SECONDARY EDUCATION AND
NAVODAYA VIDYALAYAS
 

PRESENT SITUATION

There were 56323 secondary/higher secondary schools and 1,23,000 upper primary schools in 1983. This would give a ratio of 1:2.5. The enrolment at secondary level was 97,45,519 and at higher secondary level 51,01,435 in 1983. There are unserved areas in the country where, there is no school for 10 to 20 kms like in some tribal areas, desert or hilly areas where the low density of population does not allow enough children to be enrolled. An area may also be unserved though near a school if a physical barrier like river or mountain separates it.

PRE-REQUISITES & BROAD PARAMETERS OF STRATEGY ENVISAGED

Secondary and higher secondary education is on the one hand terminal for those who enter the world of work after this stage. For such people a strengthened vocational scheme should form the main plank of strategy. For the rest it is preparatory to higher education and, therefore, a good grounding in the subject area should be provided along with learning orientation. The improvement in management system of which perhaps the school complex system and improved supervisory system are the most important should be the main programmes during the 7th Plan and would continue thereafter. A flexible and interactive teaching programme supported by adequate laboratories and libraries would be a pre-requisite for learning- oriented education. A programme of curricular reform and examination/evaluation reform would provide conditions for a good grounding in subject areas.

The policy relating to secondary education implies extension of the school system in the unserved areas consolidating the existing facilities and providing special arrangements for the gifted children and the high achievers. This would mean that it would require

(a) Programme to ensure access to secondary education being widened to cover unserved areas:

(b) Programme of consolidation in other areas/schools:

(c) Programme of setting up Navodaya Vidyalayas.

PROGRAMMES & IMPLEMENTATION

As a short term measure the State Governments would be persuaded to open secondary schools in unserved areas taking blocks as a unit having a lower ratio than 1:2.5 duly considering

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the present distance of habitation from the nearest secondary school and population in the unserved habitations. As a medium and long term measure a programme of school mapping in each state for locating schools to cover all areas will be taken up. The technique of school mapping will be followed both for planning and implementation for location of secondary schools on the basis of clearly defined norms and standards. Special emphasis will be laid in this study on backward areas, areas predominantly inhabitated by SC/ST and schooling facilities for girls. School clusters will be established with secondary school as its lead school and upper primary schools in the catchment area. The ratio of upper primary to primary schools will be attempted to be kept at 1:3 as recommended by the Kothari Commission. This programme would be taken up by NIEPA in cooperation with SCERTs. This exercise can be completed by 1988 and from 1989 onwards it could be implemented. By 2000 the unserved areas will be fully served. The funds required for this purpose which cannot be estimated now will be fully met by the State Governments only.

3. For the products of non-formal education at elementary stage many of whom will continue to find it difficult to attend full time school and for the working people who have missed the secondary school and others of this type, a flexible, non-formal arrangement is needed at secondary and higher secondary level.

This requirement is proposed to be met by open schools. Open schools would be established in a phased manner by 1990 with a resource centre in each district. These resource centres should be located in or linked to the selected secondary teacher training institutions or the district institutes of education.

4. It is known that the secondary and higher secondary schools are under-provided particularly in the rural areas in terms of buildings, teachers and school facilities but the extent of these shortages have not been surveyed in all aspects. The programme of consolidation envisaged in the policy will have the following components of which the cost cannot be precisely estimated:

(a) Adequate playground facilities where needed will have to be provided by making available nearby vacant land and in other places by arranging for sharing of such facility with neighbouring school as a priority programme during the 7th Plan.

(b) A programme for construction of additional class- rooms and laboratory facilities in schools to the extent they are deficient will be taken up. School education is mainly looked after by the State Governments and local bodies. If possible the Central Government may consider supplementation of resources.

(c) Every school must have laboratories and other facilities as specified in the terms of recognition of the Board of Secondary/Higher secondary education to which it is

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affiliated. These norms have been developed by the NCERT and KVS also. Taking into consideration the past experience that the equipment once given is not replaced and even maintained it is suggested that community participation by way of student contribution at the rate of Rs. 10 to 15 per month should be levied, except from girls and other exempt from payment of tuition fee. This collection should remain in the school for replacement and maintenance purposes.

(d) The teacher competencies would be improved by attracting better qualified people to the profession as envisaged in the policy and by improving the pre-service and in-service training programmes through strengthened secondary teacher training institutions. The process will begin straightaway and will be continued for consistently upgrading teachers' competencies.

(e) As envisaged in the Policy the core-curriculum will play an important role in educational consolidation. This will be followed by overall improvement In curriculum, the textual material, teaching practices and examination/evaluation methods.

(f) The Kothari Commission suggested that the ratio of higher secondary and secondary schools should be 1:3. This should be ensured. A large number of higher secondary schools have only one or two streams out of humanities, science and commerce and most do not have vocational stream. As an important programme in the process of consolidation, schools should be helped to have all the three streams and a vocational stream in selected schools. This will be the responsibility of the State Government concerned. Vocational stream would be set up with the assistance of the Government of India as may be determined.

5. The programme for bright children has two parts one is for potentially high achievers particularly in the areas who are substantially left uncovered by the present system and the other is the programme for the gifted students who can be expected to make original contribution in their subject areas if properly nurtured.

Under the scheme of Navodaya Vidyalayas for catering to the category of high achievers one such Vidyalaya will be set up in each district during the 7th Five Year Plan period. These schools will make available good quality education irrespective of the parents' capacity to pay and their socioeconomic background. In these schools there will be 75% reservation for children from rural areas. There will be reservation for SC and ST as per their actual population in, the district subject to a minimum of nationally prescribed figure of 15 and 7 1/2 for SC & ST respectively. An effort will be made to cover girls to the extent of 1/3 in a school. Education will be free including boarding and

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lodging in these schools. These schools will be affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education.

The gifted students frequently have pronounced competence in a limited subject area accompanied by indifference in certain other areas. Therefore, arrangements for such students cannot be fitted into regular courses of study. Special arrangements for such students will have to provide teaching/learning on modular basis for every small group of students in a small number of subjects of interest to them. Such arrangements will be characterised by large facilities, higher teacher-student ratio and regular participation by professionals in teaching programmes. A detailed project for this purpose should be worked out by a specially constituted group within one year. Arrangements will be designed for implementation within the present system for such students.