Primary Education And The Importance Of Universal Literacy Education Essay
Education and universal literacy are integral to one another and is one of the building blocks in any nation’s economic, social and political development. Education is important for an individual’s personality development as well as the sustained growth of a nation. Elementary and primary education in India is the foundation on which the development of every citizen and the nation as a whole hinges. India has made tremendous progress in terms of growth of educational institutions at different levels, physical access to schooling for children, and diversification of educational programmes. Today, 18 crore children are taught by almost 57 lakh teachers in more than 12 lakh primary and upper primary schools across the length and breadth of the country.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the large scale national program was launched in 2001 with an objective of achieving universal elementary education (UEE) by 2007. The program, which extends to all states and Union Territories to address the above mentioned objective in a time bound manner, has been successful. The Centre and states share funding of the programme in a ratio of 55:45. Reports indicate that the number of out of school children, which was 320 lakh in 2001-02, is down to 75.97 lakh in 2007-08. The first joint review Mission that visited eight sample states in February 2005, found that the SSA program had generated considerable interest, commitment and had put elementary education on the development agenda.
Though progress has been made in the last 60 years to spread the education campaign, India needs to address the growing concerns which have so far kept us from achieving our set goals. This report enlists ten recommendations to improve the efficiency of the primary education system.
The areas studied are quality of education, infrastructure, high degree of dropout rates, socio-economical equations hindering participation and an effective supervision cum tracking mechanism to ensure that progress with the right utilization of funds is being made.
With respect to quality of education, not so encouraging trend in successful continuation from primary to upper primary, Pupil to Teacher ratio (PTR), number of contract based teachers, teacher qualification and their training. A lot more needs to be done to bring a stronger focus towards quality of education imparted at the primary level.
Infrastructure woes continue with schools trying to operate without a proper building, lack of basic amenities such as toilets and drinking water. Though at times schools have buildings, they don’t have sufficient number of classrooms to cater to the numbers enrolling. In some states, schools continue to run with either a single teacher or a single classroom or both. Adding to this, the use of technology and computers in today’s global world we find ourselves lagging further behind.
High student dropout rates are also seen in states/regions with lower socio economic fabric. Given the limited job opportunities, parents question the investment of sending children to school in the first place. We need to enforce a full proof system with checks and balances to abolish child labour as this has also resulted in children dropping out of schools. Though Govt and private initiatives such as the Mid-day meal have been successful to an extent, there is much ground to cover to ensure that primary education becomes a fundamental right for all instead of a privilege for a few.
10 Point Agenda
100% Enrolment in Primary Education :
India’s double digit growth is dependent on ensuring enrolment of children in schools. The need of the hour is to ensure that a critical mass of people moves from class 12 to higher education so that they become creators of knowledge. We need to empower our future generations through a process of learning as only then will we be poised to take our country forward.
Improving Infrastructure (School Buildings) :
What do we need to do to ensure that we have a conductive environment for learning. Do we have school buildings, what condition are they in and how are they maintained?
Civic Amenities (Toilets, Drinking Water, Playground / Park) :
Schools need to be equipped with basic amenities such as toilets, dustbins and drinking water. We often say that Indians have a poor civic sense (Urinating on the road, Spitting, Throwing garbage from cars, balconies) Children have to be taught these basic values from an impressionable age so that they develop a civic sense.
Improving Quality of Education :
There should be a national commitment to ensure that quality education is equally available to all (SC, ST, Minority, Differently abled) and not just a privileged few.
Qualification and Responsibility of Educators :
RTE stipulates that teachers who do not have the right qualifications must acquire these within 5 years maximum. What is the quality of teaching provided, how does it shape our leaders of tomorrow? Is teaching merely one sided and text book driven or does it allow our children to think, question and expand their horizon?
Control, Track and Report Progress on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Controlling and tracking closely the progress on SSA initiative is very important. Identified the key gaps with indication on what should be the focus areas to further improve
Publicise Mid Day Meal
Mid day meal scheme improves nutritional status of children in schools and to encourage poor children to attend schools regularly , This also helps to increase school attendance, eliminate classroom hunger and foster social equity.
Retention, Contain Drop Out Rate
The enrolment of students has increased in most states, the dropout rate continues. As PROBE points out that the effect of poor teaching standards is slowly sapping parental and child motivation over time.
Improving the Female literacy in India
The percentage of female literacy is only 54.16%. sufficient initiatives need to be taken to improve the women’s literacy rate. The initiatives required to be taken are explained below in detail.
Improve Female Teacher Ratio
Lack of female teachers is a potential barrier for girl’s education. Girls are more likely to attend school and have good and higher acadwilemic achievement if they have female teachers.
100% Enrolment in Primary Education
The SSA objective to achieve near 100% enrolment has not been met and as per a 2007-08 DISE report, the enrolment rate (NRE) has been achieved at 95.92%. This implies that 4% i.e. 7.7 million children are still out of reach of primary education. The line of thought would include the reason for out of reach of primary education with respect to adequate number of schools the children to be enrolled.
By plotting the population census against the number of schools, the data below suggests that in certain states and Union Territories, there are fewer number of schools compared to the population that it caters to.
State/UT
Total Schools
Population as on 2006
% School ratio
Primary Only
Upper Primary to Primary ratio
A&NIslands
359
419
1.167130919
199
0.445682451
Andhra Pradesh
100449
80,712
0.80351223
65352
0.349401189
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
1169
0.257092589
3677
0.191334946
Assam
66727
28,665
0.429586224
50655
0.24086202
Bihar
67874
90,752
1.337065739
49868
0.265285676
Chandigarh
176
1,103
6.267045455
28
0.840909091
Chhattisgarh
49708
22,594
0.454534481
32780
0.340548805
D&NHaveli
304
266
0.875
177
0.417763158
Daman&Diu
98
216
2.204081633
51
0.479591837
Delhi
4742
16,021
3.378532265
2454
0.482496837
Goa
1503
1,492
0.992681304
1013
0.326014637
Gujarat
39039
54,979
1.408309639
12775
0.672763134
Haryana
17743
23,314
1.313982979
9503
0.464408499
Himachal Pradesh
17197
6,455
0.375356167
11515
0.330406466
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
10,941
0.526287941
11782
0.433257973
Jharkhand
41944
29,299
0.698526607
28802
0.313322525
Karnataka
56441
56,258
0.996757676
28871
0.48847469
Kerala
12426
33,265
2.677048125
6704
0.460486078
Lakshadweep
37
72
1.945945946
16
0.567567568
Madhya Pradesh
129000
66,390
0.514651163
90092
0.301612403
Maharashtra
87280
104,804
1.200779102
40960
0.530705775
Manipur
4011
2,308
0.575417602
2564
0.360757916
Meghalaya
10572
2,470
0.23363602
7867
0.255864548
Mizoram
2783
946
0.339920949
1512
0.456701401
Nagaland
2523
2,119
0.839873167
1591
0.369401506
Orissa
59435
38,887
0.654277782
34286
0.423134517
Puducherry
703
1,098
1.561877667
306
0.564722617
Punjab
20026
26,059
1.301258364
13409
0.330420453
Rajasthan
103303
62,276
0.602847933
57332
0.445011278
Sikkim
1150
576
0.500869565
804
0.300869565
Tamil Nadu
53307
65,135
1.221884555
34835
0.346521095
Tripura
3901
3,407
0.873365804
2154
0.447833889
Uttar Pradesh
180058
183,282
1.017905342
128111
0.288501483
Uttarakhand
20610
9,219
0.447307132
14665
0.288452208
West Bengal
70010
85,216
1.217197543
58957
0.157877446
All States
1250775
1112184
0.889195899
805667
0.355865763
.The takeaway from the above data is that there is a need to increase the number of Primary Schools in their states for highlighted states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Rajasthan as it is low compared to the population. The upper primary to primary ratio suggests the need to be consistent so as to sustain continuity in upper primary to achieve overall UEE. States such as Bihar, Punjab, UP and West Bengal although relatively healthy on the primary school front, face an uphill task in sustaining the trend.
Improving Infrastructure
Infrastructure woes continue to plague us in achieving the objectives that SSA set out to achieve. Major problems are lack of ‘pucca’ buildings for schools, lack of basic amenities like drinking water, play ground, electricity etc.
More than 95% of students are enrolled in government-aided schools based in rural and urban areas. A baseline survey needs to be conducted across the country to take into account the current situation so that state governments ensure that infrastructure is available to all students in remote areas.
As the Government continues to be largest provider, covering nearly 95% of total primary education, around 40% of schools have buildings of their own. This implies that a majority of schools continue to run in make shift arrangements in buildings which are primarily meant for panchayat meetings, temporary establishments such as tents.
The data below on the number of pucca buildings and number of single classrooms suggests that schools in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar need attention as more than 30% of their school buildings are kuchha or in dire need of repair.
State/UT
All
% Pucca Buildings
Average number of class rooms
Overall single class room
Condition of class rooms – Need Major repair
A&NIslands
359
67
7.9
2.51
11
Andhra Pradesh
100449
50
2.9
24.25
6
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
44
3
29.67
19
Assam
66727
58
2.1
56.67
37
Bihar
67874
61
2.7
5.83
18
Chandigarh
176
98
23.8
0.5
Chhattisgarh
49708
79
2.7
4.64
9
D&NHaveli
304
61
3.7
4.28
2
Daman&Diu
98
96
6.2
1.02
0.6
Delhi
4742
74
17.8
0.04
4
Goa
1503
97
2.8
16.17
3
Gujarat
39039
89
5.2
2.76
4
Haryana
17743
98
4.7
2.28
3
Himachal Pradesh
17197
76
3.2
6.17
9
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
82
3.3
9.07
11
Jharkhand
41944
68
2.5
2.63
11
Karnataka
56441
97
4
8.98
5
Kerala
12426
73
11
0.45
5
Lakshadweep
37
56
12.6
18
Madhya Pradesh
129000
91
3
3.64
4
Maharashtra
87280
88
4.3
5.52
4
Manipur
4011
45
4.5
1.67
28
Meghalaya
10572
75
2.6
21.25
24
Mizoram
2783
79
3.9
1.22
22
State/UT
All
% Pucca Buildings
Average number of class rooms
Overall single class room
Condition of class rooms – Need Major repair
Nagaland
2523
75
5.5
0.24
18
Orissa
59435
40
3.5
5.23
26
Puducherry
703
77
9
1.85
1
Punjab
20026
97
4.3
2.91
5
Rajasthan
103303
93
3.7
3.69
7
Sikkim
1150
52
7
1.91
15
Tamil Nadu
53307
70
4.7
4
Tripura
3901
62
5.7
0.7
12
Uttar Pradesh
180058
96
3.9
0.56
3
Uttarakhand
20610
95
3.1
2.5
9
West Bengal
70010
64
4.2
6.3
22
All States
1250775
75
5.57142857
6.7602857
10.86
Civic Amenities – Toilets, Drinking Water, Playground / Park
Whilst we lack infrastructure, housing, public parks, electricity to manage our growing population the lack of toilets and shortage of drinking water are the key requirements in schools. Overall, 7 lakh toilets for girls are required. The highest requirement is in Bihar with 90,000, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 63,000, and Orissa 54,000. Nearly 3.4 lakh schools require drinking water in the country.
The data below reflects the availability or lack thereof of basic civic amenities in States and UTs in India in 2008.
State/UT
Drinking water
Common Toilet
Girls Toilet
Electricity
Play ground
Book bank
A&NIslands
97.79
84.4
73.82
89.42
54.32
62.67
Andhra Pradesh
87.69
61.27
46.75
36.71
57.78
65.16
Arunachal Pradesh
64.19
21.73
11.9
15.92
24.5
15.2
Assam
65.61
26.33
10.54
7.42
44.05
20.44
Bihar
80.41
48.52
21.62
3.02
29
28.51
Chandigarh
100
38.07
94.89
100
93.75
44.89
Chhattisgarh
86.47
37.63
19.95
19.6
37.53
46.06
D&NHaveli
94.85
32.24
25.33
69.41
25.66
72.04
Daman&Diu
92.41
80.61
61.22
93.88
52.04
78.57
Delhi
99.43
90.45
74.15
98.63
79.29
59.49
Goa
95.51
54.96
45.38
94.74
44.98
21.42
Gujarat
85.03
70.65
65.26
80.46
70.35
40.18
Haryana
96.93
94.09
87.32
95.42
82.82
86.77
Himachal Pradesh
92.21
48.01
38.62
56.84
61.58
41.03
Jammu & Kashmir
70.77
37.81
21.99
19.82
42.21
46.46
Jharkhand
69.85
34.71
20.71
6.51
25.45
41.98
Karnataka
76.65
70.41
47.16
69.32
54.74
79
Kerala
98.05
84.11
78.99
88.72
69.72
84.4
Lakshadweep
100
75.68
62.16
100
24.32
56.76
Madhya Pradesh
90.66
71.62
46.98
20.5
56.24
41.47
Maharashtra
82.99
75.09
60.02
70.76
69.46
86.33
Manipur
73.51
51.28
18.03
20.59
53.5
17.48
Meghalaya
52.94
30.72
10.2
13.21
29.78
19.52
Mizoram
79.9
77.25
23.5
29.43
8.62
5.61
Nagaland
69.8
77.17
37.02
29.85
49.35
21.8
Orissa
86.28
50.86
28.04
18.39
28.27
19.94
Puducherry
98.64
69.99
86.2
96.3
58.46
15.22
Punjab
97.53
88.38
86.09
85.72
67.51
37.55
Rajasthan
85.65
36.09
79.32
26.42
46.09
52.38
Sikkim
76.55
88.7
42.26
39.39
62.78
21.91
Tamil Nadu
100
65.6
62.33
75.55
77.08
43.29
Tripura
76.52
69.11
22.58
11.92
60.86
13.41
Uttar Pradesh
97.14
91.04
82.36
16.86
65.83
51.45
Uttarakhand
85.59
84.45
52.13
28.06
55.43
51.47
West Bengal
93.42
68.95
35.13
21.1
34.53
57.18
All States
85.742
62.51371
47.99857
49.99686
51.368
44.20114
<80
<60
<40
<45
<45
<40
Other amenities in terms of gated security (Boundary Walls), Kitchens, Ramps for differently abled children, Computers and Medical facilities are in short supply in some States and UT’s.
State/UT
Medical check-up
Pre-primary
Boundary walls
Kitchen shed
Ramp to support Disable
Computers
A&NIslands
80.5
32.87
47.63
24.45
8.64
41.23
Andhra Pradesh
56.53
10.14
52.6
31.87
10.82
21.11
Arunachal Pradesh
9.24
58.1
27.07
20.05
2.99
9.15
Assam
5.93
52.97
28.33
39.66
14.71
3.69
Bihar
17.77
12.97
28.08
11.1
20.59
0.58
Chandigarh
89.77
86.93
100
26.5
35.23
76.14
Chhattisgarh
83.17
19.32
41.7
41.99
29.45
8.52
D&NHaveli
57.57
3.62
42.11
37.54
2.96
5.92
Daman&Diu
77.55
23.47
88.78
19.75
12.24
36.73
Delhi
83.99
24.38
98.67
11
65.04
72.8
Goa
76.85
24.22
62.74
4.59
18.23
30.61
Gujarat
92.1
23.6
80.43
42.32
71.55
36.5
Haryana
80.37
52.14
92.8
8.95
54.2
25.29
Himachal Pradesh
65.76
12.52
28.7
4.41
27.69
11.14
Jammu & Kashmir
23.09
78.12
33.58
1.81
11
12.99
Jharkhand
17.54
6.82
23.45
30.19
5.58
5.54
Karnataka
56.92
37.24
55.62
27.29
22.42
11.84
Kerala
71.01
23.75
70.59
48.62
57.95
71.2
Lakshadweep
8.11
40.54
51.35
75.68
81.08
Madhya Pradesh
66.82
36.79
46.23
44.39
34.16
12.36
Maharashtra
87.8
29.97
59.59
17.58
62.78
36.49
Manipur
12.84
40.86
33.03
NR
7.38
11.32
Meghalaya
13.5
71.45
17.84
6.64
5.29
6.24
Mizoram
21.63
34.1
30.69
45.02
27.6
13.94
Nagaland
21.6
84.19
75.15
38.78
6.42
19.66
Orissa
19.84
7.2
59.56
20.77
17.85
7.96
Puducherry
72.55
75.96
85.49
27.27
38.98
63.02
Punjab
54.84
18.1
91.2
5.6
40.92
30.61
Rajasthan
78.58
11.44
63.56
32.88
27.17
14.88
Sikkim
80.7
95.91
25.74
NR
6
21.91
Tamil Nadu
88.93
17.97
62.55
86.96
43.7
24.28
Tripura
19.28
3.36
15.77
65.3
46.73
7.9
Uttar Pradesh
34.66
27.06
46.62
48.33
52.5
3.3
Uttarakhand
50.13
22.37
70.91
61.11
29.34
22.64
West Bengal
36.22
9.42
41.44
64.12
53.42
4.99
All States
51.819714
33.409429
53.394
31.763333
29.920286
24.6731429
<40
<25
<40
<25
<25
<15
Improving Quality of Education
The focus on improving quality of education is based on the budget that gets allocated to SSA every year.
The following criteria are recommended for improving the quality of education
Pupil to Teacher Ratio to quantify attention paid to a student
Single Teacher Class Rooms to quantify retention of focus within manageable load
Gender Parity Index (GPI) to quantify spread of education equally among sexes
Availability of Teachers to quantify teacher availability
Female Teacher Ratio to quantify effectiveness in encouraging girl child education
Qualification of Teachers to quantify quality of education imparted
In-service trainings for teachers to quantify system preparedness to enable minimal necessary teaching skills.
Teachers on contract basis to quantify teaching as a profession
Number of instructional days in a year to quantify amount of time spent in school
India has one of the lowest student teacher ratios and teaching is considered a last career resort. In the US, student teacher ratio is 3,200 teachers per million people, in the Caribbean it’s 1,500 in the Arab countries it’s 800 and in India it’s 456 teachers per million people. It is said that the Pupil Student ratio in urban India is as high as 80:1 and in rural India; the ratio is at 47: 1.
The data below provides details in which States and UT’s the PTR is high as well as the need to bring women teachers in mainstream education.
State/UT
All
Average number of Teacher per school
% Female Teachers
PTR
% schools with PTR > 100
A&NIslands
359
10.35
57.34
15
Andhra Pradesh
100449
5
44.88
21
0.22
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
3.43
35.93
20
0.62
Assam
66727
4
30.16
24
3.9
Bihar
67874
4.84
36.5
54
11.39
Chandigarh
176
31
81.25
24
0.57
Chhattisgarh
49708
3.12
32.93
28
2.05
D&NHaveli
304
5
55.63
36
Daman&Diu
98
7.1
63.17
30
2.04
Delhi
4742
21
67.51
24
0.53
Goa
1503
5.18
76.51
19
Gujarat
39039
6
53.4
33
0.32
Haryana
17743
5.97
46.31
28
1.31
State/UT
All
Average number of Teacher per school
% Female Teachers
PTR
% schools with PTR > 100
Himachal Pradesh
17197
4
42.11
17
0.16
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
5.15
43.57
16
0.03
Jharkhand
41944
4
28.32
45
4.66
Karnataka
56441
4.61
53.2
30
1.93
Kerala
12426
13
71.65
22
0.06
Lakshadweep
37
14.92
40.18
20
Madhya Pradesh
129000
3
37.27
36
4.38
Maharashtra
87280
6.59
42.76
27
0.32
Manipur
4011
6
42.39
19
0.8
Meghalaya
10572
3.28
51.06
17
0.26
Mizoram
2783
6
42.55
14
0.32
Nagaland
2523
8.07
42.63
19
1.07
Orissa
59435
4
33.15
29
1.42
Puducherry
703
13.51
61.16
18
0.14
Punjab
20026
4
60.87
32
2.91
Rajasthan
103303
4.09
29.26
29
2.34
Sikkim
1150
7
45.08
14
0.17
Tamil Nadu
53307
5.94
73.87
31
0.94
Tripura
3901
8
24.78
22
0.77
Uttar Pradesh
180058
3.58
36.31
50
11.39
Uttarakhand
20610
3
46.2
25
1.81
West Bengal
70010
3.91
32.4
48
2.68
All States
1250775
7
47.494
26.742857
1.757428571
<=3
<=40
> 40
>=3
Given the paucity of teachers, it is not surprising that the students do not get the attention they deserve. A meeting of state education secretaries in May 2008 revealed that 5.1 lakh teachers are required to meet the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) of 30: 1 as stated in the RTE Act. “There are 5.3 lakh vacancies under state budgets, which states will need to, fill expeditiously. Under teacher posts already sanctioned under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), there is a balance of 2.25 lakh teachers to be recruited”. The recommendation is to make the teacher’s salary comparable with other professions to encourage people to opt for it as a career.
Qualification and Responsibility of Educators
The number of qualified teachers is as important as the number of teachers itself. A teacher’s qualification plays an important role in bringing uniformity to the education imparted. Apart from the qualification, teachers undergoing formal training in teaching and schools advocating these trainings add a professional edge which will help improve the overall quality of education. Another aspect to consider is the percentage of teachers on a contract basis.
State/UT
% Teachers with Graduation
% Teacher received in-service training
Contract Teachers
A&NIslands
37
17.175
1.11
Andhra Pradesh
57
37.32
15.19
Arunachal Pradesh
50
7.47
17.31
Assam
32
28.49
8.03
Bihar
32
44.575
7.16
Chandigarh
38
16.815
1.49
Chhattisgarh
28
34.025
9.11
D&NHaveli
27
78.675
0.07
Daman&Diu
30
29.985
3.11
Delhi
36
28.26
2.37
Goa
38
50.805
1.28
Gujarat
16
71.58
1.04
Haryana
36
46.98
12.49
Himachal Pradesh
32
54.12
16.2
Jammu & Kashmir
45
27.04
22.44
Jharkhand
42
36.615
44.57
Karnataka
20
36.45
Kerala
41
64.68
2.63
Lakshadweep
18
51.24
0.55
Madhya Pradesh
33
37.555
1.42
Maharashtra
35
17.305
1.09
Manipur
54
8.715
1.52
Meghalaya
22
20.76
6.36
Mizoram
34
36.02
24.66
Nagaland
36
12.26
0.94
Orissa
43
45.755
25.09
Puducherry
36
8.64
2.05
Punjab
35
56.37
1.59
Rajasthan
47
38.99
7.88
Sikkim
31
0.305
0.66
Tamil Nadu
32
56.94
0.66
Tripura
37
32
3
Uttar Pradesh
38
15.345
25.9
Uttarakhand
30
43.595
7.01
West Bengal
39
50.955
14.51
All States
35.34285714
35.53742857
8.299714286
<30
<30
>15
From the above data we can infer that formal teaching training programs need to be increased in regions like Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh. States like Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, J&K and Arunachal Pradesh, need focus on hiring teachers on permanent basis either through fresh recruits or through conversion of contractual basis to permanent roll.
A Supreme Court Order in 2007 stated that government school teachers should not be burdened by non-academic duties such as census work and election duty which interferes in their teaching. Elections should not be done at the cost of students unable to complete the syllabus due to missing teachers. The quality of teachers and the quality of teaching is also in question. The RTE Act for does not make teachers accountable. Those in aided schools unlike in unaided (private schools) are less motivated to improve their skills as they are less likely to be pulled up for non performance. There is no incentive to improve and if the bonus paid to teachers was directly proportionate to the standard / level / quality of teaching offered, and then perhaps teachers would seem more responsible and accountable.
Control, Track and Report Progress on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Control and close tracking of progress on SSA initiative is of prime importance. Apart from updation of the progress made, it can also serve as a data source for allocation of funds, identifying key gaps with indication on what should be the focus areas to further improve. For the same, District Information for Education (DISE) was developed to collate and establish data centre for elementary education in India. CRC (cluster resource centre) is the first nodal agency in the entire chain to facilitate in addressing school needs, primary source to inspect schools and report progress data. Closer the schools to DISE centre, the better the attention easy provision of quick logistical help.
The table below gives data on percentage of schools away from more than 5km from nearest CRC centre. The break-up of government and private schools has been given to relate the understanding of split, which on an average shows 95% total schools are still government owned and CRC being near will certainly help.
State/UT
Total Schools
GOVT Schools
Private
CRC > 5 km
A&NIslands
359
317
42
36.49
Andhra Pradesh
100449
79324
21125
20.72
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
4331
216
54.56
Assam
66727
53950
12777
17.09
Bihar
67874
66627
1247
16.45
Chandigarh
176
110
66
13.07
Chhattisgarh
49708
45578
4130
30.19
D&NHaveli
304
272
32
37.17
Daman&Diu
98
79
19
5.1
Delhi
4742
2982
1760
12.76
Goa
1503
1092
411
14.04
Gujarat
39039
33114
5925
29.64
Haryana
17743
14729
3014
25.53
Himachal Pradesh
17197
14968
2229
21.46
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
16502
4287
18.44
Jharkhand
41944
39511
2433
26.18
Karnataka
56441
45622
10819
0.85
Kerala
12426
5087
7339
26.9
Lakshadweep
37
37
2.7
Madhya Pradesh
129000
106408
22592
29.25
Maharashtra
87280
61708
25572
30.22
Manipur
4011
2620
1391
37.67
Meghalaya
10572
3999
6573
33.08
Mizoram
2783
2298
485
37.23
Nagaland
2523
1854
669
16.92
Orissa
59435
53667
5768
20.76
Puducherry
703
441
262
4.13
Punjab
20026
18508
1518
19.13
Rajasthan
103303
77319
25984
47.58
Sikkim
1150
870
280
17.13
Tamil Nadu
53307
35336
17971
28.36
Tripura
3901
3739
162
22.3
Uttar Pradesh
180058
135484
44574
20.5
Uttarakhand
20610
16971
3639
38.39
West Bengal
70010
57461
12549
52
All States
1250775
West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Andaman Nicobar islands and Rajasthan need more CRC centres to be established. The CRC currently involves people from NGOs, State and people who are internal to the system. It is recommended that CRC to have more people from Private Industries, Software Industries to occupy key roles and the companies to which the CRC representatives belong to be given good tax rebates to would motivate private companies to nominate responsible employees into the CRC.
The frequency of the CRC report also needs to be at more frequent intervals and should be reviewed for allocation of funds. The funds allocated to various units should be based on the CRC report.
Publicise Mid Day Meal
The Mid-day Meal Scheme is school meal programme in India which provides lunch free of cost to school-children on all working days. This scheme was introduced in Tamilnadu in 1960s and adopted by most of the states in India post direction by the Supreme Court of India on November 28, 2001.
The objectives of the mid day meal scheme are as follows:
To improve nutritional status of children in 1-V classes in schools
To encourage poor children to attend school regularly and to help them concentrate on classroom activities
To provide nutritional support to children of primary stage in drought affected areas
The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched on 15th August 1995 to enhance enrollment, retention and attendance and improve child nutrition. The scheme included free supply of food grains at 100 grams per child per school day. In September 2004, cooked mid day meal was provided to all children studying in classes I-V in Government and aided schools.
The Prime Minister launched the Mid Day Meal Program in 35 States in 2005 with the government bearing the cost of food grains, transportation and cooking. Uncer the Mid-day Meal Scheme, 12 crore (120 million) children are covered with enhancement of allocation from Rs 3010 crore to Rs 4813 crore in 2006-2007.
Mid day meal scheme is present in Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. On November 28, 2001, the direction of the Supreme Court of India instructed government to provide cooked meals to all children in all government and government assisted primary schools and has become universal by 2005.
Mid-day meals help to increase school attendance, eliminate classroom hunger and foster social equity. The mid-day meals had made it much easier for parents to persuade their children to go to school. Mid-day meals had raised daily attendance, especially among young children and helped to retain pupils after the lunch break.
For improving mid day meal scheme, the following are the recommendations suggested:
Financial allocations need to be raised and urgent improvement of mid day meal infrastructure, with a cooking shed and cook assisted by a helper at primary schools
Close supervision and regular inspections to achieve higher quality standards with better monitoring to eradicate petty corruption
The lunchtime routine can be used to impart various good habits to children, including washing one’s hands before and after eating
In areas with a conservative social outlook, such as rural Rajasthan, issue of dalit cooks would be an opportunity to break traditional prejudices and foster social change
There is scope for varied and nutritious lunch as in Rajasthan.
Retention, Contain Drop Out Rate
The problem of children being deprived of schooling refuses to go away. Almost 98 per cent of children in the age group of 6 to 11 years reportedly have a school within walking distance, and the situation is much better in urban areas. A survey carried out in January 2000 in Delhi by Pratham, a non-government organisation, revealed that almost 2,500 children in Trilokpuri were not attending any school. Similarly, a 1999 survey of Calcutta, funded under the West Bengal District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and carried out by the West Surveys done under the aegis of the India Education Initiative and Pratham Mumbai in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Jaipur and Patna reinforce that a very large number of urban children are not attending any school, even though primary schools are available within “walking distance”.
Even though the enrolment of students has increased in most states, the dropout rate continues. As the Public Report on Basic Education in India (PROBE) points out that the effect of poor teaching standards is slowly sapping parental and child motivation over time, but the last straw that causes a child to drop out is often something else, like illness in the family or financial hardship. Beating, social discrimination (including caste and community-related comments), gender biases all these work together to push children out. It is indeed quite revealing that an overwhelming number of out-of-school children are from Dalit or tribal groups, are first-generation school-goers, face particularly difficult circumstances (for example, children of sex workers) or are working (in hotels and mechanic shops, or as roadside vendors).
Bihar and West Bengal have created a record of sorts by contributing the maximum in reducing the number of out of school children in the age-group of 6-14 from 75.97 lakh in March 2007 to 45.05 lakh in March 2008 with the maximum number of children going back to school is Muslims, SCs and STs. In Bihar, the number of out of school children in the age group of 6-14 is down to 10.10 lakh in 2008 from 21.19 lakh in 2007. In the case of SC children, only 2.71 lakh SC children are out of school. In March 2007, 4.99 lakh SC children had not been to school. The number of SC children in Bihar is 38.10 lakh. West Bengal (WB) too often considered in the same bracket as Bihar has shown tremendous progress in improvising education so that it is all inclusive. The number of out of school children in WB is 1.13 lakh, a significant decrease from the 3.67 lakh in 2007.
The initiatives to control dropout rates include:
Publish Learner’s Achievements
The dropout rate can be controlled if the achievements on the pass percentage, district ranks and state ranks are published. Provisions for scholarships and fees concessions for students topping in each class needs to be provided.
Awards for Good Attendance
It is recommended that awards and recognition should be given to students who attend more than 75% of the total classes.
Build Close Interactions with Parents
The teachers and the representatives from the NGOs should arrange frequent meetings with the parents and encourage them to send the students to school. One of the reasons that children are disinclined to attend school is due to Child Labour and taking up small, odd jobs. Due to the limited job opportunities, parents at times question the investment of sending children to school in the first place.
Role of NGOs
NGO’s should educate and spread the message to the illiterate parents and ensure their children are sent for schooling regularly. The message needs to be conveyed in all possible mechanisms either by visiting the village or using the appropriate media.
Improving Female Literacy
The percentage of female literacy is only 54.16%. sufficient initiatives to be taken to improve the women’s literacy rate.
The Challenges faced in female literacy and solutions are:
Gender based inequality
The gender based inequality is more across the country and especially the in these states of Bihar (33.1) , Jharkhand (38.9), Uttar Pradesh (42.2), Jammu & Kashmir (43), Arunachal Pradesh (43.5), Rajasthan ( 43.9) the problem seems to be prevailing more when compared to other states. The NGO’s should create awareness programs in order to eliminate the gender based inequality and spread clear crisp and strong messages both male and female are equal all aspects of life
Social discrimination and economic exploitation
Even though the Indian government is taking necessary initiatives to abolish child labor, girls are not allowed to go to schools in comparison with boys and are made to work as domestic servants in rural and as well as urban areas. This problem should be abolished by enforcing strict laws against the people who are providing domestic jobs to these children.
Low retention rate of girls
Government should create more job opportunities for female workers and more tax benefits, higher salaries for female employees to motivate and encourage the female literacy within the society. Earlier research on primary education in rural India suggests that mid-day meals enhance school participation, especially among girls.
Low enrolment of girls in schools
To increase enrolment of girls in schools, the infrastructure facilities for states provided in the table below needs to be improved, including increasing the number of schools with girl toilets. Government should create a separate committee to monitor the funds allocated for these schools are been properly utilised. The progress made in improving the infrastructure report should be sent to the Prime Minister on a monthly basis.
State Name
Total Number of Schools
Number of Schools With Girls Toilet
Percentage of Schools with Girls Toilets(2006-07)
BIHAR
67874
14675
16.2
JHARKHAND
41944
8687
15.5
UTTAR PRADESH
180058
148289
78.2
JAMMU&KASHMIR
20789
4571
20
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
4547
541
12.2
RAJASTHAN
103303
81941
41.3
Government to ensure that funds allocated for education are allocated correctly. Establish checks and balances to ensure that the funds are spent on the objectives that they were intended for.
10. Improve Female Teacher Ratio
One of the important focus areas for us to consider while we improve the quality of education is to increase female teacher ratio.
Lack of female teachers is a potential barrier for girl’s education. Girls are more likely to attend school and have good and higher academic achievement if they have female teachers. This is because we have gender-segregated societies in most parts of India. Female teachers are helpful in talking to parents and reducing the negative attitude of parents in education girls and suitably mentoring girls to take on higher responsibilities.
Currently, women account for only 29 percent of teachers at the primary level (MHRD, 1993).
The above table shows the ratio of the number of school vs. number of teachers vs. number of female teachers.
State/UT
All
Average number of Teacher per school
% Female Teachers
A&NIslands
359
10.35
57.34
Andhra Pradesh
100449
5
44.88
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
3.43
35.93
Assam
66727
4
30.16
Bihar
67874
4.84
36.5
Chandigarh
176
31
81.25
Chhattisgarh
49708
3.12
32.93
D&NHaveli
304
5
55.63
Daman&Diu
98
7.1
63.17
Delhi
4742
21
67.51
Goa
1503
5.18
76.51
Himachal Pradesh
17197
4
42.11
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
5.15
43.57
Jharkhand
41944
4
28.32
Karnataka
56441
4.61
53.2
Kerala
12426
13
71.65
Lakshadweep
37
14.92
40.18
Gujarat
39039
6
53.4
Haryana
17743
5.97
46.31
State/UT
All
Average number of Teacher per school
% Female Teachers
Madhya Pradesh
129000
3
37.27
Maharashtra
87280
6.59
42.76
Manipur
4011
6
42.39
Meghalaya
10572
3.28
51.06
Mizoram
2783
6
42.55
Nagaland
2523
8.07
42.63
Orissa
59435
4
33.15
Puducherry
703
13.51
61.16
Punjab
20026
4
60.87
Rajasthan
103303
4.09
29.26
Sikkim
1150
7
45.08
Tamil Nadu
53307
5.94
73.87
Tripura
3901
8
24.78
Uttar Pradesh
180058
3.58
36.31
Uttarakhand
20610
3
46.2
West Bengal
70010
3.91
32.4
All States
1250775
7
47.494
<=3
<=40
We note that Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tripura and West Bengal have a female teacher ratio which is less than 40 percent. Government needs to take concrete steps towards increasing this percentage to at least 70.
Negative parental attitudes towards educating daughters can also be a barrier to a girl’s education. Many parents view educating sons as an investment because the sons will be responsible for caring for aging parents. On the other hand, parents may see the education of daughters a waste of money because daughters will eventually live with their husbands’ families, and the parents will not benefit directly from their education. However, education sometimes lowers the dowry for a girl because it is viewed as an asset by the husband’s family. By appointing more and more female teachers, we are indirectly addressing the issue of improving female literacy also.
The proposed solutions to this are
Increase the percentage of intake of female teachers from 25% to 60%. This way more lady teachers would be eligible for getting selected.
As per existing Government policy, 50% of vacancies for female teachers seats are reserved for people from Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste and Back ward classes. Since it is extremely difficult to fill these vacancies as we do not have many education female teachers in these communities, these vacancies need to be opened up for teachers from general merit. Government could open a reserved vacancy for a period of 3 years and then appoint a teacher from General Merit.
Role of Industry Associations/Non Governmental Organizations/Civil Society Organizations
Role of Non Governmental Organization’s
India is unable to fulfill the need of compulsory education for the children of up to the age of 14. India is still struggling with problems to improve the quality of education and fixing the inefficiencies in the schooling system.
The NGO’s which are currently available in India are not sufficient to cater the need for out of school children e.g. working children , street children , slum children , children of migrant families and tribal children.
Governmental and NGO’s estimates vary on the number of child laborers, NGO’s estimates are more than double than those of government. The government data collection does not include the unrecognized colonies, school-less habitations and hamlets. It is recommended to use the NGOs and other independent bodies to develop reliable estimates of children who are out of school.
It is important to curb the drop-out and increase the enrolments in education. It is evident from the experiments conducted by NGO’s the quality of education for school based initiatives requires significant improvement. The no of teachers needs to be improved and quality of teachers needs to be improved substantially.
The government of India should partner with NGO’s to achieve the goal of universal elementary education.
The NGO’s successful in India with the objectives are as follows
M. Venkatarangiya Foundation with the objective of abolition of child labor through education
Pratham Mumbai education foundation with the objective of low cost early childhood education and universalization of pre-primary and primary education in a metropolis
Bodh Shiksha samiti with the objective of appropriate schooling for urban poor
Rishi valley rural education centre with the objective of multi-grade , multi level classes
Eklavya with the objective of pedagogical renewal through academic and administrative restructuring.
Centre for Education management and development with the objective of school improvement through management inputs
NGO’s have worked extensively in developing new teaching learning methodologies. The teacher training models developed by NGO’s should be evaluated by District Institutes of Training (DIET) and should be adapted. The government should identify the NGO’s which are performing excellently in each state and should establish partnership to share/replicate their models across the country rather than implementing them in isolation.
Role of Industry Associations
Government has to enhance the Public Private Partnership (PPP) across all the states to leverage the expertise of the private organizations for enhancing the literacy programs in primary education. The private organizations in return receive the fee from government as per the criteria defined by government.
Existing Public Private Partners in India include
Government aided schools
Residential schools in Andhra Pradesh
Adarsh schools in Punjab
Schools in Rajasthan
Types of Public Private Partnership in School Education
Provision of Infrastructure (Private Financing Initiative)
Provision of support services
Infrastructure , support services and educational services
Management services
Operational services
Professional services
In India very few states have implemented the PPP, government can
partner with the private organization and improve the
Infrastructure facilities
Quality of education
Student retention rate
Teacher retention rate
Increasing the enrolment of girl in primary education
Decrease in drop out of student rate in primary education
Achieve the stipulated Pupil Teacher Ratio
Government will have significant benefits of Private Public Partnership, Optimal utilization of Budget, Improved Efficiency, The risk is shared between the private sector and the government, the implementation time can be reduced, and the cost of operations can be reduced significantly as many private organizations would be competing. The performance of the schools can be easily measured as it is managed by private partners and the government can monitor the performance and release the payments accordingly. The government monitors the quality and the payments are tied up with quality managed by the private partners.
METHODOLOGY
In our research on this topic, we found lot of resource articles throwing wide spectrum of datum on the subject matter. Most of these sources indicate importance of elementary education, Government/Non-Govt initiates, and progress so far, author’s views but none relates these views with justifiable data on most of the occasions. Also, in some cases source of data is unknown. That’s when we found reliable source of data in DISE.
DISE district Information for Education was developed as part of National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). DISE program has successfully created comprehensive database on elementary education in India, collecting the data from all states and UTs (union territories). DISE keeps updating the data year-on-year basis and is part of government initiative to formerly track the progress of SSA.
DISE data collation process is established at grass root level, where CRC (cluster resource centre) in each region is directly interfacing with schools on the ground. CRC is responsible for collation of relevant data from each of the schools in its jurisdiction, which is fed into DISE software.
DISE software has been running in all districts throughout India and data are being shared every year with planners, administrators, policy makers, educationists and various users like us.
In this research we have used DISE reports for year 2007-2008, which consists of data classified in five major categories. These are namely
a) School based indicators à the data on number of schools, primary, upper primary, number of classrooms etc
b) Facility Indicators à Data providing details on availability of various facilities like drinking water, toilets, play grounds, etc in schools
c) Enrolment based Indicators à Data on total enrolments, gender ratio, disable pupil etc
d) Teacher Related Indicators à Data on number of teachers, qualification, training provided, permanent Vs contract based teachers etc
e) Evaluated and analyzed the current activities performed by various NGO’s in India on the primary education, provided the gaps which government can act upon improving on the infrastructure , quality of education , student retention rate , teacher retention rate.
For the mid day meal scheme, the references include articles from Frontline, India’s national news magazine and other web sources quoted in references.
As you can see later in the report, all our findings, views and recommendations leading to ten point agenda are based on various data indicators collated consistently over last 5 years through DISE. We have referred to this data with respect to topic or agenda in question; carefully choosing the tables among various data points and brings out the inference through careful analysis.
We have referred resources mentioned in the reference section.
Order Now