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A career as a headmaster at 16!

Ideas and Articles by David Robinson

17^rd July 2008

Category: Education / Careers / Teaching / India

Level: Intermediate / Upper intermediate

This lesson is the copyright of www.newsflashenglish.com

A career as a headmaster at 16!

When the school bell rings at four most students are off home. For one particular student however it is time to start another new school day as headmaster of another school. This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the youngest headmaster in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small village near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, teaching them the knowledge he has learnt at his fee-paying school during the day. It all began when children in his village of jute farmers plagued him with questions about what he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents could not afford. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district education officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School that now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who are all desperate to learn.

The school began in the open air. Today it is housed in two bamboo brick and tile huts, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without much effort," Babur said adding, "There were lots of children who had dropped out or had never been to school. They were always inquisitive about the school and I repeated everything for them. There were eight pupils back then and most of them were my friends. Gradually the standard of teaching developed and more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received more students. My friends helped me out in teaching." Babur's hours would make many European teachers wince. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household chores, takes a bus to school in a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses on his own education. He then races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school curriculum - English, Bengali language, history and maths until 8pm, supervising his colleagues, mainly fellow students ages 16 to 19 years old.

Surprisingly the schedule doesn't make him weary. "I never feel tired. In fact the teaching gives me more strength." His dream of official status moved a step closer recently when he was honoured for slashing illiteracy rates in his district by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, West Bengal's chief minister, at a ceremony in Calcutta. His parents were bursting with pride. His father said that he had been shocked when he first discovered his son was teaching. "It was a unique moment and I couldn't believe it! I was worried the teaching might affect his studies so I visited his school. Seeing his determination and dedication cleared my doubts," he said. In fact, Babur has succeeded in attracting pupils to school where the West Bengal authorities, the central government and the international aid agencies had failed. Teachers work unpaid at Anand Shikshya Niketan. Children wear their own clothes and the desks and books are financed through donations. Babur believes he has found his vocation in life. He wants to qualify as a teacher so that he can develop his own school and educate more poor children. His plan is to enrol for an open university degree so he will be able to do so without deserting his students.

START

1. YOUR CAREER AT 16: What did you want to do as a career when you were 16? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

2. WEST BENGAL: Where exactly is West Bengal? What do you know about it? What is its main city? What country is close by? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

3. DICTATION: The teacher will read some of the article slowly and clearly. Students will write down what they hear. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again. Self correct your work from page 2 - filling in spaces and correcting mistakes. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors.Advise the teacher of your total number of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work

4. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

5. VOCABULARY: Students look through the article. Underline/highlight any vocabulary you do not know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through & explain any words or phrases you do not understand.

6. CAREER CHOICE: Look at the ten different careers below. Add two of your own. Which is/are the most interesting to you? Why? Which careers wouldn't you like to do. Why? Discuss with your partner.

1 DJ	7 Teacher
2 Engineer	8 Banker
3 Miner	9 Shop worker
4 I.T. programmer	10 Politician
5 Soldier	11 Factory worker
6 Your choice	12 Your choice

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

7. HEADMASTER >With your partner on the board write as many words to do with 'Headmaster' as you can. One-two minutes. Compare with other teams. Using your words compile a short dialogue together.

8. SENTENCES: Choose six/nine of the words from no 7. Write two/three sentences using two/three words in each. Underline your chosen words. The teacher will if necessary correct your work. Students might be asked to read their sentences aloud.

9. QUICK DEBATE: Students A think helping others at a young age is a good thing in life. Explain why. Students B have no time for helping others. They are selfish and prefer to sit in front of a pc playing computer games all day.

10. ARTICLE QUIZ: With your partner or in small groups: (1 point for each correct answer. Lose ½ point if you look at the article for help!)

Student A

Name the student who is the headmaster.
How much a year does it cost for him to go to school?
How many students are in most classes?
How old are his fellow teaching colleagues?
Why is an Open University degree more appealing?
Name the village in the article.
What was he honoured for at a ceremony in Calcutta recently?
What time does our student get up?

Student B

What subjects are in the school curriculum?
What happened when word spread?
How many pupils are there now?
What type of farmers are there in his village?
What happens at 4pm?
What makes up a typical day for our student?
What type of building is the school in?
How are desks and books financed?

11. BEING A HEADMASTER: You are the new headmaster at a local school of your choice. Think of 10 things a headmaster might have to do. Write them below. Use these words to prepare a short story to tell your partner about "A day being a headmaster."

1	6
2	7
3	8
4	9
5	10

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

12. A TYPICAL DAY AT SCHOOL: Think of a typical day when you were at school. (Choose a class year) What lessons did you have? What time did you get up? What time did you get the bus? What did you do after school? What did you do in the evening? Etc... Describe your school day to your partner.

13. COMPARISON: Look at the article again. Compare it with your school and education. How does it differ? How does it compare? List your findings below. Discuss with your partner.

Differences	Similarities
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4
5	5

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

14. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Change partner(s) and talk about the sentences you made.

The school bell _________________________________________________

The headmaster ________________________________________________

The students ___________________________________________________

The school _____________________________________________________

Teaching English ________________________________________________

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: After reading the article guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F): If false, why?

a.	Babur Ali has been running his own school since the age of 13	T / F
b.	His parents pay his school fees of 1000-rupees-a-year	T / F
c.	550 pupils attend the Anand Shikshya Niketan School	T / F
d.	There are often 70 pupils in every class	T / F
e.	Babur gets up at 5am, makes a cup of tea then does the household chores	T / F
f.	European teachers would probably wince at his hours	T / F
g.	English, Bengali, geography and maths are taught in the school	T / F
h.	West Bengali authorities are impressed with Babur?	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	Determination	Cabin
b.	Particular	Buzzer
c.	Bell	Frequent
d.	Hut	Piecemeal
e.	Effort	Curious
f.	Gradually	Alternate
g.	Often	Specific
h.	Desperate	Strenuous
i.	Rotate	Urgent
j.	inquisitive	Resolve

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article:

a.	When the school bell rings at four	brick and tile huts
b.	For one particular student however it is	the youngest headmaster in the world
c.	This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably	without much effort
d.	Since the age of 11, Babur has	began in the open air
e.	It all began	dropped out or had never been to school
f.	The school	between indoor and outdoor lessons...
g.	Today it is housed in two bamboo	time to start another school day...
h.	...children are rotated	been running his own school in Bhabta
i.	It started	most students are off home
j.	There were lots of children who had	when children in his village of jute farmers

GAP FILL: READING

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

When the school bell rings at four most _______ are off home. For one particular student however it is time to start another new school day as Headmaster of another ______. This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the youngest headmaster in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small village near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, ________ them the knowledge he has learnt at his fee-paying school during the day. It all began when ________ in his village of jute farmers plagued him with questions about what he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents could not ______. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district _________ officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School that now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who are all _________ to learn.		children teaching afford school desperate education students
The school began in the open air. Today it is housed in two bamboo brick and tile huts, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without much effort," Babur said adding, "There were lots of children who had dropped out or had never been to school. They were always ___________ about the school and I repeated everything for them. There were eight pupils back then and most of them were my friends. _________ the standard of teaching developed and more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received more students. My friends helped me out in teaching." Babur's hours would make many European teachers _____. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household ______, takes a bus to school in a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses on his own education. He then races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school __________ - English, Bengali ________, history and maths until 8pm, supervising his __________, mainly ______ students ages 16 to 19 years old.		gradually chores colleagues wince language curriculum fellow inquisitive

GAP FILL: LISTENING:

Listen and fill in the spaces.

A career as a headmaster at 16!
When the ____________________ four most students are off home. For one particular student however ___________________ another new school day as Headmaster of another school. This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the ___________________ in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small village near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, teaching them the knowledge he has learnt at his fee-paying school during the day. It all began when children _________________ jute farmers plagued him with questions about what he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents could not afford. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district education officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School that now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who ____________________ learn.

The school began in the open air. Today it is housed in two bamboo ___________________, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without much effort," Babur said adding, "There were ____________________ had dropped out or had never been to school. They were always inquisitive about the school and I repeated everything for them. There were eight pupils back ________________ them were my friends. Gradually the standard of teaching developed and more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received more students. My friends _________________ teaching." Babur's hours would make many European teachers wince. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household chores, takes a bus to school in a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses ____________________. He then races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school curriculum - English, Bengali language, history and maths until 8pm, supervising his colleagues, ______________________ ages 16 to 19 years old.

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS(Do not show these to student B)

Did the headline make you want to read the article?
What do you do at 4pm?
What sort of school did you go to?
What were the school buildings like?
What were your school dinners like?
What was in your school curriculum? (choose a year)
Did you always do your homework?
What open-air lessons did you have?
How old were you when you left school?
How far did you have to travel to school?
What was your first job?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS(Do not show these to student B)

What do you think about what you read?
Would you like to be a headmaster? Why? / Why not?
Would you like to be a teacher? Why / Why not?
What is your vocation in life?
What has been your most interesting job/career?
What was the worst job you ever did?
Have you ever donated anything to charity?
Were you sent to a fee-paying school?
What time do you get up?
What was your headmaster like?
Did you like this discussion?

SPEAKING

ROLE PLAY: THE BEACH:

In pairs or small groups: Together find out what you can about some previous members of the British monarchy i.e. other Kings and Queens. (You may need to use the internet to help you)

Subjects	Findings
1) English
2) Other language(s)
3) Sciences
4) Maths
5) Sport
6) Geography / History
7) Other

The teacher will choose some pairs to discuss their findings in front of the class.

LANGUAGE:

CORRECT WORD:
Choose the correct words from a-d below and write them in the article.

When the school bell (1)__ at four most students are off home. For one particular student (2)__ it is time to start another new school day as Headmaster of another school. This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the youngest headmaster in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small (3)__ near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, teaching (4)__ the knowledge he has learnt at his fee-paying (5)__ during the day. It all began when children in his village of (6)__ farmers plagued him with questions about what he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents could not afford. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district education officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School that now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who are all desperate to learn. The school began in the open air. Today it is housed in two bamboo brick and tile huts, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without much effort," Babur said adding, "There were lots of children who had dropped out or had never been to school. They were always inquisitive about the school and I repeated (7)__ for them. There were eight pupils back then and most of them were my friends. Gradually the standard of teaching developed and more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received more students. My friends helped me out in teaching." Babur's hours would make many European teachers (8)__. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household (9)__, takes a bus to school in a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses on his own education. He (10)__ races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school curriculum - English, Bengali language, history and maths until 8pm, (11)__ his colleagues, (12)__ fellow students ages 16 to 19 years old.

1.	(a)	ring	(b)	rings	(c)	rang	(d)	ringed
2.	(a)	nevertheless	(b)	however	(c)	as	(d)	but
3.	(a)	town	(b)	city	(c)	village	(d)	hamlet
4.	(a)	through	(b)	then	(c)	those	(d)	them
5.	(a)	university	(b)	college	(c)	factory	(d)	school
6.	(a)	jute	(b)	wheat	(c)	barley	(d)	palm oil
7.	(a)	everyday	(b)	everybody	(c)	everyone	(d)	everything
8.	(a)	wince	(b)	mince	(c)	since	(d)	wincing
9.	(a)	chore	(b)	choose	(c)	chores	(d)	chorus
10.	(a)	those	(b)	then	(c)	their	(d)	them
11.	(a)	supervises	(b)	supervise	(c)	supervising	(d)	supervised
12.	(a)	many	(b)	main	(c)	mainly	(d)	manly

GRAMMAR 1: MIDWAY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A career as a headmaster at 16! (1)__ the school bell rings at four most students are off home. For one particular student (2)__ it is time to start another new school day as headmaster of another school. (3)__ makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the youngest Headmaster in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small village near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, teaching (4)__ the knowledge he has learnt at his fee-paying school during the day. It all began when children in his village of jute farmers plagued him (5)__ questions about (6)__ he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents (7)__ not afford. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district education officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School (8)__ now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who are all desperate to learn.		with them what this however could that when
The school began in the open air. Today it is housed in two bamboo brick and tile huts, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without (1)__ effort," Babur said adding, "(2)__ were lots of children who had dropped out or had never been to school. (3)__ were always inquisitive about the school and I repeated everything for (4)__. There were eight pupils back then and most of them were my friends. Gradually the standard of teaching developed and more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received (5)__ students. My friends helped me out in teaching." Babur's hours (6)__ make (7)__ European teachers wince. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household chores, takes a bus to school in a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses on his own education. He (8)__ races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school curriculum - English, Bengali language, history and maths until 8pm, supervising his colleagues, mainly fellow students ages 16 to 19 years old.		there many then would more they much them

GRAMMAR 2: EASY

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A career as a headmaster at 16! When the school bell rings (1)__ four most students are off home. For one particular student however it is time to start another new school day (2)__ headmaster of another school. This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the youngest Headmaster in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small village near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, teaching them (3)__ knowledge (4)__ has learnt at (5)__ fee-paying school during the day. It all began when children in his village (6)__ jute farmers plagued (7)__ with questions about what he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents could not afford. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district education officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School that now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who are all desperate (8)__ learn.		to his as at of he the him
The school began in the open air. Today (1)__ is housed (2)__ two bamboo brick and tile huts, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without much effort," Babur said adding, "There were lots of children (3)__ had dropped out or had never been to school. They were always inquisitive about (4)__ school and I repeated everything for them. There were eight pupils back then and most of them were my friends. Gradually the standard of teaching developed (5)__ more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received more students. My friends helped me out in teaching." Babur's hours would make many European teachers wince. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household chores, takes (6)__ bus to school (7)__ a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses on his own education. He then races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school curriculum - English, Bengali language, history and maths until 8pm, supervising his colleagues, mainly fellow students ages 16 (8)__ 19 years old.		a in it and in who to the

HOMEWORK

1. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article on "When I was at school" (Minimum 200 words)

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?

WRITING: IN CLASS:

1. FIVE MINUTE ARTICLE: Write an article on "When I was at school" (Minimum 200 words) You have five minutes. Afterwards swap articles with your partner. Read through their article and correct any mistakes. The teacher will select some students to read out their work.

Countdown: Every minute the teacher may say, "You have xx minutes."

PUZZLE: There are 15 words & phrases: 7 across, 8 down.

SPELLING TEST

The teacher will ask the class individually to spell the following words that are in the article:

1 headmaster	11 developed
2 education	12 vocation
3 supervising	13 authorities
4 colleagues	14 succeeded
5 prayers	15 enrol
6 standard	16 dedication
7 everything	17 illiteracy
8 gradually	18 pride
9 chores	19 strength
10 acknowledged	20 determination

ANSWERS: 1

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	Determination	Resolve
b.	Particular	Specific
c.	Bell	Buzzer
d.	Hut	Cabin
e.	Effort	Strenuous
f.	Gradually	Piecemeal
g.	Often	Frequent
h.	Desperate	Urgent
i.	Rotate	Alternate
j.	inquisitive	Curious

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	When the school bell rings at four	most students are off home
b.	For one particular student however it is	time to start another school day...
c.	This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably	the youngest headmaster in the world
d.	Since the age of 11, Babur has	been running his own school in Bhabta
e.	It all began	when children in his village of jute farmers
f.	The school	began in the open air
g.	Today it is housed in two bamboo	brick and tile huts
h.	...children are rotated	between indoor and outdoor lessons...
i.	It started	without much effort
j.	There were lots of children who had	dropped out or had never been to school

ANSWERS: 2

GAP FILL: A career as a headmaster at 16! When the school bell rings at four most students are off home. For one particular student however it is time to start another new school day as headmaster of another school. This makes 16-year-old Babur Ali probably the youngest Headmaster in the world - The Times recently reported. Since the age of 11, Babur has been running his own school in Bhabta, a small village near Murshidabad, West Bengal, India, teaching them the knowledge he has learnt at his fee-paying school during the day. It all began when children in his village of jute farmers plagued him with questions about what he had learnt at the 1000-rupee-a-year (€15) school their parents could not afford. Five years later he is acknowledged by the district education officials as "Headmaster" of the Anand Shikshya Niketan School that now has 10 volunteer teachers and 650 pupils who are all desperate to learn. The school began in the open air. Today it is housed in two bamboo brick and tile huts, where children are rotated between indoor and outdoor lessons, often with 80 to a class! "It started without much effort," Babur said adding, "There were lots of children who had dropped out or had never been to school. They were always inquisitive about the school and I repeated everything for them. There were eight pupils back then and most of them were my friends. Gradually the standard of teaching developed and more and more students came to the school. Word spread to nearby villages and we received more students. My friends helped me out in teaching." Babur's hours would make many European teachers wince. He rises at 5am for morning prayers, does household chores, takes a bus to school in a village 3 miles away then from 10am to 4pm focuses on his own education. He then races back to welcome his students at 5pm where he teaches the state school curriculum - English, Bengali language, history and maths until 8pm, supervising his colleagues, mainly fellow students ages 16 to 19 years old.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - b

2 - b

3 - c

4 - d

5 - d

6 - a

7 - d

8 - a

9 - c

10 - b

11 - c

12 - c

PUZZLE: