Poverty and School - A Short Story

 Poverty and School

        "Amma, I am going to school", said Sempa. Sempa was a student of class VIII. She lived in the village Dinapur. Her family consisted of her parents, a grand-father and a brother. Her parents worked as farm labourers. It was a lower-class family where sign of poverty was potent. Sempa read in the Dinapur High School. As was the condition of her family so was of her school. It did not have enough teaching and non-teaching staff. Two locally arranged did the non-teaching works. A few contractual teachers were also engaged. 

      The school building was dilapidated. Most of the students of the school belonged to lower-class. In the lower section, the attendance was moderate, but in the higher section it was meagre. The reason was grown-up boys used to go to the town to earn. So, girl-enrollment was higher. Sempa used to go to school with other girls on bare foot. She did not have slippers, unlike most of the children of her village. The well-offs sent their children to a distant school for better education. But children, like Sempa, had no choice. Their parents could not afford better educational expenses. So, they used to go to the local school.

      The poor children did not go to school with the intention of learning, but eating. During recess, students up to class VIII were given mid-day-meal, that was their main attraction. Semp was happy with that. She used to go to school everyday. The teachers could not give their best because they could not get any result of the efforts. They now got used to it.

        One day, the English teacher asked Sempa not to come to school as she could not answer any question. He even told a student to tell Sempa's guardian not to send Sempa to school. But next day, getting ready for school Sempa said her mother, "Amma, I am going to school." Her mother did not say anything because she knew the reason.

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