ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) 4.1.1 Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) is a constitutional mandate. Article 45 of the Constitution stipulates, as a Directive Principle of State Policy, that "the State shall endeavor to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years." Para 5. 12 of the NPE says, "The New Education Policy will give the highest priority to solving the problem of children dropping out of school and will adopt an array of meticulously formulated strategies based on microplanning, and applied at the grass-roots level all over the country, to ensure children's retention at school. This effort will be fully coordinated with the network of non-formal education. It shall be ensured that all children who attain the age of about 11 years by 1990 will have had five years of schooling, or its equivalent through the non-formal stream. Likewise, by 1995 all children will be provided free and compulsory education upto 14 years of age".
4.1.2 Indeed, over the years, the Centre and the States have made considerable investments in promoting elementary education. Facilities in elementary education have grown from about 2.34 lakh to 6.94 lakh schools, enrolment from 22.28 million to 129.4 million children (Table 4.1) and outreach of primary education facilities to over 94 per cent of the rural population within 1 km. walking distance of their houses. over the last five years in pursuant of the NPE, considerable effort has been made to focus attention or the quality of education being provided by this vast and possibly the largest, educational network of the world. Several schemes have been launched to improve retentions and reduce disparities; provide basic minimum facilities to schools; open non-formal education centres for part-time education of school dropouts and working children; improve teacher training facilities and teacher effectiveness; lay down Minimum Levels of Learning (MLLs); decentralise educational management and involve the community in the running of schools. Most of these schemes are ambitious in target and scope, and require sustained efforts and considerable resource support to make an impact. The year 1991-92 was devoted to continuing the schemes of Operation Blackboard, Non-Formal Education, and Reorganising and Restructuring of Teacher Education, as well as building up a resource base and structures for new efforts for improvement of learning achievement by laying down of MLLs, community participation in village level educational programmes and area specific, Universalisation of Primary Education (UPE) projects. The year also saw the Eighth Plan targets and strategies for elementary education being discussed and finalised so as to make UEE a reality by 1995.
20
Table 4. 1
Expansion of Elementary Education since 1950-51
1950-51 1989-90
Number of primary schools 2.20 lakh 5.50 lakh
Number of middle schools 0.14 lakh 1.44 lakh
Enrolment in classes I to V 19.15 million 97.3 million
of boys 13.77 " 57.8 "
of girls 5.38 " 39.5 "
Enrolment in classes VI to VIII 3.13 " 32.1 "
of boys 2.59 " 20.3 "
of girls 0.54 " 11.8 "
Enrolment in classes I to VIII 22.28 " 129.4 "
of boys 16.36 " 78.1 "
of girls 5.92 " 51.3 "
Operation Blackboard 4.2.1 The Scheme of Operation Blackboard, started in 1987-88 to bring about substantial improvement in facilities in Primary schools with the aim of improving retention, has three interdependent components, namely (i) Provision of a building comprising at least two reasonably large all-weather rooms with a deep verandah and separate toilet facilities for boys and girls (ii) at least two teachers in every school, as far as possible one of them a woman; and (iii) provision of essential teaching learning material including blackboards, maps, charts, toys and equipment for work experience. Funds for construction of school buildings are provided mainly from rural development schemes. Funds for the other two components are provided by this Department. The scheme envisages coverage of primary schools in all the blocks/municipal areas in the country in a phased manner.
4.2.2. In the period 1987-88 to 1990-91, the scheme was implemented in 69 per cent of the blocks in the country comprising 64 per cent primary schools. An assistance of Rs. 523.41 crore was released by this Department. Of this Rs. 150.09 crore was released in 1990-91. There is a provision of Rs. 100 crore for Operation Blackboard during 1991-92. The scheme would continue during the Eighth Plan till completion.
4.2.3 In order to move towards a position where every class has a class room and a teacher, it has been proposed to expand
21
Operation Blackboard during the Eighth Plan to provide a third teacher and a third class room to every primary school where enrolment warrants it. Central assistance will be provided for the third teacher, while State Government will be expected to find resources for the construction of class rooms from the Jawahar Rozgar Yojna and State Plan budgets.
4.2.4 Data on achievements under Operation Blackboard till 1991-92 is presented in Table 4.2.
Table 4.2
Operation Blackboard : Achievements
1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92
anticipa-
ted by
31.3.92
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Amount spent
(Rs. in crores) 110.61 135.73 126.98 150.09 168.44
Amount committed
by States for
school buildings
(Rs. in crores) 300.00 340.00 64.60 140.00 140.00
No. of States/
UTs covered 27 22 22 25 15
No. of blocks
covered 1703 1795 578 343 1000
No. of schools
covered (in lakhs) 1.13 1.40 0.52 0.39 0.76
Percentage of
primary schools
covered 21.00% 26.40% 9.90% 7.35% 9.22%
Post of primary
teachers
sanctioned 36891 36327 5274 14379 22032
Non-Formal Education 4.3.1 The role of non-formal part-time education in providing education to working children, and children in habitations without schools has been recognized since the Education Commission of 1964-66. During 1979-80, the scheme of Non-Formal Education (NFE) was introduced as an alternative strategy to
22
impart education to children, who for various reasons cannot attend formal schools. The NPE envisaged a large and systematic programme of NFE to achieve UEE. The scheme was revised in its content and emphasis in 1987-88. Although its focus is on the ten educationally backward States, namely, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, it has been extended to cover urban slums, hilly, tribal & desert areas and areas with concentration of working children in the other States as well. Financial responsibility is borne by the Central and State Governments in the ratio of 50:50 for general (coeducational) and 90:10 for girls NFE centres. Assistance to the extent of 100 per cent is provided to voluntary agencies for running NFE centres and for experimental and innovative projects.
4.3.2 The (revised) NFE scheme has been visualized as child- centred, environment-oriented, flexible system to meet the educational needs of the comparatively deprived geographical areas and socioeconomic sections of society. other features of the scheme are its organisational flexibility, relevance of curriculum, diversity in learning activities to relate them to the learner's needs and de- centralized management. The programme is being implemented on a project basis, generally co-terminus with the community development Block comprising about 100 NFE Centres.
4.3.3 Particulars of achievements under the programme during the year 1991-92 (anticipated by 31.3.1992) are given in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3
Non-Formal Education : Achievements
1991-92 (anticipated by
31.3.1992)
1. Amount spent 50.00
(Rs. in crores)
2. NFE Centres brought 2.72
to function (in
lakhs) cumulative.
3. No. of exclusive 81,607
girl centres
sanctioned (cumulative).
4. No. of voluntary 419
organisations appro-
ved for NFE programme
(cumulative).
23
1991-92 (anticipated by
31.3.1992)
5. NFE Centres brought 27,342
to function by
voluntary agencies
(cumulative).
6. Estimated enrolment 68.00
(in lakhs)
7. No. of experimental 49
innovative projects
approved (cumulative).
8. No. of District Resource
Units 19
8. No. of States/UTs. 18
covered.
4.3.4 During the year 1991-92, action has been initiated to improve the technical aspect of the scheme. The NCERT and voluntary agencies have been involved in the development of teaching and learning materials of a standard quality in conformity with MLLs designed to suit learner's needs. Efforts are on to prepare primers on the Improved Pace & content of learning (IPCL) model used in the Total Literacy Campaigns (TLCs) These will be developed in accordance with a four semester pattern for NFE, with a separate primer for each semester.
4.3.5 A project has been sanctioned to the NCERT for the development of training module and is being implemented in the States. Under this project the NCERT trained key persons nominated by the State Governments, who in turn have trained master trainers within the State. The master trainers include the NFE Project Officers who in turn are responsible for training the NFE Supervisors and instructors. In this way multi-level training personnel have been made available to provide technical and administrative support to NFE field functionaries.
4.3.6 Workshops were held on evaluation of NFE. About twenty research institutes have been addressed to undertake external evaluation, on a sample basis, of the NFE programme with reference to data thrown up by the existing internal monitoring system. With a view to undertaking evaluation on NFE projects being run by voluntary agencies, Joint Evaluation Teams (JETs) with representatives of the State Government, Central Government and one non-official member have been constituted. They are to complete evaluation of projects by March, 1992.
24
4.3.7 on the recommendation of the Working Group on Early Childhood Education & Elementary Education the revision of the scheme of NFE is under active consideration of the Ministry. The scheme will be strengthened in its managerial as well as its qualitative aspects in order to achieve the goal of UEE.
Computerised Planning for Education 4.3.8 In the second half of 1988 a project "Computerised Planning for Education" (COPE) was started to develop a Management Information System (MIS) for NFE. After pilot studies the project has been extended to cover the entire State of Madhya Pradesh.
Mahila Samakhya 4.4.1 In pursuance of para 4.2 of the NPE and Chapter 11 of the Programme of Action (POA), Mahila Samakhya was launched in April, 1989. This programme seeks to mobilise rural women for education through Mahila Sanghas in each of the villages concerned. This is a Central Sector scheme where 100 per cent financial assistance is provided to Mahila Samakhya Societies in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat set up under the Chairmanship of the concerned State Education Secretary. As an Indo-Dutch programme it receives 100 per cent assistance from the Government of the Netherlands.
4.4.2 Essentially, the programme revolves around Mahila Sanghas where women are mobilised around issues like access to health, education, water, information about development programmes, general information about their immediate environment, and above all, issues related to their personality and self-image in society. The programme tries to facilitate critical reflection and analysis which would encourage women to take active interest in issues that affect their daily life. The focus of the programme is on generating demand for education and introducing innovative educational inputs for pre- school, nonformal, adult and continuing education. Mahila Shikshan Kendras are also to be set up to enable dropouts from schools and other girls/women to pursue their education in a secure environment.
4.4.3 The progress of the programme so far has been encouraging. Mahila Samakhya is currently operational in 1,500 villages in 10 districts. It is proposed to expand the programme to 20 districts in the three States and 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh in a phased manner in Eighth Plan period.
4.4.4 A joined Indo-Dutch Evaluation was done in November, 1991. This evaluation has been very positive and the team has categorically stated that the Mahila Samakhya programme has been able to reach out to poor rural women especially from SC, ST and minority communities.
25
Bihar Education Project 4.5.1 The Bihar Education Project (BEP) has been conceived as a societal mission for bringing about fundamental change in the basic education system and through it the overall socio-cultural situation.
4.5.2 The BEP will cover all components of basic education and will be expanded in a phased manner to cover 20 districts over a period of five years. The outlay will be Rs. 360 crore of which the UNICEF will contribute Rs. 180 crore, Government of India Rs. 120 crore and Government of Bihar Rs. 60 crore. A simultaneous process of mobilisation and micro- planning characterizes the project. The most important characteristic of the BEP management is a mission mode which pre-supposes a time bound scheme of things in which specific responsibility is attached to institutions, agencies, or individuals. Accordingly, the management of the project has been vested in a state- level autonomous registered body namely `Bihar Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad' (BSPP) which has been constituted having two bodies a Council with the Chief Minister as Chairman, and an Executive Committee with State Education Secretary as its Chairman. Representation of teachers, NGOs, Government of India and institutions of national stature has been secured in the deliberative bodies of BSPP. The executive responsibility vests with the State, Project Director. Meetings of the BSPP and its Executive Committee were held in Patna or) 19th and 20th July, 1991, 12th September, 1991 and 12th December, 1991 respectively. Financial/service regulations were drawn up and support for micro-projects provided through NGOs. District- wise plans of action were developed.
4.5.3 The districts selected in the Report are Ranchi, West Champaran and Rohtas where offices have been set up and pre-project activities such as Literacy Campaign in Ranchi District, work in schools, DIET etc. have been started; workshops to develop a core team of women activists, workshops on developing a teachers manual were held with participation of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) , State Resource Centre (SRC) and District Research Units (DRUs) in the state.
Shiksha Karmi Project 4.6.1 The Shiksha Karmi Project is being implemented since 1987 in Rajasthan with assistance from the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). Its aim is UPE in selected remote and socio-economically backward villages of the State.
4.6.2 The project identifies teacher absenteeism as a major obstacle in achieving the objective of universalisation. It accordingly, envisages substitution of the primary school teacher in single teacher schools by a team of two locally resident educational workers called "Shiksha Karmis". To ensure appointment of local persons, educational qualifications prescribed for teachers are not insisted upon in the selection of
26
Shiksha Karmis. But they are provided training and academic support on a sustained and intensive basis to enable them to function efficiently as teachers. The existing primary school when run by Shiksha Karmis is called a `Day Centre'. Besides, each Shiksha Karmi also runs a `Prehar Pathshala' (Night Centre) for children who cannot attend the Day Centre. The project also lays emphasis on recruitment of female Shiksha Karmis and establishment of Mahila Shiksha Karmi Training Centres in order to prepare local women to function as Shiksha Karmis.
4.6.3 As of 31st December, 1991, the project was being implemented in 359 villages of 33 block units in 30 blocks of 17 districts in the State. The number of Shiksha Karmis was 750 and amongst them, they were looking after 359 Day Centres and 706 Prehar Pathshalas with a total enrolment of 35,795. Another eight block units are proposed to be covered by 31st March, 1992 wherein 1383 Shiksha Karmis are expected to look after 615 Day Centres and 1383 Prehar Pathshalas.