DECENTRALISATION OF MANAGEMENT
 

Dr. Pradip N. Khandwalla, L&T Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Indian Institute of Management, Vestrapur, Ahmedabad: 380056 (19th September, 1990)

- Set up district educational councils that are run by elected members of the teaching community, with representation from panchayats, voluntary organisations, district collectorate, etc. All the funds relating to primary and secondary education should be turned over to these councils. I do not think turning education over to panchayat institutions is going to work because these have got highly politicised and seem to operate on a spoils system.

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

- The establishment of Educational Complexes is the best recommendation in this Perspective Paper. For its implementation, the present day managers of education are to be trained how to delegate power with authority and functionaries of school complexes are to be trained how to use power with authority. It would be worthy to take up one or two pilot projects under the direct control and supervision of the Review Committee members.

- Voluntary organisations should also be a part of the educational complexes. The present practice of converting voluntary agencies into government departments should be abandoned.

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

- The Review Committee's suggestion that entire schools system should be managed by the community which should be accountable is very commendable. Decentralisation should be applicable to all areas of educational activities, like curriculum planning and examinations. Educational complexes could be used as a strategy in implementing this concept. The CBSE is already working on this idea in a limited way. It has decided to decentralise its working by setting up Regional Offices. It is also trying to set up Sahodaya School Complexes. To date over 50 of them are working actively.

- The concept of school autonomy is a commendable one and this has been a cardinal principle with the CBSE. To begin with, it would be advisable to make distinction between academic autonomy and administrative autonomy. A beginning may preferably be made with the former.

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

- The Committee has hardly a word about the growing erosion of educational autonomy except quoting "Sa Vidya Ya Vimukatya" and that too In a different context. The Committee should suggest real autonomous boards for management of educational policies and administrations, at the Central, State and District levels.

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Shri Tarun Kumar Raha, General Secretary, Calcutta University Teachers' Association, Ashutosh Building, College Street, Calcutta- 700073, Letter dated (1.10.90)

- Although the Committee has recommended people's participation in the management of education, it has not been able to resolve the dilemma as to what should be the nature of organisation for management of the educational institutions. We suggest that a committee be formed with members from all institutions under a particular educational complex including the university that may be associated with the complex and suggest concrete means so that the real power for management of the complexes can be transferred to the community concerned.

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

- In the matter of decentralisation of educational planning, by and large, the approach of the N.D.c. for `Local area planning' should be the guiding principle. However, there should be no blanket ban on centrally sponsored schemes. Such schemes should in course of time, say five or seven years, be transferred to local control after due preparation. However, new, innovative central schemes should continue to be initiated and the spiral of development should be encouraged.

- Instead of assigning the powers to the thoroughly politicised Panchyati Raj institutions, let's try the POA (1986) Idea of a political Boards of Education as in U.S.A. and U.K.

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

- The idea of "Local Area Planning" and cluster of educational institutions is excellent. Detailed procedure and management style must be specified by concrete examples for each geographical region. These concepts of management and planning have to be made permanent features of the education system. Too frequent changes in management styles must be avoided.

- Educational management must be the concern of teachers. Indian Educational Service may be constituted for the purpose. Teachers with experience of fifteen years may be recruited to the service through national competitive examination.

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

- Each village school should be developed as a community school, under the Panchyati Raj system of democratic decentralisation, giving responsibility of spreading education in the village community. The School Education Committee under the guidance of school head master and teachers should be entrusted with the responsibility of promoting education for children, youth, women and illiterate adults.

- The Secondary Teachers Training College in each district could be developed as a third tier of growth for education, giving responsibilities of helping Primary Teachers Institutes in the district for their development.

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Dr. Hari Govind Singh, Vice-chancellor, Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Letter dated the 27th September, 1990

- The village education complex should form the nucleus for the development and all village development schemes must be merged into the education complex which should belong to the community and be supervised and controlled by it. All school system must be merged and all the resources channelised to this village education complex which should be able to impart quality education at village level Itself. Well trained staff must be provided with satisfactory school buildings and environmental facilities, making it compulsory for all children upto the age of 14 to attend the schools. Timings of the school should be adjusted according to the season and according to availability of the children in the village.

- The village education complexes should be clustered into groups and for each group there must be a quality higher secondary school which should form the nucleus for planning education and human resources development activities of the group of villages in its jurisdiction. There must be an advisory committee for the same. Higher secondary school should supervise, update and revise the curricula and technical contents of the education at the village level from time to time.

- At the divisional level there should be a university in each division of the state which should ultimately be responsible for all educational planning and implementation of those plans in the division.

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- The structure and organisation of a university should be reexamined and reviewed with a view to enabing them to undertake the responsibility of educational planning and implementation in the area. The university should be provided with complete functional autonomy. All selections must be based on merit and merit alone and this should start right from the selection of the Vice-chancellor.

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

- Decentralised school management seems to be a confusing and vague Idea. The educational complex will be managed by the community while management of education will be the job of teachers. The flexibility in syllabi and curricula, content and process, evaluation and monitoring envisaged in the paper may defeat the objective of imparting school education of comparable standards throughout the country. It is apprehended that involvement of too many agencies in running the educational complex may complicate matters. The relationship of colleges and any university in the area/region with an educational complex has been left vague.

Shri G.D. Sharma, Secretary, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, Orissa, Letter dated 2.10.90

- The administrative machinery located in state capitals are very much indifferent to educational institutions located in backward regions and rural areas of the State. So concrete suggestions may be given to rectify this defect. One of the proposals is that capable and efficient persons of these backward regions be entrusted with the affairs of education of that areas.

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- The education policy should be such that the interference by politicians of ruling party is nil in affairs of educational institutions. The local people should be entrusted with the management of institution.

- The planning of entire education in a district should be done at district level. The recruitment of teachers in schools should be done by district recruitment board and preference be given to people of the locality in employment as teachers. This will solve most of the problems in development of schools education.

Dr. R.P. Singhal, Executive Director (Retd.), NIEPA, Former Chairman, CBSE and Consultant (Education), Asian Development Bank and Ed.CIL, letter dated 5.10.90.

- Instead of only local area planning, we should have multilevel planning of which local area planning is an important element.

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

- 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 B.N. Raghurama, Organising Secretary, Bharatiya Shikshana Mandals, Kaveri No. 21, 6th Cross Chamarajpet, Bangalore

- An autonomous National Education Authority should be established. It should be manned by educationists and educators without any sort

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of governmental interference. State and district units of the same authority will decentralise its functions. The Government will have the responsibility of financing the Authority only.

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

- 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.

Ms. Anita Mathew, President, Navy Wives Welfare Association, INS Mandovi, Verem, Goa-403109 (4.10.1990)

- In education we must as has been rightly thought allow the local management to run the system as they feel best under the circumstances they are functioning in with less of interference from central authorities.

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

- The management and control of education should be handed over to an Autonomous Statutory Agency at the National level as well as at state and other levels, in which educationists should have majority The working of this agency should be independent like judiciary.

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Shri Shridhar Vereker, near Goa, State Co-operative Bank-403401, Ponda-Goa (30.9.90)

- Educational Clusters should be formed in different areas having minimum 25 high schools, one to three higher secondary schools, a college wad all the primary and pre-primary school from that area. These clusters should really become the community centres.

Shri V.G. Hegde, Secretary, BNDSS HM'S and COMP PUC P's Association and Principal, D.V.V. Gujarati Shala, N.K.S. English High School, Majestic Circle, Bangalore-9

- Educational Administration should be separate from local panchayat and other organisations. The local administration should restrict itself to providing finance and other facilities.

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

In order to promote initiative, dynamism and experimentation, the control of education should be decentralised by the establishment of National Councils of Education at national, state and district levels. The councils of education should deal with all matters concerning education including planning and development, finance supervision and administration, content, curriculum. The national council may lay down the national education policy, national core curriculum and general guidelines for education development.

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

- The administration of education should be degovernmentalised by involving voluntary agencies more in educational administration. Wherever voluntary initiative is not forthcoming or

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is insufficient, government should set up autonomous organisations and should not run educational institutions on its own. All existing government institutions should be handed over to the autonomous bodies.

Shri L.N. Sharma, T.G.T. (Sc.A), GSS Camp. School, Raj Garh Colony, Gandhi Nagar, Delhi 110031 (September 28, 1990)

- In the name of decentralisation, schools should not be at the mercy of local politicians. It will do more harm to the education process.

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