JAPAN PRIZE 2006 : Proposal Details

List of Entry
Proposal Division
The Hoso Bunka Foundation Prize
Proposal Title:One Teacher Wonder
Organization:Harkara Media
Country:India
Country:Uzbekistan
Program Proposal Content
* Above photos are excerpts from the Proposal Finalist presentations.
Teaching 100 children all alone . This documentary follows a young teacher (faced) with a reality not written in teaching manuals . At first , he does not know what to do, but soon notices the (power) to find order in natural circumstances. He successfully motivate s the children by giving t hem small (responsibilities) , letting them fix the school building or letting older ones teach younger ones.
One Teacher Wonder unfolds in the tough est circumstances, which are commonplace in interior rural India - single teacher, scores of students of various age groups, a dilapidated school and villagers indifferent about education. Often teachers, unable to cope with such situations, lose hope, feel helpless and succumb to the situation.
But here was an attempt to improve this situation by making the best out of adversity - by engaging children in every aspect of school , from teaching to management , making them responsible human beings and stakeholders in their own education and later on involving the village in issues of education as well.
At the core was a teacher who felt alone and disappointed like everybody in the beginning, but later found his own strength and changed everything.
Jury Comment
In a village far, far away from the mainstream world, surrounded by agricultural fields, children are constantly putting their observations in their notebooks. They greet a young man who is discussing with a farmer why his daughter is missing school.
With this catching introduction One Teacher Wonder opens. It tells the story of an inventive and energetic young teacher, Mukesh, who manages to run a school all by himself. His specific situation is shown, his method and his solutions, by portraying the teacher at work in the classroom and in interviews, but also by following one of the children that just joined the school.
The jury was impressed by writer Deepak Verma's passion to tell this story and by this story's changing the chances for education in his country. It is written with an eye for detail and well thought dramatic moments. The main character with his individual power and skills takes on the challenge of change. It is a strong subject and an ambitious project that will be powerful and engaging for its target audience and for international audiences as well.
Producer's Comments
A school where the teacher doesn't impose his or her authority, there is no distance between the teacher and children, where children's natural curiosity and ability to learn is nurtured, where education connects with their real world : m ainstream education usually runs short of these expectations.
While working on teachers' stories my attempt was to explore mainstream schools and see if I c ould find something different. To my amazement , the real stories were coming from schools where teachers were working in the most challenging circumstances, far-far away from the limelight.
After finding Mukesh (the teacher in my film) 10 years ago , I closely observed his school for a long time to see how he is able to achieve all of the above. Researching the story meant cycling to the school for 2 hour s , on an undulat ing terrain , for many days, in the central part of India and developing a relationship with children who hardly get a chance to go out of their surroundings. Hard work paid off when I saw them blossoming in their school.
I feel humbled to receive the Japan prize for the proposal category that gave me a chance to tell this wonderful story.  
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