Does LEAD School’s slow learning stand a chance?

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Editor's note: Language helps you make sense of the world.  But for millions of children in India’s villages and towns who can’t read the above sentence, it can be a massive obstacle. And, for the few who are able to, it takes them a while to process the beauty of it, to appreciate its simple, yet deep meaning. Take, for instance, Ataipur Jadid, a village in Kaimganj tehsil of Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad district, about 220km northwest of capital Lucknow. The literacy rate is an abysmal 52%. Public schools are dysfunctional and the nearest English medium school is about 90 minutes by road. There is hardly any work other than agriculture.  So, when not helping in the field, children can be seen climbing mango trees or playing by the tubewell. There isn’t much help for someone who wants to break this cycle. Yet Z (let’s call him that as he requested that his name not be revealed) tried. He knew education was his ticket out of the village to a better life. He wanted to become an engineer and worked hard with the …