From ABC to XYZ inside Tihar

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI, JUNE 29. The education set-up inside the high-security Tihar Central Jail here is in the middle of a transformation these days. The Delhi Government's Education Directorate is holding a special workshop to formalise primary education in the jail through training of inmates as instructors and introduction of a proper syllabus and examination system.

For the 100-odd inmates undergoing training under eight government school teachers in Jail No. 3, it is more than a mere workshop: it is the realisation of a long-cherished dream.

A graduate inmate, Iftikhar Ahmed -- who is one of the two coordinators for the education programme along with engineer inmate Vinod Kumar Singh -- says formalisation of training by the Government means a lot to the instructors who now find themselves being treated more as teachers and less as ``criminals''. Also, the teaching is of such high standard that even ``angootha chhaps'' -- absolute illiterates -- get to write their name and sign within a week.

The Superintendent of Jail No. 3, Mr. Vishva Mohan, says primary education at Tihar in the past basically informal. ``There were no course books, with inmates relying mainly on donated books; and no system of examinations to evaluate the students' performance.'' But now with the National Literacy Mission formally associating with the programme through the Directorate of Education, the 103 inmates are being thoroughly trained to further impart training in 43 primary classes.

The trained inmates will in turn impart training through three ``primer'' books, specially provided for by the Directorate for adults receiving primary education. Also, those being educated would now sit for examinations for promotion to higher classes.

Apart from motivating the inmates, the programme also seeks to make them feel important through issue of certificates by the Directorate.

Mr. Mohan says the idea behind the programme is to institutionalise the primary education programme in jail so that it becomes ``irreversible''. With the National Open School and the Indira Gandhi National Open University already operating from the jail, higher education is firmly in place.

Ms. Veena Jain of the District Institute of Education and Training, Rajendra Nagar, who is one of the government teachers participating in the workshop which ends this Friday, says ``for once teaching has been a great learning experience. We were initially scared of coming here. But now our doubts have been dispelled and we like to even dine with the inmates.''

The best thing about the programme is that it enlists the services of a large number of inmates who want to make the most of their time in jail. While many erstwhile government servants languishing in jail on various counts find it an opportunity to serve, to over 1300 ``student'' inmates it would open up the doors for a more meaningful life.

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