An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

 

This poem by Stephen Spender gives a brief description of a school classroom in a slum and the children in the class. Poverty stricken people can't get education without fulfilling their basic needs . So we need to focus on their basic requirements before establishing elementary schools . 

The faces of the children are dull. Their appearance shows that they are unwanted. The children have gloomy faces. Their heads hanging low in sadness due to being poor. They have diseased bodies inherited from their parents and are victims of poverty. At the dim end of the room, sits one child who has bright eyes which seem to dream – of playing outside with squirrels. He is different from the others in the dim, darkroom.
The walls of the classroom are dirty. People have donated different charts and images which have been put upon them. One of them is a picture Of the great playwright Shakespeare. His head is bald and resembles the rising Sun. The next poster is of the Tyrolese valley, full of churches and flowers which symbolizes the beautiful creations of nature. Another one is a map of the World. To these children, the world is not the one shown in these pictures, but it is the one they see out of the classroom window. They are trapped in the slums. Their future is dim and hopeless. They have a dark future as their options in life are limited and are covered with dismay. They are far away from the bright light of knowledge.

Comprehending these pictures is beyond their abilities. They hate everyone and for them, Shakespeare is a wicked man. As no one loves them, they dislike everyone. the desire for love and acceptance forces them to do crimes like stealing. The children are so skinny that their skeleton is visible .This is due to a lack of nutrition. They have worn-looking glasses made of steel which are cheap, heavy, and uncomfortable. Their chances of fulfilling their dreams and moving out have been further reduced by building bigger slums. Until they come out of the slums, they will never know what the world looks like.

The Government system which makes these slums is the cause for these people to live in them. The education system is such that it forces them to live in these slums. They are not given the right to dream beyond these slums. They have been restricted to the slums.

The poet requests the authorities to allow these children to go out of these slums so that the maps on the walls of the classroom become a reality for them. They should be taken to the green fields rather than the dim slums.The sunny, warm sand of the beaches and the bright blue sky will instill a hunger for knowledge in their minds. Then they will absorb all of it. Then these children will become economically empowered. The poem ends with a powerful line – "History is theirs whose language is the sun.”   Those who make history are the ones who shine like the Sun. know that the world is governed by the rich, dictator and the powerful people. But there are people who create their history through their own language, ideas and views. They influence the public through warmth of speech and ideas.