Last year alone, Mr Cardozo had requests from 17 students who wanted to leave the school. He advised them that to at least go to the government open school in Parra. Mr Cardozo says another reason why children in rural schools tend to drop out is because they have difficulty in coping with studies.
In the open schools, they have to take only four subjects of their choice and may leave out difficult subjects like maths. Despite the perceived disparity in academic content, the SSCE certificate of open schools is equivalent to the SSCE certificate of normal schools.
According to Mr Cardozo, more and more students are flocking to the open schools, such that in another five years, they may threaten the existence of the normal schools. --------------------------------------------- The Navhind Times 6/10/04 page 1 ---------------------------------------------
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