Timbaktu Arts & Crafts Centre

A PROPOSAL FOR SETTING UP A TIMBAKTU ARTS & CRAFTS CENTRE BY THE TIMBAKTU COLLECTIVE

1. Introduction:

The Timbaktu Collective started its Alternative Education Programme in 1992. It has been running Alternative Learning Centres, Children’s Resource Centre and a number of children’s camps. It has also been doing a lot of work on child-rights issues in three mandals of Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh. A number of lessons were learnt from this programme.

The Collective started this programme in response to the way the main stream schools are running. It is an integrated education programme incorporating academics, arts, crafts, sports, nutrition, healthcare, and cultural aspects. The programme has been working with the children from very difficult family backgrounds. These children had wonderful time enjoying their childhoods. They also picked up quality academic skills and got a good orientation to a variety of skills. These children, who were earlier considered as ‘failures’, started doing very well in all aspects within a short term.

But in the main stream schools, children spend most of their time only with books. Their curriculum does not involve anything else. Whatever ‘extra’ is done is considered ‘extra curricular’ activity. These ‘extra curricular activities’ are allocated only the bare minimum timings, typically one period a week. These schools judge children only from the point of their academic skills. Children ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ based on their performance in the examinations conducted by these schools.

There is a strong ‘carrot & stick’ attitude that is driving people. Education is viewed as a means to create ‘easy and cushy’ life sans hard work. It is not one’s subjective interest in Languages or Math, Economics or History that drives them and their parents in opting for higher studies, but this dream that these will lead them eventually to a cushy livelihood. Other options are usually not attended to, because they will require one to lead a disciplined, hard working life involving careful management of available resources. However, since the number of such carrots available is not many vis-à-vis the number of contestants, there is a majority of students, who will inevitably have to ‘fail’ and face the stick somewhere enroute. These students, who fail, are left totally in the lurch, because they have neither acquired enough skill (‘killer instinct’?) to succeed in academics, nor have they learnt anything else during their long and tedious academic years.

The standard route taken in pursuing academics ensures this. Preparing for the Board exam means that one is actually preparing to face failure. Because even if they pass in some examinations, it doesn’t mean that they will be better. Another certificate needs to be added… many more photocopies of them… and the burden of carrying them life long. In actuality this route doesn’t prepare them to ‘live’. It kills their innate skills and talents, makes them more insecure in life, and develops inferiority complex in a majority.

A large number of children ‘fail’ in the main stream education. It is a very sad thing that after so many years of schooling, one has to come out as a ‘failure’. In no other human endeavour, such a high rate of ‘failure’ can be found. It is important to see that even if one ‘passes’ in the school exams, it is still considered a failure, if it is not ‘first class pass’. Many times, even this first class means nothing; the child will need ‘distinction’ or ‘more than 90%’ brand.

However it is very important to ‘pass’ in life. It is extremely harmful for the psyche of large section of children and youth to live in such a state of despondence. Children and youth in reality have enormous potential to ‘pass’ in life. But unfortunately, for years, they are forced to lock those potentials and keep going through the mill. Creative endeavours to locate alternate and ‘honourable’ ways of ‘education’ need to be pursued to improve the situation.

2. Exploring Arts and Crafts for rural children:

Strengths of rural children:

The rural children have enormous potential when seen from the life-skills point of view. One fundamental reason is that their lives are very close to nature. They spend a lot of time with plants, soil, stones, animals, sun, moon and stars. The rural realities ensure that from their early childhood they use their hands and feet. As a consequence they are usually good in picking up skills that are ‘useful’. It can be substantiated by the fact that most of the craft traditions are rural based.

Two alternatives:

The academics driven education has under-valued the natural strengths of rural children. It forced children, one and all, into pursuing a universal model. Following two alternatives can be pursued to improve the situation:

 Improving the mainstream education system. Making it an integrated education incorporating academics, arts and crafts giving equal scope for academically oriented and arts & crafts oriented children to get educated.  Exploring the possibilities of pursuing arts and crafts at least after the high school.

The first one will take a long time. The Timbaktu schools are trying the first model for more than a decade. This effort will continue for a long time to come. Now the collective is looking at the second alternative. 3. Setting up an Arts & Crafts Centre: The Timbaktu Collective proposes to set up an Arts & Crafts Centre. The purpose of starting an Arts & Crafts Centre is not merely as a way of providing livelihood opportunities for youth on sympathetic grounds. Firstly, it is for questioning the present trends in the mainstream education. Secondly, it is to create learning opportunities for those children who have aptitude and skills that need to be sharpened. Thirdly and most importantly, it is to establish that ‘honourable’ ways of living do not necessarily imply blindly following the mainstream academics. It is to show that Arts and crafts based living is no way inferior to the other.

The objectives of the Arts & Crafts Centre:

1. To provide skill trainings to youth in different arts & crafts, e.g., painting, carpentry, bamboo work, pottery, tailoring, etc. 2. to encourage youth to start own enterprises based on rural resources and skills, 3. to enable them to carve out comfortable and confident livelihoods through Arts and Crafts, 4. to instill confidence in children that they will have a bright future if they develop their own talents and skills instead of blindly following the ‘standard study-study- study route.’

The target group:

Students from rural areas who have completed (‘pass’ or ‘fail’) SSC (or those who are in the age group of 15-19) will be the target group. To start with it will comprise of 20 youth.

Doing is learning:

The focus is on ‘learning by doing’. The students will be encouraged to learn things as they work. This will be done by providing them the necessary materials, courseware, supervisory input, expert advices and insights into packaging and marketing, all in a practical manner by creating live opportunities for learning. The students will gain a lot of hands-on experience in this process. Since the learning is linked to the production process, the students will develop necessary discipline and adequate insights to start their own individual/cooperative enterprises subsequently.

The course duration shall be one year. After that they will be allowed to be part of this very process for another one year. After which they can start their own ventures, for which the Arts and Crafts centre will provide the marketing assistance.

Basic Details: The Arts and Crafts Centre requires focusing its energies on the creation of facilities during the first one year. So only three courses will be offered in the beginning: 1. Fabric works 2. Toy making 3. Bamboo works

By implication, these courses shall be mutually overlapping at times. Ideas for subsequent years include traditional crafts like pottery, carpentry, painting to modern ones like solar works, electronic ware, computer based works, etc. Other details like the exact content of the courses, the intricacies of management of the centre are being worked out. Some basic details are given here:

Manpower requirement:

 2 volunteers with prior experience  2 staff members for support  3 resource persons  1 coordinator

Space:

The centre will run in a temporary shade beside the Children’s Resource Centre in Chennekothapalli. From the second year onwards, permanent space and infrastructure will be added.

Budget for the first year:

Budget Item Details Total Per Total Per Month Rs. Year Rs. Volunteers Rs. 2000 p.m per persons for 2 volunteers 4000 48000 Staff members for support Rs. 3000 p.m per person for 2 staff 6000 72000 Resource Persons Rs. 3000 p.m per person for 3 teachers 9000 108000 Co-ordinator Rs. 7000 p.m 7000 84000 Fellowships Rs. 500 p.m per student for 20 students 10000 120000 Materials Rs.200 p.m. per student for 20 4000 48000 Travel Rs.1000 p.m. for market enquiries and purchases 1000 12,000 Phone, electricity 250 3,000 Temporary shade 20,000 Furniture Work tables, stools, cup boards 10,000 Tools scissors, chisels, hammers, power tools etc. 10,000 Total 535000