Children of the Brick Lanes: Follow-up Survey Questions

After a brief interlude touring the back waters and beaches of Kerala, it's back to the drawing board with the Brick Lanes project. Tomorrow, I am going out to the brick sites to interview some of the migrant families and observe four of the pilot schools in action. We need to fill in some gaps in the survey by asking the workers more questions about how things are going, now that there are four pilot schools. We also want to observe students and teachers and ask them how things are going regarding attendance, instruction, participation, and any other issues encountered. Here is a list questions that I have formulated for tomorrow and would love your feedback as well as any additional questions YOU might ask:

To Migrant Worker Parents: (I am going to ask variations of these questions to students as well)

1. How many of you are sending your kids to one of the pilot schools every day?

2. If you are sending your kids to a pilot school, does the timing mesh well with your work schedule?

3. List any problems you are having with getting kids to school on time or getting them there at all.

4. List any barriers that work poses to getting your kids to school or keeping them in school. For example, are there any household tasks or work tasks keeping your kids from going to school?

5. List any health concerns that may prevent your child from going to school or participating in class. For example, is your child suffering from any chronic health conditions? Is your child getting enough to eat? Does he/she complain of feeling hungry or tired?

6. What benefits have you experienced since you've started sending kids to the pilot school? For example, do your kids like going to school? Are your kids learning new things?

7. List any problems your kids are having in school. For example: difficulty keeping up with the pace of the class, difficulty paying attention, difficulty socializing with other students, difficulty completing homework, difficulty reading, writing, or speaking in the language?

8. How is school going for your older children? Is it difficult to balance work and school? How can we improve the schedule so that older children can attend school?

9. Do you think that it's more valuable for a female to go to school or a male? Or do you think that it's equally valuable for both to go?

10. Are you able to communicate with your kids' teacher?

11. Do you and your children feel safe when walking to the pilot school?

12. How are the school facilities in your opinion? Any complaints?

13. Are there toilets available at school for female students to use?

14. Do you think vocational training would be beneficial for your older children?

 
To Teachers:

1. What positive things are you experiencing in teaching children from the brick lanes?

2. What negative things are you experiencing? Any barriers pertaining to language, literacy, health, attendance, attention, sleep-deprivation, hunger, social tension, etc?

3. Are the facilities adequate for successful instruction? Do you have enough materials, books, toilets, etc?

4. Have you targeted any special needs children?

5. Are you able to communicate with parents?

6. What age groups attend your classes on average? List.

7. Name the greatest barrier you see to successfully educating these children.


Thanks for taking the time to read and participate in this project. I will post pictures and results this weekend after our visit to the brick lanes. Cheers!