Rural urban migration mystery

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Mervin Maxwell
5 years ago
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Will Sunil get to spend his 20 th birthday with his family? There was a large earthquake in Narrapur in 1921. Hari has not been able to find work and lives in a bustee.

1 Will Sunil get to spend his 20 th birthday with his family? There was a large earthquake in Narrapur in Hari has not been able to find work and lives in a bustee. A new road is planned from Kolkata to Narrapur to serve tourists. Sunil s cousin Bashir is a rickshaw driver in Kolkata and lives on the street. A new irrigation scheme would make Ravindra s land more productive. Comic Relief has set up a co-operative to help farmers in Narrapur. There are few job opportunities in Narrapur. Sunil s grandmother is 70 years old and still lives in Narrapur. Work on Ravindra s farm is hard because he has no machinery. Bustees in Kolkata are very cramped and overcrowded. Sunil barely earns enough money to keep his family. All of Kolkata s bustees have open drains running through them. The school teacher in Narrapur has recently returned to Canada. In Hari s bustee, there is only one standpipe for every 125 people. A doctor visits Narrapur every fortnight. Property prices in Kolkata have risen dramatically in recent years. The harvest was poor on Ravindra s farm last year due to a long drought. Kolkata is the largest city in India. Anil sends money back home to his parents. Kolkata grew up on the banks of the Hooghly River. Sunil s friend Anil left last year to work as an engineer in Kolkata. Kolkata is an important sea port Page 1 of 6

2 Sunil s school friend Hari moved to Kolkata last month. Soils around Narrapur are very rich and fertile. Narrapur produces some of the best rice crops in India. Sunil has a son called Ravi. Sunil lives in a mud and stone house with only two rooms. The village well is two kilometres away from Sunil s house. Narrapur is well-known for the production of jute. Sunil has two older sisters and four younger brothers. Police in Kolkata are clamping down on recent high levels of street crime. Sunil s father Ravindra is very ill. Kolkata is three hours away by bus from Narrapur. Restaurants in Kolkata are always looking for casual labour. The bus journey from Narrapur to Kolkata costs 60 rupees (75p). When Ravindra dies, his farm will pass on to his eldest son. Oxfam is planning to build a new school in Narrapur. Sunil can read and write but has no qualifications. Sunil and his family live in a small village called Narrapur. Kolkata has a population of over 14 million people. Sunil is nineteen years old. Sunil works on his father s small farm Page 2 of 6

3 Teaching notes This mystery could form part of a sequence of lessons investigating rural to urban migration in a less economically developed country. It highlights a number of the problems facing rural communities, the push factors and pull factors which result in rural to urban migration, and considers some of the decisions a young man in rural India may have to make. The resource is designed to develop thinking skills like classification, connection building and hypothesis construction, as well as the investigation of cause and effect. This resource is targeted at KS3 groups but could be used with KS4 students, particularly as a revision exercise. With KS3 students it is suggested that the resource will take a 50 minute lesson. Classroom management Working in groups encourages collaboration and discussion, and this mystery works best with groups of three. These groups can be selected randomly, through friendship groups, by mixing abilities, or by mixing genders. 1) Setting the scene Use photographs of the main characters in the mystery: Sunil, Ravindra, Anil, Hari, Ravi, Kolkata, a bustee, Narrapur, etc. A selection of possible images is provided at the end of this resource and on a separate PowerPoint slide. These images can be projected on a screen or printed on A4 paper. The mystery title also needs to be shared at this stage. 2) If the students have not attempted one before, explain how a mystery works. You could refer to current TV detectives and ask the students to consider how they solve the crimes they face, stressing the need to examine a number of clues for evidence in order to form theories. You can, at this point, explain that there are a number of red herrings in the clues. 3) Distribute envelopes of clues. The mystery question should be printed on the envelope for reference. Clues should be cut into individual strips and could be laminated. It is a good idea to number each envelope and each clue on the back so that any stray clues can be returned to the correct set. 4) Initially, allow the students some time to explore the clues themselves with no intervention. The physical manipulation of the sentences is an important part of the learning process. Circulate and support where necessary, making sure any misconceptions are corrected Page 3 of 6

4 5) Intervene if appropriate to highlight good practice from individual groups or to offer tactical advice. It s worth stressing the need to search for links between different clues. Also make it clear that there is no one single answer to this mystery the groups may have differing interpretations of the clues. 6) Allow the groups ample time to read and sort the sentences, reject selected information, sequence relevant information and possibly rework their ideas. Eventually, they will be ready to attempt to solve the mystery. 7) If any groups finish early, you can check their understanding. To see whether they have covered everything, the students can list the factors in order of importance or construct a mind map of the key points. 8) It s essential to allow sufficient time for a plenary summary and a suggestion is that this could take at least 15 minutes. This will provide an opportunity for a number of groups to report to the class. They should summarise their answer to the mystery question and highlight the important evidence which influenced their decision. Thoughtful questioning can draw attention to key vocabulary, information missed and so on. Some thought should also be given to how the teams worked. Did everyone contribute? If not, why not? What tactics did they use? How might they approach things differently next time? Did they disagree? How did they resolve disagreements? Through the mystery, students should identify a number of the problems faced by people living in rural areas in a less economically developed country, for example the lack of services, poverty, lack of job opportunities and dependence on agriculture. They should also be able to recognise that these issues act as push factors leading to outward migration. Students should also be able to identify the pull factors which attract people (especially young males) to the nearest large city, e.g. job opportunities, higher wages and available services. Students will have to balance the disadvantages of Sunil s rural life with the potential advantages of moving to the city. Will he be better off there, and more able to support his large family? Are the conditions in the city actually worse than those he experiences in Narrapur? Will the pull of his family (both young and old) keep him in his home village? Are conditions in his village likely to improve in the near future? Will Sunil come home to celebrate his birthday, after moving to the city? Page 4 of 6

5 Extension tasks / Further development 1) Students could follow up to the mystery by explaining their answer in the form of a newspaper front page, TV news report, radio podcast, etc. 2) How might rural communities in more developed countries be different? Are the causes of migration the same? Are the effects the same? 3) What are the consequences of rural migration in India? Can the country cope with its growing mega-cities? 4) Should the government do more to support rural communities? How could it best help the people who live in isolated villages? 5) Wikipedia reports that there are at least 2,000 bustees in Kolkata city, and in the metropolitan area the total bustee population is estimated to be 3 million. Students could be asked What is life like in an Indian bustee? Most students will probably have seen the film Slumdog Millionaire, set in the Dharavi slums of Mumbai. 6) Once they have attempted some mysteries, students can be given opportunities to write their own Page 5 of 6

A selection of possible images a bustee http://en.wikipedia.

jpg Sunil s cousin, Bashir, a rickshaw driver in Kolkata

com/photos/proxyindian/5165583674/ by Steve Brown & John

com/photos/gisellenw/6928064261/ by Giselle Natassia (zosogis)

6 A selection of possible images a bustee Sunil s cousin, Bashir, a rickshaw driver in Kolkata by Steve Brown & John Verkleir (Proxy Indian) Sunil s father, Ravindra, a farmer by Giselle Natassia (zosogis) Sunil s father-in-law and son Ravi by Shayan (USA) Page 6 of 6

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