 EQUITY AND DIVERSITY 
(NAVODAYA VIDYALAYAS)

Dr. V.R.P. Sinha, Director, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Seven Bunglows, Versova, Bombay-400061 (20th September, 1990)

- Policy states "Access to education of comparable quality without discrimination on grounds of Caste, Creed. Location or Sex". The grounds should include faith also.

Prof. B. Ganguly, Head, Department of Education in Science & Mathematics and Dean (Academic), NCERT, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi- 110016 (24th September, 1990)

- A proper environment needs to be created for a teacher to do the task of identifying and encouraging talented children. The teacher must be mentally prepared to accept some of his students as more talented than him. Talents go waste because within the family, in the community and In the school they are treated with all conceivable discouragements. Authoritative education., which does not encourage pupil to think and question will never be able to identify or nurture talents.

Prof. B. Ganguly, Head, Department of Education in Science & Mathematics and Dean (Academic), NCERT, Sri Aurobindo, Marg, New Delhi-110016 (24th September, 1990)

- Before passing judgement about Navodaya Vidyalayas, it is presumed that members of the Review Committee have visited these schools. Such visits alone can judge whether it is egalitarian or not. Review Committee may kindly see that NVs are not politically victimised.

- Recommendation regarding common school system is a typical example to show that we often recommend something knowing fully well that this would not materialise.

- If we really plan EDUCATION FOR ALL, there is no need to take separate action for women or minorities or SC/ST.

Dr. H.S. Singha, Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi - (24th September, 1990)

- The suggestion to introduce common school system in a phased manner within 10 years is commendable. However, special schools as for example Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidayalayas, Sainik Schools, Armed Forces Schools etc. should be kept outside the system.

Dr. Ramjee Singh, Professor & Head, Department of Gandhian Thought, Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur - letter dated 29.9.90

- The number of public schools has increased because of the deteriorating standards in Government schools. The commercialisation of `education by charging high fees and taking donations for admission, etc. should be removed by legal measures. Special schools set up by Government, also do not fit in with common school concept. Separate denomination schools must not be encouraged.

Prof. K.L. Chopra, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1st October, 1990)

- National integration on emotional plane being a very fundamental role of the new education policy, lateral movements of teachers and taught should be encouraged. Clearly, a link language must be

mandatory requirement. And, the "Neighbourhood School" concept must be enforced. Further, universalisation of education should automatically imply common standards/principles for the educational system in the whole country. Management of this system could still be localized but it must adhere to nationally agreed politics.

Dr. (Ms.) A. Chandra, Professor, Department of Education & Extension, Faculty of Home Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, University Road, Baroda-390002 (28th September, 1990).

- A variety of measures are required to achieve women's equality through education. There can be more schools for girls or every school can be mixed/co-education school. All girls' schools should be closely watched to maintain them at par with boys' schools in terms of performance and resource allocation. To implement the ideas put under "Education for women's equality" a separate infrastructure may be necessary; at least existing structure will have to be strengthened. Programmes on TV and advertisements should be censored from the angle of gender bias, sex stereotyping and sex violence.

Dr. D.N. Jangira, Professor Special Education, NCERT, Sri Aurobindo marg, New Delhi (18th September, 1990)

- Education of disabled children which remain neglected for long, has not been included in the Perspective Paper. The situation at present is that the percentage of enrolment of disabled children to total enrolment at the elementary stage is 0.07. It reflects the neglect of education to these children during the last four decades.

Dr. U.C. Upadhyay, Vice-Chancellor, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad-224229, Letter dated 20.9.90

- In the field of education focus should, be on providing equity and bringing quality and relevance in education. It may be necessary to provide enough opportunity and resources to weaker institutions to come up nearer to those institutions which are well established.

Dr. H.S. Srivastava, Prof. and Head, NCERT, New Delhi, Letter dated 25th September, 1990

- The suggestion to have a common school system will be difficult to implement in the Indian conditions. The first and the most important attempt in this regard should be the Improvement of poorer schools to bring them at par with the better/public schools.

Prof. J.S. Rajput, Joint Educational Adviser, Ministry of HRD, New Delhi., Letter dated 4.10.90

- The third and fourth features of a flexible school system as mentioned on page 18, Chapter III, are not very clear and need to be spelt out with greater clarity. In the context of the fourth feature, the Committee should consider whether it would instead be worthwhile to recommend a two-shift school in disadvantaged areas, both so that children who cannot attend in one shift are able to attend in the other, and so that the teacher-pupil ratio improves. The recommendation of a 10 year time-frame, to achieve common school system appears somewhat arbitrary in the absence of an analysis of the reasons for non-implementation of the system so far and an assessment of the required resources to implement it now. The exercise regarding requirement and availability of resources should precede laying down of a realistic time-frame.

- The problem presented by unaided schools would need to be dealt with thoroughly if definite action for a common school system is to be taken. Some of the modalities suggested do not adequately take into account the existing situation. For instance, it is to be recognised that schools imparting education "otherwise than in the medium of mother tongue" are generally the English medium ones, urban-based and un-aided. Again, factors such as "early selection process, tution fee, capitation fee, etc." are not true of Government or local body schools' they exist mainly in the un-aided schools which are outside the pale of existing legislation, and will in all likelihood continue to remain unaffected by the intended legislation. Legislation will not in other words, prove an easy or implementable answer.

- With regard to the language issue, a factor that has to be kept in mind is the widely perceived advantage of a familiarity with the English language. This would necessitate a discussion of the provision for more effective teaching of English as a second language in the common schools to make them attractive vis-a-vis un-aided English medium schools.

Shri Mandhusudan Mishra, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Delhi Letter dated 2.10.90

- After every village is provided with a primary school, the common school system will evolve itself at least in the rural and backward areas, because we cannot guarantee the abolition of the public schools.

Shri N. Satyanarayana, President Constructive Forum, 39, Babar Road, New Delhi-110001, Letter dated 8.10.90.

- Free residential schools for all is the best way of giving equal education from root level.

- Education for all can easily be given on cheap lands i.e. in outskirts by gradually disposing of the urban educational properties. The process will fetch thousands of crores of rupees, which can be utilised for free residential schools in outskirts.

- Man and woman are two sides of a coin. So no unwanted and uncalled for argument such as women's equality, women's participation etc. should be encouraged. The concept of gender bias is not understood. But there should never be co-education. Co-education is a negative, destructive and misleading system.

Dr. D.A. Ghanchi, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, North Gujarat University, Patna-384265 - Letter dated 5th October, 1990.

- On an experimental basis selected schools can undertake reaching out functions for drop-outs and left-outs. This experiment, if successful may on the one hand, obviate the need for a special nonformal system, and on the other, add a vital, progressive component to the formal system which has hitherto been untried.

- To encourage gifted students to realise their potential, there should be an in-built provision in the ordinary schools in the form of enrichmental courses, better trained teachers, additional material resources and incentives. Whatever Navodaya Vidayalayas have been established, should be subjected to rigorous evaluation and only those be continued as `Model/Experimental Schools' that

have shown worth. The rest be converted into ordinary schools. The so-called public schools as well as the central schools should be thrown open for pupils from all sections of people, if need be with reservation of seats and liberal funding.

- The Common School System be kept as a distant goal. No legislation need be made to enforce this ideal as it would be neither feasible nor desirable. What we should do is to make our (i.e. Government or Government-aided) schools quality institutions. At the most, the private schools be forced to earmark a certain percentage of seats for children of weaker sections. Even in U.S.A. there is a move to modify, if not do away with, the neighbourhood idea.

Professor Dr. Omkar N. Wakhlu, Consulting Engineering, Buchwara, Old Gangribal Road, Srinagar-190001 - Letter dated 30.9.90

- Let the common school system be brought to the existing level of elitist schools and not vice-versa. Thereby, private schools will easily get merged with common school system.

- Even with the best care taken the merit of students in a common examination may reflect the present social and caste divisions. Therefore, all bright students in large numbers from socially backward sections shall have to be put through special schooling and groomed for competitive examination separately.

Shri M.C. Nanavatty, Consultant, Social Welfare and Development, S- 173, Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi-110048 - Letter dated 1.10.90

- The idea of neighbourhood schools in the social context of Indian society is fraught with many constraints and limitations. Where the

social stratification is caste and class based and where social values are conditioned by religious teachings, the neighbourhood by its very nature becomes an association of people belonging to similar caste or religion. The upper class society live in one centrally situated neighbourhood or in the suburbs and the poor, the deprived and the untouchable, live on the periphery of the village or city areas. Thus by the very nature, the neighbourhood schools become caste or religion based or reflect economic stratification of the rich, the middle and the poor class population. The objective of providing equality of relationship among students and conditioning their out-look to an egalitarian ideal, by sharing the process of learning through neighbourhood based relationship thus, gets defeated.

Prof. S.P. Mukherjee, Dean, Faculty of Science, University College of Science, Calcutta, Letter dated the 1st October, 1990.

- The Common School System be implemented by a massive effort to augment facilities for study and work available in state-aided (or State run) schools and not through disincentives and legislation against the better-equipped public schools. The populist identification of the so-called elitist aberrations in the existing educational system should not be used to cover up deficiencies in `common schools' created and continued by vested interests.

Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai, Director, Centre for Adult Education & Extension, University of Kerala, Kariavattom Campus, Thiruvanathapuram (8.10.1990)

- Navodaya Vidyalaya have certain merits but demerits and operational malpractices outweigh them. As such expansion of the programme is

not warranted. A fair trial may be given to the existing ones before a final decision to abandon the scheme is taken.

19th Annual Conference of Council of Boards of School Education in India., 23, Ashiana Apartments, Pitam Pura, Delhi - (11.10.90)

- Strengthening the common school system can be achieved by (a) ensuring minimum school facilities In all the schools, (b) ensuring community's participation and school becoming accountable to community, (c) ensuring use of mother tongue/regional language as medium of instruction, (d) continuously upgrading the quality of teachers. The concept of school complex and neighbourhood school should considerably strengthen the present schools, thus enabling us to move to a common school system.

Dr. A.C. Banerjee, Professor of Chemistry & Head, Department of Science, Regional College of Education, Mysore (26th September, 1990)

- The concept of comparable quality of education to be provided to all students cannot be feasible for a country of our size with very high illiteracy and different socio-economic and cultural background. Even the most developed countries have not ventured into this proposition. Then what should perhaps be attempted is a minimum standard of education which would be specified and efforts should be made to have the minimum standard In all our educational system. The Government should have political will and sufficient financial resources to provide minimum acceptable standard of education to all sectors particularly for school education.

- Genuine efforts should be made to identify institutions of excellence (not pockets of excellence), to provide all facilities to these institutions, nurture talents and provide enough educational facilities and finance for projects like `research for excellence'.

- It is stated in the perspective paper that the teachers in our present education system are capable to identify talented and creative students. I have definite doubts about this and I am of the opinion that our present school system is meant mainly for the average school children.

- The Navodaya Vidyalayas have been set up with considerable amount of manpower and financial inputs and the Navodaya Vidyalaya should be used as a centre for educational developments of the district/ region and the concept of school to "Open up and Non-formalise itself" should be put into practice in the Navodaya Vidyalayas itself. The Navodaya Vidyalayas were created with the idea of identifying and nurturing talents of children from rural background. Hence, these institutions could be developed as institutions of excellence for the rural sectors and which could be used to open up and non-formalise other schools in the region.

Dr. Khem Singh Gill, Vice-chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (1.10.90)

- Even the expansion of education will not solve the problem of children of weaker sections. So we will have to think how the children of disadvantaged sections be encouraged to enrol into the schools. Will the strategy of shifting school hours, reduction in

school hours, creating ungraded classrooms etc. will be able to solve the problem? Should not the elementary education be made free for all, with provision of free books, free uniform, and free school lunch for children of weaker sections of society?

- Adequate serious thought has not been given to ensuring uniform standard In education. Proposed decentralisation of school management and emphasis on Internal assessment especially when viewed in the context of country's diversities, may further accentuate the level of education from school to school, district to district and State to State.

Shri Deepak Kumar Barua, Dean, Faculty Council for P.G. Studies in Education, Journalism & Library Science, University of Calcutta, Calcutta (26th September, 1990)

- The idea of a school which will "open-up and non-formalise in creative ways", though conceptually an ideal one, but it is very difficult to achieve because of the need for maintaining a uniform standard of school education throughout the country.

- It cannot be expected that all the people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Tribes, other backward communities and minorities should always live in the so-called "educationally and socially backward areas. Such groups of people may reside in the sophisticated cities for livelihood, of course with all sorts of deprivations. The discussion paper has not dealt with the problems of the urban people belonging to these groups.

Shri M. Shatrugna, HIG/B-1/F13, Housing Board Fiats, Bagh Lingampalli, Hyderabad (9th October, 1990)

- The Perspective Paper fails to locate the social, economic and political reasons that inhibit the weaker sections to enter the portals of the school, whether it is formal or non-formal. Experience has shown that even token incentives like mid-day meals, supply of dresses etc. had attracted the weaker sections into the school. An all India plan of such nature to attract the weaker sections be recommended.

- Academic autonomy combined with administrative autonomy should be tried at the school level as it is assumed that finances are provided by the State in Government and Aided Institutions. But egalitarianism is possible only when we do away with private schools.

Shri Kondapaka Kishan Rao, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, Pramukh Andhra & Tamilnadu, 17-1-391/V52, Saraswathinagar, Saidabad, Bhagyanagar, Andhra Pradesh-500659 (5.10.1990)

- The scheme of Navodaya Vidyalayas has to be reviewed. Our country with limited resources can not afford to spend huge amounts of public finances on a few talented students, while thousands have to go without even teaching and reading material and other basic needs of the school even at the elementary stage.

Prof. A.M. Paramasivandam, Founder President, Valliammal Education Trust, E-9, Anna Nagar, East, Madras-102 (7.10.90)

At all the stages of schooling, special preference should be given to the girls, handicapped, down-trodden and backward communities. They must be given liberal grants for book, free education, uniform

and mid-day meals along with free coaching class for them, during morning and evening. Night schools or evening classes may be started in all important centres for the children of the poor people.

Shri G.M. Verma, C-4/H/164-B, Janak Puri, New Delhi (October 4, 1990)

EQUITY AND DIVERSITY (NAVODAYA VIDYALAYAS)