INSTITUTIONAL ADMINISTRATION
Role of head of Institution The head of an institution occupies a pivotal position. Much of the initiative and skill required for day-to-day administration as well as the dynami- sm and foresight needed for planning and appraisal of activities come from him. Selection of the right type of individual for this important position is, therefore, of vital importance for successful function- ing of an educational institution. The head of an institution has to be an able organiser, efficient administrator, tactful in handling men and matters and above all, a professionally competent person. This is true of heads of educational institutions of all levels-schools and colleges.
The head of an educational institution has to be a guide and a counsellor to the teaching staff under his charge and he should be in a position to provide the necessary expertise in regard to curriculum development, teaching methods, evaluation etc. He has to take the role of an effective and democra- tic supervisor. The headmaster or the principal must be in a position to look for the best in every- thing and exploit all possible means for better functioning of the institution. He should keep healthy contact with not only the members of diffe- rent departments of his institution but also with the public. In a way, the principal or the headmaster is, the representative of the community for the benefit of which the school or the college exists. He is, at the same time, a representative of the state which finances his institution. It is, therefore, the primary duty of the head of an institution to see that each rupee spent out of public funds is utilised for the purpose for which it is intended.
A well-knit and systematic scheme of work alone can help in the successful implementation of the plan of an institution. There may be different classes and departments in the institution, each one of them claiming a certain amount of expertise in the respective areas. But it has to be emphasized that each one of them forms part of the total insti- tutional effort. It is the overall performance of the institution which determines its success. Close coordination and understanding between different departments and units of the institution is, there- fore, of paramount significance to any institution. The head of the institution, by virtue of his posi- tion, is responsible for effecting such co-ordination.
Fixing the Strength of Teachers There are norms laid down by the state govern- ment for fixing the number of teachers in educa- tional institutions of different levels. At primary stage there is provision of one teacher in the first year and an additional teacher in the second year. In the case of junior high schools for boys, five teachers are provided in every new school. For junior high schools upgraded from primary schools, three teachers are made available in the first year, one additional teacher in the second year and again one additional teacher in the third year. For upgraded junior high schools for girls, it is two teachers in the first year and one additional teacher in the second year and again one additional tea- cher in the third year.
For government high schools, there is one head- master, seven L.T. teachers (five in literary group and seven in literary/science group) and five C.T. teachers. For an intermediate college, there is one principal, ten lecturers (literary: six and scientific/ literary : ten) in addition to the high school stage staff minus the headmaster. The strength of the teachers is increased in accordance with the enrol- ment.
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As regards non-government high schools and intermediate colleges, there are headmasters and principals respectively. There is one qualified teacher for each subject at intermediate level. The number of teachers allowed for primary classes (I-IV) is at the rate of one per section. At the middle (VI-VIII) and secondary (VI-X) stages one and a half teacher per section is sanctioned.
There is provision for enforcement of norms in the institutions run by local bodies and private managements. Elementary institutions of local bodies having been taken over by the Basic Shiksha Parishad of the state, the norms are enforced by the parishad through the zila basic shiksha adhi- kari. In the case of higher secondary institutions run by local bodies, the norms are enforced by the district inspectors of schools and the regional inspec- tress of girls schools. In higher secondary schools managed by private agencies the norms are enfor- ced by district inspectors of schools and the regi- onal inspectress of girls schools while disbursing the salaries of the staff. In respect of aided junior high schools, the norms are enforced while calculating the grants-in-aid to the concerned institutions.
Promotion of Talent Among Pupils A state-level science competition for students of the state is organised at the State Institute of Science Education. The competitors produce models, charts and essays on scientific innovations. A selection committee constituted for the purpose interviews them. There are 10 cash prizes of Rs. 103/- each for students of higher secondary schools. As for graduate, post-graduate and bache- lor of engineering students, there are 7 cash prizes of Rs. 200/- each or a set of books worth Rs. 200/- each. Three scholarships of Rs. 50/- each are awarded to meritorious students under the Govern- ment of India "Cultural Talent Search Scholar ships" scheme. Special scholarship schemes for the meritorious and talented students are also in force. Thus at the end of class-V, a special examination is held for students of each district of the state and scholarships are award on the basis of the result. Another special examination is held after class VIII and scholarships of values ranging from Rs. 10 to Rs. 100/- are award. On the basis of the high school examination, a large number of merit scholarships are given at the intermediate stage.
Pupil Welfare Services A mid-day meal scheme known as `Balahar Yojana' has been introduced for the benefit of stu- dents studying in primary schools in 35 districts of the state and 15 lakh children of about 9,450 primary schools are benefitting from the scheme. The scheme is run by the director of education through an assistant director with food assistance from CARE, an American voluntary organisation. Each child gets 90 gms. of ration per day for 180 days a year. The overhead expenses are borne by the state government. At the district level, the district basic shiksha adhikari is in overall charge of the scheme. He is assisted by the deputy ins- pector of schools, deputy inspector of girls schools, sub-divisional-inspectors of schools and assistant inspectors of girls schools, who inspect the Balahar Yojana schools along with other schools under their charge. Apart from these arrange- ments, the CARE maintains its own office in Lucknow with an administrator, assistant commissioner, field officers and office assistants.
Medical check up of students in the state is also done. The facility of the medical check up is available to students of higher secondary schools studying in cities. A medical fee at the rate of 25 paise per student for 4 months in a year is charged from students of 14 cities and deposited in government treasury under the medical health budget. The scheduled caste and tribe students are, however, exempted from this charge. In 14 cities of the state, there is a full-time school health officer for the students of all recognised aided and unaided institutions. In the remaining places, the municipal or the state health officer performs the same duties.
Transport facility is usually provided in the case of girls schools in the form of school bus (this facility is available in about 30% of girls higher secondary schools of the state). Canteen or night study facilities are not available except in some cities in the state.
As regards higher education, book banks, scho- larships, welfare grants and student aid funds are available in practically every big institution of the state. Besides, in some non-government colleges there are dispensaries and canteens. The girls colleges in particular have transport facilities. Evening classes are run in some institutions for the
36 benefit of students who are employed during day time. It should be added that provision of such facilities is purely an internal matter of the institu- tions. They, therefore, vary from institution to institution.
Sharing of Facilities Cooperative action among educational institu- tions is prevalent in the state to a fair degree. For instance, new ideas in the field of education and innovations in techniques of teaching are dissemi- nated through summer institutes, seminars, work- shops, short training programmes and educational exhibitions etc. organised by the special institutes of the department as well as those organised at the regional and district levels. Publications are also brought out for the purpose. Sharing of expertise and experiences is achieved through discussions and demonstration lessons too held at the time of panel inspections as well as in state level con- ferences of educational officers. Though no gene- ral guidelines have been issued regarding the sharing of facilities, circulars to this effect are issued from time to time as the necessity arises for pooling the resources of various institutions.
Parent-Teacher Associations and Students
Unions Parent teacher associations are formed at cer- tain places to enlist the cooperation of parents for the improvement of educational institutions and instruction imported there. The meetings orga- nised for the purpose are of great help in promot- ing communication between the parents and the institutions of their wards. They have also helped in enlisting the support of the community for the development of the institutions apart from provid- ing an outlet for public grievances concerning the institutions. The suggestions made by these associa- tions are duly considered in the directorate and are processed through deliberations among the officers in seminars and conferences. If found feasible and sound, these suggestions are incorpora- ted in official decisions and are implemented.
Almost all secondary education institutions have students' unions or committees. The student representatives give their considered opinions on items that concern them like mid-day meals, games and sports or any other co-curricular activity. There is also a committee having students on it to guide the heads of institutions about the use of boy's fund.
Distribution of Heads of Educational
Institutions A study made about the distribution of head- masters and principals of recognised schools as on 31st December 1973, other than pre-primary schools, has brought out some interesting facts. These are contained in tables I-IX.
It will be noted that in Uttar Pradesh out of 77,214 heads of recognised schools, other than pre- primary schools, only 14,924 were females. This proportion was lowest in the case of private aided institutions. As regards qualifications of the heads, 670 headmasters of primary schools had post- graduate qualifications. Of them, 6 were in posses- sion of a doctorate degree. In the case of middle schools, similarly, 1,863 and 16 headmasters had postgraduate and Ph.D. qualifications respectively. Of the 31,365 headmasters and principals of secon- dary schools and intermediate colleges together, 52 had a doctorate degree.
Table III indicates that 15,286 headmasters and principals had previously worked in allied fields of administration like inspection of schools or vice- principalship or assistant headmastership. The remaining 80% or so had generally been selected out of the teachers without any administrative experience. In so far as the period of continuous service in the same institution is concerned, the largest number of heads of recognised schools con- tinued to work in the same institution for periods which ranged from 6-14 years. Table V indicated that largest number of headmasters/principals of schools of any level had functioned as heads for less than 10 years. Table VI confirms that bulk of the headmasters and principals of schools of any level and under any management were permanent hands and not quasi-permanent, temporary or ad hoc appointees.
While studying the activity profile of recognised schools as given in table VII, it is noted that a very large number of them in the state spend bulk of their time in teaching classes and not in meeting parents, or doing office work or supervision, or attending to disciplinary matters. Table VIII indicates that a good portion of the heads of
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secondary schools in the state have been sharing work with their teachers in finance and accounts office work, supervision of teaching and day-to-day administration. Table IX gives information about the fact that there were not many schools which took advantage of the scheme of in-service training in the state, for only 5,297 schools out of 77,214 could depute one or more of their teachers for the training during a whole year. This confirms the fact, indicated earlier, that the facilities for in- service training in the state are inadequat. They may also be lacking in sufficient motivation for the teachers or their schools to take advantage of the available facilities.
Table I
Distribution of Heads of Institutions According to Management and Sex
Government Local Boys Private Total
Stage Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Primary 46,915 10,325 794 216 3,260 739 50,969 11,280
Middle 4,383 2,359 117 51 3,165 525 7,665 2,935
Secondary
including
Intermediate 246 159 85 32 3,325 517 3,656 709
Total 51,544 12,843 996 299 9,750 1,782 62,290 14,924
Table II
Distribution of Heads of Institutions According to Higher Academic
Qualifications Possessed
Qualifications
Stage Below Middle Matric Higher Inter- Graduate Post Ph. D. Any Total
Middle School Secondary mediate Graduate Other
Primary 974 37,626 16,271 165 5,007 1,484 664 6 51 62,249
Middle 27 1,968 2,215 49 2,188 2,271 1,863 16 3 10,600
Secondary
including
Intermediate - - 31 7 38 337 3,874 52 26 31,365
Total 1,001 39,594 18,517 221 7,233 4,093 6,401 74 80 77,214
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Table III
Distribution of Heads of Institutions According to Administrative and
Other Experiences
Number with Experience as
Stage
Inspector Vice-Principal Headmaster Any Other
Asstt. Headmaster Functionary
Primary 3,683 8,167 62,249 96
Middle 739 1,407 10,600 50
Secondary including
Intermediate 550 740 4,365 65
Total 4,972 10,314 77,214 211
Table IV
Distribution of Heads of Institutions According to Number of Years of Continuous Service in the Same Institution
Number of Years Primary Middle Secondary including All of Service Intermediate Stages
Less than one 5,651 1,830 389 7,870
2-3 7,315 2,140 523 9,978
4-5 6,540 1,413 442 8,395