ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Universalisation of Elementary Education 5.1.1 Provision of free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 years is a directive principle of state policy. Recognising the need for literate population and provi- sion of elementary education as a crucial input for nation building, the policy of the Government has been to provide free and compulsory education to all children atleast upto the elementary stage. The resolve was spelt out unequivocally and emphatically in the National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 and the Programme of Action (POA) 1992.
5.1.2 The target for the VIII five year plan has been divided into the following three broad parameters:
Universal access i) Universal enrolment of all children, including girls and persons belonging to SC/ST;
ii) Provision of primary school within one km. of walking distance and facility of non-formal education for school drop-outs, working children and girls who cannot attend formal schools;
iii) Improvement of ratio of upper primary to primary schools from the existing 1:4 to 1:2;
Universal Retention iv) Reduction of dropout rate between class I to V and I to VIII from the existing 46% and 60% to 20% and 40% respectively;
Universal Achievement v) Achievement of minimum levels of learning by almost all children at the primary level, and introduc- tion of this concept at the upper primary stage.
Progress over the years 5.1.3 Concerted efforts towards UEE have resulted in manifold increase in institutions, teachers and students as shown in Table below:
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No of Institutions (in lakhs)
1950-51 1993-94
Primary Schools
( Classes IN ) 2.10 5.73
Upper Primary Schools:
Classes VI-VIII) 0.13 1.55
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2.23 7.28
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No of Teachers (in lakhs)
Primary Schools :
( Classes IN ) 5.38 17.03
Upper Primary Schools:
Classes VI-VIII) 0.36 10.80
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5.74 27.83
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Gross Enrolment
1950-51 1993-94
Primary Stage
Total Enrolment (in millions): 19.2 108.2
Gross Enrolment Ratio(%-age) 43.1 104.5
Upper Primary Stage
Total Enrolment (in millions): 3.1 39.9
Gross Enrolment Ratio(%-age) 12.0 67.7
5.1.4 As a result of this growth, Indian elementary education has become one of the largest education systems in the world, providing accessibility within 1 km. of walking distance to. 8.25 lakh habita- tions covering 94% of the country's population. Growth in enrolment during the last decade has brought enrolment rates close to 100% at primary stage.
5.1.5 In the endeavour to increase enrolment and achieve the target of UEE, all state governments have abolished tution fees in the government, local body and aided schools upto the upper primary level.
5.1.6 While the gross enrolment ratios (GER) at the primary stage in the country as a whole and in most of its states exceed 100 per cent there are quite a few states where the ratio is considerably lower. These include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan,
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Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya. At the upper primary stage these states and in addition, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim have GERs lower than the national average. Most of these states have literacy rates lower than the national average. There is thus a strong regional dimension of UEE.
5.1.7 The Indian experience encompasses the entire Third World experience. At one end we have states such as Kerala which has achieved universal literacy as well as UEE in terms of school participation - though not in terms of learning achievement with social indicators as good as the best among the Third World, if not the Scandinavian countries. On the other extreme, we have states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh with indicators as worse as Sub Saharan Africa.
5.1.8 The problem gets more complicated as the drop-out rates, though declining, continue to be high. Nearly half the children who enter Class I drop out before reaching Class V, and two-thirds of the children drop-out before reaching Class VIII. Regional dispar- ities also abound in rates of the dropouts.
Gender Disparities 5.2.1 As with any educational indicator, gender disparities are conspicuous in regard to enrolment and retention. Girls' enrolment has grown at the primary stage from 5.4 million in 1950-51 to 46.4 million in 1993-94 and at the tipper primary stage from 0.5 million to 15.7 million. The rate of growth of enrolment of girls has been higher than that of boys but disparities still persist - girls still account for only 45.7 per cent of the enrolment at the primary stage and 37.73 per cent at the upper primary stage. The drop-out rates of girls at the primary as well as the upper primary stage are higher than those of boys.
5.2.2 Regional disparities are also conspicuous. High female literacy states (i.e., those above 50 per cent) have by and large universalised primary enrolments among girls. Even in regard to upper primary enrolment Kerala, Goa, Pondicherry and Lakshadweep fare very well. In states with medium female literacy status (40-50 per cent ) enrolment of girls appears to be satisfactory at the primary level. The situation in low female literacy states (20-40 per cent) causes concern. These states have more than half of the country's popula- tion, with just four of them (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) accounting for 40 per cent of the country's population.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes 5.3.1 According to the 1991 census, the population of Scheduled Castes (SCs) was 138.12 million (16.33 per cent) and that of Sched- uled Tribes (STs) 67.8 million (8.01 per cent) of the country's popu- lation.
5.3.2 Both SC and ST populations are not homogeneous target groups in all respects. There are wide variations between different SC and ST groups regionally. Thus SC girls in Kerala are likely to be better placed than non-SC boys in some of the more backward states and dis- tricts.
5.3.3 Because of the affirmative policies of the government, the enrolment of SCs and STs has increased considerably at the primary stage. The participation of SCs and STs is
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now more or less in proportion to their share in population at the primary level. Drop-outs, though declining over the years, are significantly large. Gender disparities are very conspicuous among SCs and STs also.
II. Strategy Frame 5.4.1 The NPE,1986, as updated in 1992, provides for several key strategies which include:
a. An emphasis on retention and achievement rather than merely on enrolment to overcome the problem of school drop-outs.
b. The introduction of a wide-reaching, systematic Non-Formal Education programme as an integral component of the UEE strategy. The target groups for NFE include working children, girls and children from other disad- vantaged or marginalised sections to whom NFE can offer flexibility in timing and pace of learning.
c. A new perspective for planning which calls for a shift in focus from educationally backward States to educationally backward Districts.
d. Introduction of Minimum Levels of Learning (MLLs) in schools to improve learner's achievement. Micro- planning will provide the frame-work of universal access and universal participation while MLLs would be the strategy for universal achievement.
e. Addressing the more difficult aspects of access, particularly access to girls, disadvantaged groups and out-of-school children;
f. Improving school effectiveness;
g. Strengthening the alternatives to schooling, particularly the non-formal education system;
h. Stressing the participative processes whereby the local community facilitates participation, achievement and school effectiveness;
i. Toning up teacher competence, training and motiva- tion;
j. Stressing learner competence and achievement;
k. Stressing the need for improved teaching/learning materials;
l. Overhauling of planning and management in respect of both routine and innovative areas
m. Convergence between elementary education and related services such as ECCE and school health.
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5.4.2 Consequently, the strategies for the Eighth Plan adopt a disaggregated approach, with the focus on preparation of district- specific, population-specific plans for UEE within the broad strategy frame of micro-planning through people's participation and introduc- tion of MLLs in schools to improve learner achievement.
Content, Process and Achievement Levels 5.5.1 Recognising the need to provide all children access to education of comparable standard, National Policy on Education 1986, recommended laying down of Minimum Levels of Learning for primary classes. A committee was set up in 1990 under the Chairmanship of Dr. R.H. Dave to define learning outcomes in three subjects, namely, Language, Mathematics and Environmental Studies. Prior to this, NCERT had evolved a national curricular framework and the minimum learning continuum based on the experience of Primary Education Curriculum Renewal Project. In recent years, current curriculum is being analysed and efforts are being made to make it more functional, relevant and achievable. Prof. Yash Pal Committee which went into these issues recently felt that the existing curriculum is too heavy and the burden of non-comprehension and over load of content are forcing the students to resort to rote memorisation. The Committee has stressed that emphasis should be on concept formation rather than on content.
5.5.2 The issues of content vs concept, understanding vs rote memorisation, unachievable content load vs achievable set of competencies have been integrated into the new Minimum Levels of Learning approach.
5.5.3 Minimum Levels of Learning have been specified in terms of competencies expected to be mastered by every child by the end of a particular class. The emphasis is on:
(a) relevance and functionality in primary education.
(b) lightening the curriculum load by emphasising competencies rather than content.
(c) ensuring acquisition of basic competencies and skills;
(d) promoting mastery learning not only by the brighter students but by all children in the class;
(e) introduction of continuous and comprehensive evaluation in the class room in order to give teachers a diagnostic tool and facilitate remedial teaching. 19.
5.5.4 Following are the major activities under the programme:
(a) Adaptation of MLLs by the State Govts and transla- tion into the regional languages.
(b) Conducting pre-test to ascertain existing levels of achievement.
(c) Orientation of teachers enabling them to adopt activity oriented child centred and competency based teaching learning process.
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(d) Review of existing textbooks and preparation of competency based textbooks and workbooks.
(e) Preparation of handbooks for teachers;
(f) Developing competency based teaching learning aids;
(g) Preparation of competency based test items.
(h) Implement a system of continuous and comprehensive evaluation.
(i) Emphasis to be placed on identifying learning levels, learning difficulties leading to remedial teach- ing.
5.5.5 The programme is being initiated in the current year throughout the country with the help of Voluntary Agencies, Research Institutions SCERTs and District Institutes of Education and Training. As on date 12 states are implementing the programme through 100 DIETs and would be gradually expanded to cover the entire elementary school system by 2000 A.D. Since this would be a key component in the DPEP, more intensive work would be taken up in these districts.
5.5.6 Simultaneously the MLLs are being laid down for the upper primary stage by a national committee chaired by Prof. R.H. Dave.
Non-Formal Education Programme 5.6.1 Despite considerable expansion of formal system of educa- tion, the achievement of UEE goals remain a distant dream as a large group of children remain outside the formal system due to various socioeconomic constraints. In order to reach this large segment of marginalised children, the Government of India, Department of Educa- tion has been running, since 1979-80, a programme of non-formal educa- tion system for children of 6-14 age-group who have remained outside the formal system. These include dropouts of the formal schools, children from habitations without schools, working children, children who assist in performing domestic chores like fetching fuel, fodder, water, attending to siblings, grazing cattle etc. and girls who are unable to attend formal schools.
5.6.2 The National Policy on Education, 1986 and Programmes of Action 1992 envisage a large systematic programme of NFE for those who cannot attend the full day schools. It assumes that if the essential requirements for running a good programme are fulfilled, NFE can result in provision of education comparable in quality with formal schooling. It visualises NFE as child centered environment-oriented system to meet the diverse needs of comparatively deprived sections. Decentralised community participation through Village Education Com- mittees in planning, running, overseeings the NFE programme has been Considered crucial for its success.
Coverage 5.6.3 Although the focus of the programme is on the educationally backward States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunchal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir,
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Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, U.P. and West Bengal, it also covers urban slums, hilly tribal and desert areas and projects for education of working children in other States as well. The programme is, at present, in operation in 20 States/UTs.
5.6.4 Strategy
a) Condensed course of about two years duration;
b) Part-time instructions at a time/place convenient to lerners in small groups;
c) Part time honorary instructor/supervisor locally recruited and trained;
d) Emphasis on flexibility and decentralisation of management;
e) Use of curriculum and teaching-learning material comparable to the formal system and relevant to local environment and learners needs.
f) Testing and certification of NFE Students to enable their entry into formal system.
5.6.5 The programme is implemented through State Governments as well as Voluntary Organisations. The Central Assistance to State Government is provided on sharing basis i.e., 60% for Co-educational centres and 90% for exclusively girls centres. The Central assistance to NGOs for running NFE Centres and Experimental and Innovative Projects is provided on 100% basis.
Monitoring and Evaluation 5.6.6 The programme of NFE is being monitored through quarterly progress reports, periodic evaluations conducted by Joint Evaluation Teams and field visits of Central Government and State Governments Officials. Moreover, 7 external agencies evaluated the programme in 8 States viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. On the basis of the feed back received, remedial action is being taken for effective implemen- tation of the programme. It is proposed to decentralise monitoring, appraisal and supervision of NFE programme. A system of concurrent evaluation of the programme is propose to be evolved.
implementation in 1994-95 5.6.7 In the state sector, grant amounting to Rs.94.25 crores has, so far, been sanctioned to 14 States/UTs for running 2.26 lakhs NFE centers in the year 1994-95. Under Voluntary sector, grants amounting to Rs.16.69 crores have been sanctioned to over 425 voluntary agencies for running about 29,000 NFE centres and to 37 voluntary agencies for implementing experimental and innovative projects for achieving the UEE. Against the budget allocation of Rs. 131.27 crore, an expendi- ture of Rs.110.94 crore has, so far, been incurred and the remaining funds will be utilised by the end of the financial year. In view of the special emphasis on girls education, the number of exclusively girls centres have been increased to 99,252 which accounts for 44% of the total centres. The estimated enrolement capacity of the programme is about 63 lakh children.