A School of Their Own - reviews

Educational Media Reviews Online - May 19th, 2008

Recommended
Reviewed by Triveni Kuchi, Rutgers University Libraries

Education should be a basic need like food, clothing and shelter since it is also essential for a nation’s growth and sustenance. Education (elementary through high school) is typically provided for free in many countries by governments, in adherence to their overall planning for development or to ensure a minimum level of literacy. Such services are expected to help sustain as well as propel a nation towards a better future. In A School of Their Own, Kaufman presents a teacher-formed school called Riverside School in Nepal that grows and survives despite insurmountable hurdles of poverty, caste, illiteracy and political turmoil.

With much of the economy in Nepal being agrarian and extremely poor, parents need their children to work with them both in the fields and at home to be able to manage and survive. The free government schools are typically very backward and hold no guarantee of an improved future for graduates. However, parents who could send their children to school but could not afford private schools, resort to these ineffective government institutions believing that at least some education would be better than none. Ingo Schnabel, founder of the Riverside School, has given hope to Nepalese children who could not even imagine let alone afford to have an education. Children that were homeless or street children, or those from lower castes that have few or no privileges, but have big dreams of becoming pilots, engineers, have a chance for change with the Riverside School.

The film also captures the chaos and political upheaval of the Maoist movement and how it affects the students of Riverside. It starkly contrasts the purpose and meaningfulness of such political movements – fighting for equality and rights – with the recruitment of children for warfare – the future of the nation. This documentary adroitly captures the essence of Nepal’s struggle for literacy and freedom from poverty and exploitation. It provides food for thought even for countries that are more advanced than Nepal in terms of wealth, income and education policies. Education and literacy as a human right need to be given important consideration, especially given their wider implications for the nourishment and progress of human beings and nations. 

Video Librarian - November/December 2007

A School of Their Own
(2006) 58 min. In English & Nepalese w/English subtitles. DVD: $99.95. Choices, Inc. PPR. ISBN: 1-933724-10-2.
Debra Kaufman’s technically modest but informative and touching documentary A School of Their Own focuses on the Riverside School, a private institution in the Himalayan state of Nepal that provides a nurturing learning environment for children of impoverished low-caste families (including girls who would normally be excluded from government schools). Founded by a Dutchman named Ingo Schnabel, Riverside exemplifies the hope for a peaceful move towards democracy after a long history of feudal monarchy in a nation that is currently threatened by a so-called Maoist rebellion. Kaufman interviews Schnabel, other teachers, and selected students, while also revealing that the school is caught in the middle of the shaky Nepalese political situation: the local government accuses the school of aiding rebels, while the rebels themselves often draft unwilling youngsters to serve in their ranks and accuse the school’s staff of complicity with the authorities. A poignant film about children struggling against great odds to realize their dreams, DVD extras here include a director’s statement (in which Kaufman encourages viewers to help ensure that Nepal doesn’t fall off America’s radar screen) and a lesson plan for teachers. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (F. Swietek)

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