Overall Evaluation of Schools

Arsenahalli

Overall Arsenahalli struck us as a school that was having a lot of success with their rainwater harvesting system and with water conservation engagement in general. What appeared to benefit this school was not only the smaller size of its student body, but the enthusiasm and flexible hierarchy with which the headmaster and teacher alike carried themselves. Unlike some other schools we had documented, Arsenahalli’s headmaster didn’t constantly dominate the conversation and answer questions of behalf of others. Mr. Narayanappa had spent 2 years at Arsenahalli, but brought with him over 9 years of experience. He appeared to have a healthy relationship with both the teachers and student body. 

This dynamic displayed itself in several ways, starting with how excited the teachers and headmaster were to speak with us. Next was the aptitude of the students who showed us both the physical system and what they were learning about water in their textbooks. The school had enacted a committee of students to be in charge of the rainwater system, however the size of the school dictated that the entire 7th grade be members of that committee rather than only a select few. Despite this, there appeared to be a select few students who were primarily in charge of doing roof cleaning and pipe nozzle openings. Other schools had students in charge of these tasks, but what was unique about Arsenahalli, is that the students were also in charge of operating a fluoride testing kit that appeared to be rather complicated. As college aged adults, we found ourselves listening like pupils to 12 year olds explain these testing kits. These same 7th graders were also in charge of monitoring the quality of pipes and any leakages that might arise within the system. The students were directed to either patch up the leak, or collect leaking water in a bucket until the pipe could be fixed and use said water for plants. On top of physical duties, the students were not only happy to show us the material from their textbooks that covered water, they were ecstatic. We were presented with water curriculum from four different grades, ranging from simple picture books in the first grade to extensive groundwater descriptions and overall water cycle diagrams in the seventh grade. Additionally, we were told that there would be competitions held at the school surrounding water conservation that got students hands on experience and knowledge in a fun way. Overall the faculty felt that the best way to teach students about water was to clean and physically experience aspects of the rainwater system.  

The reason these details about the students caught our eyes is because the students are the lifeblood of the rainwater system at the end of the day. Their energy appeared to drive the teachers and shaped the overarching culture of the school. What is important about the strength of the school’s culture, and widespread involvement by teachers and headmasters is that it makes the school and the rainwater system more resilient to changes in leadership. If the headmaster were to leave in theory, then it seemed that at least one or two teachers knew enough about the system and how to make it work that there would still be good accountability. Obviously this is subjective but compared to other schools we documented Arsenahallli had the highest number faculty engaged and understanding. 

In terms of physical aspects of the system, most components appeared to be in good condition and well maintained. None of the pipes were damaged, and the filters upon mild inspection looked to be clean and working. The irrigation system that draws pumped water from the sump also was shown to us and worked well. There was a primitive greywater collection system leading from the kitchen to the garden as well that was being used while we were there. The students all played a role in managing this garden and it helped to teach them how water could be recycled and used to grow food. This was a fun way for kids to learn more about water and was spoken about highly by the headmaster.

It was reported by the school that drinking water came from the tap and was run through an RO filter that supplied enough water for the entire school. On the few occasions that the tap fails, tanker water is purchased at 350 rupees/tanker. The headmaster told us that in terms of water infrastructure, there was not much needed improvement but that other things like new play equipment, books, and school bags that could be improved.

In conclusion, we felt Arsenahalli was doing a great job managing their school and in terms of accountability and championing of the RWH system, they were the best we have seen. It’s unclear as to whether that’s in part due to the small size of the school and amount of space they have, or due to more the people running the school. Our best inference is that the widespread leadership among faculty and culture surrounding education were at the root of this school’s success. 

Rajiv Nagar

One of the most noticeable aspects of both visits to Rajiv Nagar was the mentality and spirit of the headmaster Mr. Choori. Mr. Choori brings over 38 years of teaching experience to the table, 10 of which are as a headmaster. This is his second year as headmaster at Rajiv Nagar. On top of experience, Mr. Choori also brought a very genuine desire to see this school succeed that was apparent throughout all our interactions with him. Inside the office of the headmaster, there were several posters from biome outlining RWH as well as names of all the students and the different committees that they were a part of. Mr. Choori also made it his duty to reach out to other NGO’s for help with things. The NGO Reaching Hand built the school new toilets and another NGO was supplying free drinking water to the school.  

Rajiv Nagar, similar to Arsenahalli, benefits from the smaller size of its student body. This close knit school seemed to all be on the same page when it came to the rainwater system. Mr. Choori, who seemed to have a keen understanding of rainwater harvesting, made it his duty to transfer knowledge to both teachers and the student body. Instances of engagement by the headmaster came from things like locking up the washrooms when the sump level got to low. This was used as a tool to teach the students the consequences of wasting water. When we asked about things he wanted to improve with the system, he told us the RWH is fine and that what the school really needed was smart boards and smart classrooms. This indicated to us that the school had great accountability and a strong sense of what it needed to succeed. Another requested improvement by the school was for more classroom space. 

Student involvement with the RWH system was great as well. Mr. Choori started a committee of students to care for the RWH system because he wanted somebody other than the teachers to be able to maintain the system. These students are all 7th graders and are handpicked by the headmaster based on merit. Knowledge from the 7th graders is passed down orally to the 6th graders. The tasks that this committee carries out are the basic needs of the system. The male members will climb on the roof and sweep away dirt with brooms before a rain event. The female members will open up overflow pipes to flush the system of dirt and debri before diverting water to the filter and sump. The male members of this rainwater committee seemed to dominate in both how much they knew and how much they did for the system. When asked, they denied any girls were on the committee, but we later found out from a teacher that girls are indeed allowed to help. One student’s father, after being inspired by the RWH system at Rajiv Nagar, actually implemented a system at his home. Other students stated that they collected rain in buckets and would use it to wash clothes. This was phenomenal to hear and should be a goal of any successful system; to transfer knowledge to students home lives. Water conservation was also well established within day to day life and the curriculum. On top of locking washrooms there were also daily meeting run by the headmaster that would touch on things like water and other topics. 

The physical aspects of the system all seemed clean and well maintained. The roofs looked fairly clean for it not being the rainy season. Filters and pipes all were in good condition and recently cleaned and maintained. One complaint that the school had was with regards to their 

RO filter. The filter was too slow and inefficient to supply enough drinking water to the whole school so tanker water was purchased instead. This wasn’t an urgent issue however because as previously mentioned, drinking water was free from an NGO. The cleanliness of the bathrooms was stellar and was another indicator that the sense of pride and accountability at Rajiv Nagar was high. One other thing that Rajiv Nagar had that appears to be an indicator of good water accountability, is a garden that is watered by greywater. Rajiv uses both hand washing water and kitchen water to water their garden.

In conclusion, there were remarkable similarities between the successes at Rajiv Nagar, and those witnessed at Arsenahalli. Both schools appear to benefit from a small and close knit community. One thing that Arsenahalli did better than Rajiv Nagar was spread the leadership and knowledge of their system over more than just the headmaster. We felt that because the headmaster at Rajiv appeared to be running the show himself, the school would be less resilient to change in leadership or administration. It was as if the organization and culture of the school was primarily driven by the headmaster. This could be mitigated if the teachers took on larger roles within the process or if permanent information was put up to describe the RWH details of success. 

Urdu Schools

It should be mentioned first and foremost that there was significantly more of a language barrier at the Urdu school’s than was present at Arsenahalli or Rajiv. Urdu was the primary language that was taught and used at the school so our translator, fluent in Kannada, was of much less use when communicating with students and headmasters. That being said, we still felt we learned a lot about the state of each school’s RWH system.

Urdu Primary:

One of the biggest things that we noticed about Urdu primary was that the headmaster, Ms. Zakira, wanted to have the final say no matter who we asked questions to. This could have been for a multitude of reasons, but is rather indicative of the culture. One possibility is that Zakira wanted her school to look as good as possible and as a result wanted to answer all the questions herself rather than the students or faculty. This may have led to us not receiving completely transparent information about the school but we still did our best at gaining insight. 

To begin with, Zakira was very experienced at Urdu Primary and it was her fourth year as the headmaster. Urdu primary was also the largest school we had seen thus far. With 250 students the campus was significantly more crowded and chaotic than those of Rajiv or Arsenahalli. This gave us the sense that it was harder to get the entire school on the same page about the rainwater system and made managing the system that much more difficult. 

In terms of physical aspects of the RWH system, things looked good. The roof tops looked as clean as any school and there was even ample space to expand the catchment. One of Zakira’s complaints was that, due to summer time food programs, the water demand at Urdu was very high. This meant to us that more storage space and catchment may be very beneficial to the school. There was a complaint from the cooks about the rainwater filtration system. Due to its size, the filter that was used in the kitchen was very susceptible to getting clogged with leaves and debri meaning it needed to be cleaned nearly every time it rained, and multiple times for larger events. This wasn’t a critical problem but could be considered as a factor that affects a schools relationship with their RWH system and when possible larger more robust filters should be used. 

Student engagement with the rainwater system at Urdu primary existed but it wasn’t nearly as strong as it was at Rajiv Nagar and Arsenahalli. When the rainwater committee was brought out to talk to us, Zakira stood behind them and told them exactly what to tell us. Even with the headmaster in their ear they couldn’t articulate much knowledge about the system or water conservation to us. Again, this was in part due to the language barrier but also it appeared the school didn’t have as strong of engagement between their students and water. What was encouraging was that it did seem like there was at least an attempt to engage the student body, it’s just questionable as to how effective it was. One thing that we were told that was really encouraging was that since the RWH system has been installed, the 6th 7th and 8th graders had a lot more exposure to water conservation/use and the system was used as a teaching tool. On thing that Urdu primary did not have was any garden. When we inquired as to why that might be Zakira told us there simply isn’t enough space on the limited campus to have plants without taking away space for the kids to play. This was unfortunate considering the gardens we had seen were a great way to engage kids on top of the RWH system. 

Overall, it was hard to determine for sure what Urdu primary’s relationship with their system was. We feel that compared to the other schools we have looked at, there was not as robust of a connection between the students at Urdu primary, and the RWH system itself. Again, this was hard to be certain about, but from what our translator Anna told us, the people we talked to could tell us much less about the system and activities compared to other schools. That’s not to take away from how much Zakira knew and cared. Zakira is very passionate and was very engaging with us about everything we asked. Our best guess was that the size of the school presented a large challenge at getting the faculty and student body cohesive and on the same page. Compared to smaller schools there was just more chaotic and crowded spaces. That alone made it difficult to get a comprehensive read on what was going on. 

Urdu High:

The headmaster, Mr. Thippesevatry, that we spoke with at Urdu high proved to be the most difficult to obtain information from. To begin with, although he brought with him 7 years of experience he hadn’t been the headmaster at Urdu for very long. Although the exact number wasn’t completely clear we are guessing he hadn’t been there much more than a year. When we asked questions about the system Mr. Thippesevatry appeared not to be very confident with his answers, again in part due to the language barrier. That being said, there were several indicators that his engagement was lacking compared to almost all other headmasters. He mentioned that there was a tree in the way when the system was originally installed that caused him a headache but we didn’t receive many details as to why. Additionally, there was no committee of students to help with the RWH system. Mr. Thippesevatry indicated that he would be interested in starting one for the next monsoon season but not much was said other than that. After not long we were directed to talk with a science teacher that we continued our line of questioning with. 

The teacher that we spoke to, Ms. Fathima, said that it was hard to fit water conservation in the curriculum for 8th and 9th graders due to how much subject matter was required to teach. This indicated to us that the school didn’t make water conservation, or their RWH system a huge priority within the culture of the school. That being said, the roof and piping systems all looked to be well maintained and working. There were virtually no complaints from the high school other than the cooks having trouble with the filter in their kitchen. 

The students we spoke with at Urdu high however, were very enthusiastic about the RWH system and could tell us all about how it worked. Although they didn’t have many personal tasks with regards to the system, they still understood it pretty well. We didn’t get to spend as much time with these students as we would have liked, but they said that water was a part of their curriculum. 

Urdu high appeared to experience the crowded and chaotic nature of the campus as well, despite there not being as many high schoolers. In terms of how this school compared with the others, we felt it struggled the most with engagement and general cohesiveness of the school culture. What Urdu high lacked the most was a faculty member to champion the system. If a teacher or the headmaster enacted some strong student engagement with the system, it could be very beneficial for both the high school and primary school. The high school students could even teach the primary school students all that they know and almost mentor them into understanding and maintaining the system. This could ideally lead to more knowledge for students and the school really capitalizing on what the RWH system has to offer. 

- UW GCIL Interns