At Government Upper Primary School, Vadakkumkara, Thrissur district, a second-term examination question in Malayalam gave a model of ‘Samyuktha diary’ that the students of Class I and II in State schools write at home (with parents stepping in using a different-coloured pen if required) and wanted them to write in a similar fashion about one experience from the day before. Since the examinations were on, many students referenced those. One, though, wrote about how sad he became when he touched his pregnant mother’s belly and failed to sense any movement of his unborn sibling, but the foetus moved when his mother did the same. The six-year-old was able to express himself independently in response to the question, without any prompting from the teacher or regurgitating what had been taught in class.
Justeena Jose, teacher of the Class I student, mentions another girl in her class whose Samyuktha diary in the second term was near flawless.
