NATIONAL SEMINAR ON NEW EDUCATION POLICY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT ASPECTS 23-25 NOVEMBER, 1985

ii) A comprehensive act should be passed validating and recognising community involvement, through education committees right from institutions, village to the district levels. These committees should be associated closely in the planning and implementation of educational programmes of different sectors of education at their respective levels.(1)

iii) A duly constituted committee at the institutional level should ensure the extension of participatory planning to grass-root level and prepare detailed perspective plan including enrolment, curriculum, infrastructure, staff development, reduction of wastage etc.(1)

2. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION AND VOLUNTARY AGENCIES

i) Stepping up of further involvement of educational institutions and voluntary organisations for undertaking adult literacy/adult education programmes.

ii) Providing larger sizes of the projects to voluntary organisations and the flow of funds speedily to these agencies so that funds reach them at the most within 6 weeks through the State Governments.(8)

3. In the district level planning process, the participation of blocks, and village panchayats should be integral parts.

4. The task of managing and monitoring the educational system at the local level should be in collaborations with village level committee at the grass-roots level.(3)

5. At the primary level more community participation should be ensured. For this, it was suggested that parent-teacher associations have to be formed at the school level. and develop such programmes which would rake them active and participatory.(3)

6. Decentralised Planning and Implementation : The Role of Panchayats

Participants representing village Panchayats and Panchayat Samiti strongly put forward the point that non-formal education should be treated by Government on par with activities of other development departments for decentralised implementation. full financial assistance should be given to a Panchayats, as in the case of social forestry or other subsided programmes of development, to conduct Non-formal primary education centres. For instance for developing social forestry in. a Panchayat area an amount of Rs.15,000 per year is given to the Panchayat concerned. Similarly, the amount required for conducting nonformal primary education centres, according to the needs of a given Panchayat area, should be fully provided.(50)

7. Management of education should be taken over from the Local Boards and entrusted to Education Authorities, basic Shiksha Parishads, with corresponding Zilla, Shiksha Samitis and block shikhsa Samitis, with power to levy Education Cess of enhance tuition fees.(13)

8. Proper legislation for the implementation of the State Directive should be prepared by experts in consultation with specialised Institutes at the capital administrative as well as Legal. (13)

9. In the deliberations of the group, there was a difference of opinion regarding the role of private agencies and voluntary organisations. On the one hand, it was suggested that all possible encouragement should be given to the private and voluntary organisations in establishing and managing institutions with due security provisions for service and payment of salary to the teachers and admission of the wards of deprived sections, at par with the state policy. In all these institutions, however,

the course of studies should be at par with the state/CBSE with suitable provisions for staff development. However, some of the delegates felt that there should not be any such of state patronage for private organisations for establishment schools. They favoured nationalisation of education at school level. with an inbuilt provision for accountability and performance. This plea was based on the rationale that the ultimate aim should be the development of common school system, eliminating the segregative system of education.(2)

LINKAGES

Linkages with Various Systems

1. Regional networks between institutes and industry, with apex institutes in the region serving as a focus, should be formed to develop peaks of excellence in selected colleges departments. For any meaningful implementation of such programmes massive financial inputs would be necessary.(15)

2. Industry Institute interaction programmes at institutional levels should be strengthened through appropriate Advisory Committee or Liaison boards. Such linkages will lead to feedback in curricula design, promote technological projects in Institutes to develop indigenous technology, provide finances for infrastructure and generally improve quality of instruction and research.(15)

3. Industrial training, of engineering students through meaningful cooperative programmes may be considered as a means of reducing the "indoctrination" time in industry.(15)

4. Industry and Institutes should jointly promote the development and spread of a technological culture in society at large through modern media, exhibitions, popular lectures and other programmes designed to create an awareness and aptitude for technology.(15)

5.Coordination-and Linkages

i) There should be conceptional and functional link- apes among the different national level government and non-government institutions and organisations concerned with different levels and spheres of educational system. Similarly, their regional/state level counterparts should follow an integrated approach.(1)

ii) Education is an instrument as well a beneficiary of development. It promotes and at the same time draws its substance from development. Coordination and linkages between education and development is possible only through system of decentralised planning not only in education but also in other sectors of the economy. The development agencies should also build an educational component in their own plans and implementation strategies. It will also be desirable, to give representation to education in the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA).(1)

iii) The greater use of mass media for teaching- learning purposes and linkages with various development departments should be ensured for effective functioning of Non-formal. Education Programme and Open Learning Systems.(1)

INTER-INSTITUTIONAL LINKAGES

1. Institutional networking, both horizontal and vertical, wherever feasible, should be tried out and eventually adopted, essentially for the purpose of academic improvement of the constituent institutions in collaboration with District Resource Centres. As such, it will take up subjects like supervision, monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the constituent schools. The functions of the networks and clusters will be mainly academic and less administrative; whereby the networking and cluster system can become a complementary factor to the existing educational administrative and management structures without necessarily destabilising the latter. In fact, the network system should be seen as supportive to the existing administrative structure.

Considering the ways and means to develop and operetionalise the institutional networking, the group suggested the, following

a) acceptance of institutional networking as a matter of policy, at the national level, (b) identification of the nature of networking horizontal or vertical, and (c) harnessing the willingness and cooperation of the constituent institutions. As retards, the role and function of the network and cluster of institutions, the group suggested that (i) delegation of academic leadership as well as the coordination and evaluation functions to the network and retention of personnel and financial

management with the existing district block education officers is one way of functionalising the networking and (ii) instituting a common development committee between the institutional network and the district-block educational authorities and also representatives from the community.(2)

2. School Complexes

i) The large number of schools that have come up over the years have been getting superimposed on the existing district administration system. Each State has now a large number of schools administered and provided centrally with a separate supervisory arrangement. The academic supervision is in frequent and inadequate and in the state cadre teachers and schools are treated and provided as faceless members in the larger group rather than as individuals with specific needs and capabilities. This arrangement has come to mean a loss of individuality to the teacher and the school and being part of the remote and faceless State system the link between the school and community has not developed. Since individuality of the students derives from the individuality of teacher and the school and since the basic aim of education is to develop the potential of the individual student, the seminar strongly feels that the present system should immediately give way to the school complex system in which one or more higher secondary schools along with feeder middle and primary/elementary schools form the unit for administrative, financial and academic management. This would give individuality to the school allowing it to develop optimally, bring it closer to the community and so make education more locally relevant, allow for better supervision of attached schools and provide them regular academic guidance and provide framework for autonomy to schools with sufficient resources and resilience capable of innovating with and developing educational programmes and credibly conducting examinations locally which would come about in coming years.(11)

3. Effort should be made to share limited resources like library, laboratory and other facilities.(4)

4. Strengthening System of Inspection and Supervision

The existing system of inspection and supervision which work in isolation should be strengthened and made functional by networking of institutions and organisations. These institutional Complexes should be vested with all academic, administrative and financial powers within the complex. Role of the supervisory staff should be limited to coordination among institutional complexes. It would not only bring almost greater social equity but also facilitate more effective management and ensure multilevel involvement in the educational endeavour.(1)

5. Inspection and Supervision

Head of the Institution will have to take the major responsibility for supervision for school. He should be given necessary authority and orientation for supervising the work of his staff in the school. For inspection, a panel should be prepared at each district consisting of retired teachers end headmasters who may be invited for panel inspection in various schools. This would ensure utilization of available resources, possibility of frequent inspection, and saving of administrator's time., for inspection of schools.(9)

PLANNING PROCESS

1. There is need to adopt a comprehensive view of investments in education. The existing investment (non-plan) should be taken in view while making new investments. Given the resource position, while allocating grants to education, the sectoral allocations should be made clear.(30

2. Highly centralised and non-participatory planning should be substituted by multi-level or area planning on participative basis.

This will require strengthening of machinery at the Regional, block and District level, establishment of District Resource Centres for date analysis, monitoring, evaluation, project experimentation, research development etc. There will also be the need to give orientation and training to field level officers. For this purpose district level instituter, will have to be established.(3)

3. Instead of highly aggregated and undifferentiated and based on global targets and programmes, the plan should be built on the basis of programmes and projects drawn up from below.(3)

4. The planning of academic aspects should be integrated with overall educational planning. Educational planning should take into account not only the quantitative aspects but also qualitative aspects of education.(3)

5. Socio-economic variables effecting educational outcome should be taken into account.(3)

6. In the planning process an integrated view of adult education, non-formal education, technical education etc., should be taken into account. Planning for vocationalisation has to be given equal importance as planning for literacy. For this institutional planning for true coordination and motivation so that self-employment opportunities can be maximised.(3)

7. Long term or perspective planning should be undertaken and adequate research studies for the purpose should be undertaken. These programmes, particularly need to be linked with the developmental thrusts and in case of non-responsive groups, even entry point, can be awareness and functionality so as to generate urge for literacy.(3)

8. Improving Educational Planning Process

i) As the existing system of educational planning neither sufficiently takes notice of the micro-level and area level needs, it is essential that educational planning. should be made development oriented and multilevel in character.(1)

ii) Long-term perspective plans based on different futuristic scenarios should be prepared for educational development at district, state and national levels. These plans should form basis for mid-term and short- term plans.(1)

iii) Educational mapping should be done for P-11 parts of the country for expansion and rationalisation of educational facilities. These plans should be based on well defined norms and standards. It would also help to decentralise the educational planning process and restrict interference of non-academic and political nature.(1)

iv) Adequate professionally competent support should be provided to undertake above functions at different levels of educational administration.(1)

v) The educational planning at present is largely preoccupied with plan programmes and neglects attention to non-plan or committed expenditures and tasks. This artificial distinction should be removed and planning, should undertake as integrated approach both to plan and non-plan expenditure and activities.

9. Strengthening and Integrating Process and Structures of Educational Planning and Management

i) There should be, an integrated system of planning and management within various sectors of education at different levels. District level education officers should be the 'king-pin' of all types of formal send non-formal education utp higher secondary level including adult education. Similarly, at the state level, all directorates of education and academic bodies should be under,the overall charge of a very senior seasoned educational administrator of the rank of a Commissioner.(1)

ii) There is also an urgent need for strengthening and reinforcing the existing structures as well as creating new ones wherever needed. Adequate additional inputs, both financial and professionals should be provided for the same. (1)

iii) As a matter of principle, at least 10% of the budget of new educational programmes should be earmarked for their planning and management. Similarly, at least 5% of existing educational budget should be earmarked for planning and administration for continuing programmes.(1)