I know I am getting ahead of myself and I apologize for that but the last two days had a tremendous impact.

I went from the slums to the ritz in less than 24 hours.  There is a beauty to both.

Muktangan schools are located in the slums.  They are the equivalent of charter schools in America.  The model is genius.  The founders, Liz and Sunil Mehta, highly experience educators, decided that one can not only education children from the slums in a quality manner, but also lift their parents out of poverty at the same time on a shoe string budget.  How?  Have the kids go to school where they live.  That is not as easy as it sounds since real estate in Mumbai is sky rocketing.  (It is the NYC of India.)  But OK, they accomplished this feat.  Next.  Attract the children to attend the school.  Check.  Teachers….

Well, they could hire teachers educated at the teacher training programs from universities or they could look at the school’s doorstep, educate the child’s mother where the mother begins work teaching kindergarten and learning 1st grade work at the same time going all the way through 12th grade.  This also accomplishes something else: the children tend to have more respect for their teachers because they are their friend’s mother who may happen to live next door or down the street.  No room to show off here unless it is something positive because she is good friends with your parents.

The teachers are trained in English and in Hindi.  Whoa!  Bilingual teachers?  Every single one?  In reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension?  There is a dream education for me come true.  (There are so magnet schools in the US that have this by the way.)

Children’s and teachers’ artwork dot the school walls.  Toys are everywhere.  It reminds me of Reggio Emilia that I studied back in 2002 at The University of Tampa.  It is very child oriented and I got to observe the small ones learning about life through self-directed play (playing house for example.)

It so happens that the first class to take the 10th standard exams did exceedingly well.  However, college is costly.  There are not studies as of now as to who will finish their degree or what will become of the students of Muktangan.  There can’t be.  They are not of age yet.  The jury is still out but I have great hope for them after what I have seen and I can’t wait to post the videos for you to decide.

However, the program’s real “pat on the back” is taking women out of poverty (and a few men) and educating them.  Hopefully, they will be able to climb the caste ladder.

Oh, and last thing, before I go on about the other school, music is a compulsory subject for every teacher to master, not just the 8 music teachers!  They can really sing and use song quite a bit for classroom management and teaching.

The guaranteed leaders of India, if they so choose to stay, is relatively close to the Muktangan schools in milage but as far away as Mars in terms of the possibilities that lay before them.  These are the children of The Cathedral & John Connon School.  This school is the alma mater of Andre de Quadros (my former professor of music research techniques at Boston University.)  If these students are anything like him, India is going to boom like the Industrial Revolution of the west!

I was very impressed at what I saw.  With no air-conditioning and sometimes 40:1 teacher/student ratios (or at least what I observed today), these students were learning.  They are from the upper to extreme upper classes of Mumbai, perhaps middle class if a parent is willing to mortgage everything.  Already, they have the advantage just for being born to the right person at the right time at the right place.  Mumbai has a booming economy and if kept on the right path, could exceed China in the next 10 – 20 years.

I bet you are thinking Harvard bound, throat slicing, anti-social children?  Far from it.  They were tweens and teenagers who were trying to express themselves through accessories away from the school uniforms (the average school uniform in a hot climate.)  The girls were gossipy and the boys were talking of cricket.

Recess, yes recess, aloud the kids to socialize and eat and organize games of all sorts in the outdoor courtyard in 100+ heat.  Some read books in the shade.  They were all left to their devices.

I am not going to go on about what i observed in the classrooms as I will save that for later.  But, as I looked around and the large chocolate eyes met mine, all I could think was: “I am surrounded by India’s future.  They have no idea what impact they will make on Mumbai, India, and the world.”  I was humbled by this presence.  I hope that these students will meet the students of Muktangan and make great changes for the better.  What will they be?  Only time will tell.

The headmistress, Mrs. Isaacs, is one of the most brilliant school administrators I have ever met.  She is well-spoken and dressed immaculately in a saree.  Her insights were amazing and I am kicking myself for having to work and miss tonight’s play about women’s rights in India.  I did ask for a copy of the video.  She was very passionate about this subject.  She is also passionate about a child’s life/work balance.  To be successful, it is not enough to be good at maths and sciences, you must also be able to communicate.

Off to create a presentation about the clarinet to 500+ students who have never seen or heard one.  My limitations or immense and this is much more difficult than other presentations I have made.