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East Meets West - GA Magazine Spring 2006
All photographs on this page © Elena King
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Schools are bridging the cultural divide through the British Council’s Global School Partnerships programme. The programme aims to familiarise partner schools in India and the UK with each other’s countries, cementing ties and learning to appreciate the differences in each other’s cultures.
Last summer Mumbai teacher Snehlata Alphonso visited Bligh Junior School in Kent; a few months later Sue King of Bligh Junior School, Strood, Kent, visited St Xavier’s High School in Mumbai.
Each teacher took with her artefacts and images to help students understand her country’s culture.
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Snehlata Alphonso let the Bligh students examine bindis, kurtas, henna and other typical Indian products; she also presented a PowerPoint about Indian sports, religions and festivals. Sue King took audio and video tapes of her school, and school bags, caps, and photos of her students. This is Sue’s account of her fifteen days in Mumbai:
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" St Xavier’s is a Roman Catholic School for boys aged 4 to 18, run by the Jesuit Fathers. As a visiting teacher I was put up in one of the school’s guest rooms where I got a real insight into school life.
The school day comprises nine lesson periods, beginning at 8.30 a.m. and finishing at 2 p.m., by which time the heat and high humidity have drained both boys and teachers of energy. To set them up for the day, the boys have a big breakfast at home – cereal, eggs and toast, with milk or tea to drink. There is no lunchtime, but a break from 10.45 to 11.20, when the boys have snacks. Each boy carries a water bottle, and they are allowed to drink in class.
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There are 50 boys in each class, and they each carry their own bags full of all their books and equipment – some bags were bigger than the boys themselves! The boys arrive either by yellow school bus, by taxi or on foot. They are taught maths, English, geography and history by their class teachers; science, art, crafts, PE, music, RE, the Marati language, yoga and social studies are taught by specialist teachers. Senior boys assist the staff as prefects and they are most helpful. Work unfinished in school must be completed at home; all boys have homework to do and there are many tests. From Monday to Thursday the Fathers run extra lessons from 6.30-9.30 p.m.
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One day a week, after school, the ‘East Meets West’ club meets for pupils to learn about Indian culture; they then e-mail this information to pupils at Bligh – and vice versa. In this way, students in both countries can appreciate the similarities and differences between their lives.
A typical day begins with football training on the dirt playground, so I was awoken most mornings at 7 a.m. by the coach’s whistle as the boys started their training. At 8 a.m. they could be heard rushing along the corridors to get to their classrooms by 8:15. During the four months of the monsoon season the bell is rung twice informing all boys that they should be in class. During the rest of the year all standards (years) line up outside, in the courtyard area, which is duly marked for each standard.
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At 8.25 three more bells ring out, followed by prayers and the Anthem which is sung by a few boys in the Headteacher’s office; loudspeakers carry it throughout the school. Notices are also given out for the day and lessons then begin, these are approximately 30 to 40 minutes long.
School uniform is compulsory - beige shirt and shorts or long trousers, brown socks and black shoes. On Fridays each boy wears a coloured shirt representing his school house. There is no special kit for PE.
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The classrooms have high ceilings and brown walls decorated with a few posters. In the classrooms it is by no means quiet! Although they have dividing walls, they are all open to a central corridor, and the ceiling fans drone endlessly. The wide open windows let in continuous traffic noise, and pigeons and sparrows fly in and out.
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My time at St Xavier’s was an experience I shall never forget. It was very hard work but very rewarding – I was particularly struck by the boys’ boundless energy and eagerness to learn. Our East meets West link will continue to grow as staff in both schools are keen to exchange their expertise and foster the students’ inter-cultural understanding. "
Sue King, Geography Co-ordinator,
Bligh Junior School
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Any school interested in the programme should contact the British Council or Brenda Sole, Global Curriculum Project, DfID Global School Partnerships, British Council, The Tun, 4 Jackson’s Entry, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8TJ. Manjula Rao heads the Global Curriculum Project in Mumbai.
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