A Woman who Persisted against all Odds to Teach

ICONIC WOMEN OF NORTHEAST

Today Rajhans Shishu Vidyalaya has about 550 students and 21 teachers. Incidentally the school has completed 48 years on 1st June. However, some of the cardinal challenges of the past still remain. Ironically despite having rendered yeoman service to the society, it has still not been recognised. 

A lady with graceful manners and a gentle disposition, Lonie Chaliha (now a senior citizen) is actually the quintessential school teacher. The kinds you naturally associate with convent and finishing schools. Born in a well known family of Assam, Lonie Chaliha was raised in Shillong that was the erstwhile state capital (of Assam). She did her schooling in Loreto Convent and says that even today the staunch and altruistic ideals and values instilled by the missionary nuns translates to guidance and succor for her in difficult times.

Right after completing her graduation in 1973, Lonie relocated to Guwahati in 1974 as the capital of Assam had shifted to Dispur. Teaching was her natural choice in terms of occupation and she commenced almost immediately. The first school that she taught in (in the year 1974) was located in the Capital Complex and had been set up by a lady named Madhabi Das, who was the wife of the then Chief Secretary, Dharmendra Das. The school was essentially a kindergarten school and it catered to the children of the bureaucrats, ministers and grade 4 employees. However, her stint in this school was brief and spanned only three months (March to June).

On 1st June, Lonie shifted to Rajhans Shishu Vidyalaya, an English medium government (free) school that was started in the same complex within a small residential quarter. This school was the brainwave of Anil Chaudhury, Secretary Education, Government of Assam. Lonie Chaliha was the founder teacher of this school that had made a humble beginning with about 60 students. At the time of its inception it was a model pre-primary cum Montessori school. The staff then consisted of two graduate teachers including the headmistress and three Grade 4 employees drawing government salaries under the annual Ad-hoc recurring grant, from the treasury through the Deputy Inspector of Schools.

"The challenges were many. Even for several years after the inception, the teaching staff, including myself, could be counted within the fingers of one hand and we always had very limited support staff at our disposal. Needless to say this was grossly disproportionate to the number of students and classrooms. Hence although we were constantly shuffling between classrooms, many classrooms had to be left (intermittently) without teachers. Nevertheless, we used to try our best to keep the students engaged in our absence by assigning exercises," Lonie remembers with nostalgia.

She goes on to add that there were bigger challenges. "Nearly everyone from the initial student batches were first generation learners and hence convincing their parents to send their wards to school on a consistent basis was also not a mean feat. Moreover, as many of these children came from economically marginalized backgrounds, securing books and other learning paraphernalia became our conscious responsibility. I along with my few colleagues had to relentlessly strive to secure 'the best possible' in this space as we hardly had any contingency funds and salaries too were very irregular. This was not all. There were frequent requests from the complex authorities to vacate the premises and shift the school elsewhere. These requests were largely made citing security reasons," the lady recounts.

So how were these very pressing challenges mitigated? "Things got a little better from the 1990s when the privilege of free admission became strictly applicable only to the economically disadvantaged children. Simultaneously, for students coming from economically stronger backgrounds the concept of a onetime donation during admission was introduced. This money was utilized as a contingency fund. Today Rajhans Shishu Vidyalaya, functions from a four storied government building in a housing colony in Rukmininagar. This is built on a government owned plot of land. This has been a stable and permanent premise for the school since May 2004. We are grateful to the former Chief Minister of Assam, Late Tarun Gogoi who assisted us in securing this address," shares Lonie.

At this stage of her narration, Lonie observes that although the financial and logistical challenges were numerous she and her colleagues strived to secure a holistic education replete with extracurricular activities, small functions and even excursions. "And I must express gratitude here to all our friends and well-wishers who made this possible by pitching in wherever and whenever required. Be it refreshments for school functions or a free bus (organised by Network Travels) for an excursion to Shivsagar we got a lot of assistance," she shares.

Holistic education was always an overriding prerogative of the school given its pronounced Montessori bearings. The Founder Principal, Gopa Sen, was a Montessorian. After the lady relocated to Kolkata in 1998, Loni took over her charge and remained at the academic helm till her retirement in 2013. Moreover, RK Gautam who has been associated with Rajhans Shishu Vidyalaya in the capacity of President is the Secretary of the Assam Branch of the Association of Montessorians (Montessori Association Internationale).

"The school has had some little but significant breakthroughs in its journey that has laid the foundation on which it stands today. When we started in 1974 we were just two teachers. However, in 1977 an additional teacher was employed and then again in 1987 a post for another teacher was sanctioned. In this year some additional support staff was also sanctioned. Till 1998 education was imparted only until class 4. But from that year onwards class 5 and high school was introduced," says Lonie.

Today Rajhans Shishu Vidyalaya has about 550 students and 21 teachers. There is a Managing Committee that has remained since the inception in 1974. Incidentally the school has completed 48 years on 1st June.

However, some of the cardinal challenges of the past still remain. Ironically despite having rendered yeoman service to the society it has still not been recognised. "It will be very heartening if the government starts looking into its overall betterment in terms of amenities and infrastructure. Granting the provincial status will translate to much needed benefits for the staff too. After all there are hardly any government schools in the city that deliver quality education in English," states a concerned Lonie.

"But the silver linings are many and profound. Many of our students today are successfully doing jobs and educating their children (most of them in this very school). "This reiterates their love and confidence in our teaching and their Alma Matter despite its challenges and shortcomings. And this for me is a priceless feeling," concludes Lonie.

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