An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Class 12 English · Flamingo – Poems · Chapter 2
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English Core
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- Vistas
Physics, Chemistry, Maths + English
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English Elective · Kaleidoscope
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English Core · Flamingo
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English Core · Vistas
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Physics
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History
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Hindi Elective
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Mathematics
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Sociology
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Home Science
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Urdu Elective
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Geography
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Accountancy
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Political Science
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Chemistry
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Business Studies
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Hindi Core
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Mathematics
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हिंदी (आधार)
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Accountancy
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اردو (اختیاری)
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Mathematics
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हिंदी (आधार)
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संस्कृतम् (केन्द्रिकम्)
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Physics
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हिंदी (ऐच्छिक)
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संस्कृत (ऐच्छिक)
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Physics
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हिंदी (ऐच्छिक)
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اردو (کور)
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Chemistry
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Urdu Elective
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Computer Science
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Chemistry
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Fine Art · Painting
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हिंदुस्तानी संगीत (गायन / वादन)
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Biology
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Informatics Practices
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Accountancy
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Biotechnology
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Accountancy
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सृजनात्मक लेखन और अनुवाद
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Business Studies
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हिंदुस्तानी संगीत (तबला / पखावज)
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Business Studies
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Economics
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Economics
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History
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History
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History
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Geography
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Geography
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Geography
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Political Science
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Political Science
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Sociology
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Sociology
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Psychology
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Home Science
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Home Science
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The story in short
Written by Stephen Spender, this poem exposes the grim plight of slum children in an elementary school and pleads for social reform. The poet paints a bleak picture of the classroom: the children's faces are pale and lifeless, far removed from the gusty energy of childhood. One tall girl is weighed down with weariness, a paper-thin boy has the stunted, rat-like look of disease and hunger inherited from his father, and another sweet young boy sits dreaming of games and the open air, his mind elsewhere. On the sour, cream-coloured walls hang donated pictures and a map of the world — Shakespeare's head, scenes of domes and bells, and beautiful valleys — which represent a world of beauty and possibility utterly out of the slum children's reach. For these children, the world that truly belongs to them is the cramped, narrow street sealed in with a lead sky; their future is a fog. The poet bitterly observes that the map on the wall is meaningless and even mocking unless their bleak reality changes. In the final stanza he appeals to those in power — governors, inspectors, visitors — to break the barriers of poverty and ignorance, to let these children escape the slum, run on green fields and reach the sun and books, for history is ultimately made by those who give the children freedom and light.
Social injustice and inequalityPoverty and deprivationNeed for educational reformImagery of confinementHope and freedom
Characters & key ideas
Stephen SpenderThe poet who pleads for reform for slum children.
Slum childrenThe pale, deprived pupils the poem describes.
Map on the wallThe image of a wider world out of the children's reach.
Lead skyThe image of the bleak, closed-in slum world.
Social inequalityThe injustice the poem exposes and protests.
ReformThe change the poet appeals to the powerful to bring.
Extra questions & answers (board-style)
Try one from this chapter
Who wrote "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum"?