The First Day of School

In southern Gujarat, school traditionally starts on the second Monday of June. Read below to hear about our Summer Fellow, Rachel’s experience with the first day of school in Kadod:

On our 5th full day in Kadod, we witnessed an event that in many respects bore strikingly little resemblance to its US equivalent – the first day of school. Sitting in the office, discussing job descriptions and summer internship duties, we were suddenly overwhelmed by a rapidly approaching, buzzing swarm… of children. The national anthem plays loudly in the background. Boys hold hands while rushing to get to class on time, girls have their hair braided with ribbons. All students are in uniform. Motorcycles (or scooters – I’m still trying to understand the difference) drive through the school grounds. The excitement is palpable, the energy transparent. School begins at 10:50 am here, as many students have household duties or jobs to attend to in the morning. Class periods are 35 minutes long, with 8 periods per day. Students remain in the same room, while teachers shift from class to class at the sounding of each bell. In English classes, the students stand to greet the teachers when they enter, proclaiming in unison “Good morning teacher”, and when prompted to return to their seats, “thank you teacher”. From my observations, the students are incredibly well behaved, though the presence of American outsiders in the classroom may skew their behavior.

Posted on September 2, 2013