Part 13 of 26 in What I Want to Tell My School Teacher: An Indian Adaptation of Letter to a Teacher← Part 12Part 14 →
This chapter closes What I Want to Tell My School Teacher with proposals for teachers, parents, and students who reject early failure. It focuses on giving more time, purpose, and full-time schooling to children who seem stupid, lazy, or left behind.
- Teachers should not fail students or accept only the pieces that happen to come out well.
- Children do not choose their parents, caste, language, or the quality of their school.
- Teachers can treat students as already sorted or as people who can still learn.
- Parents can refuse early failure, and students can discover that understanding remains possible.
- The words of the children of Barbiana, written in 1967, continue to travel.
Dear Teacher,
The boys of Barbiana closed their letter with concrete proposals. Do not fail students. Give a full-time school to those who seem stupid. Give a purpose to the lazy. They compared the teacher to a skilled turner at a lathe: a good workman is not permitted to deliver only the pieces that happen to come out well. The workman must ensure that the pieces are good.
You are not a machine. You are a person who stands each day in front of other persons who did not choose their parents, their caste, their language, or the quality of the school they were sent to. In the hours you control, you can choose whether to treat them as already sorted or as people who can still learn.
I care. That was their motto. It remains available.
If these chapters reach even a small number of teachers who decide to stay longer with the child at the back, or a small number of parents who refuse the verdict of early failure, or a small number of students who discover that understanding is still possible, then the effort will have been worthwhile.
The children of Barbiana wrote in 1967. Their words continue to travel. May these words travel from one Indian classroom to another until the school that cures the healthy and rejects the sick becomes a memory rather than the daily experience of millions.
With respect and with hope,
The children who still sit in your classroom
— Dr. Aniruddha Malpani
Mumbai, 2026
Frequently asked questions
What should teachers do for students who seem stupid or lazy?
They should give a full-time school to students who seem stupid and give a purpose to those who seem lazy.
Why does the chapter compare a teacher to a skilled turner?
A good workman does not deliver only the pieces that happen to come out well. The workman must ensure that the pieces are good.
What can parents do about early failure?
Parents can refuse the verdict of early failure and continue to believe that children can learn.
What is the motto repeated at the end of the chapter?
The motto is: I care.