FIROZABAD: At about 10.30am on a hot summer day, siksha mitra Neelam Rathore calls out to a group of children aged between six to 12 playing on a government primary school ground. The kids ignore her. She hollers again, this time saying the mid-day meal is ready.
That gets the attention of her students. After all, that's what most of the kids are there for -- food. Rathore is the sole 'para' teacher in the campus. She is not there to teach and the pupils are not there to learn. This is the story in dozens of such schools in Firozabad district and hundreds across UP.
