 EQUITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND
EDUCATION

Education and Women's Equality

Access to Water, Fuel and Fodder

1. There is a crucial link between the easy access to water, fuel and fodder and schooling of girls. This understanding needs 'to be explicitly reflected in the policy of Government and be concretised in operational designs. (4.1.10)

2. `Local Area Planning', as envisaged in the `Approach to the Eighth Five Year Plan' document, must take into account the above linkage while planning for programmes relating to forestry, drinking water and greening of common lands. (4.1.10)

3. The Department of Education should coordinate with the other concerned departments and secure adequate resource allocation for the abovementioned programmes based on parameters which indicate the status of girls education in a given habitation/village. For instance, priority needs to be given to the habitations/villages having enrolment and retention rates for girls in schools below the average rates of the States. (4.1.10)

4. To achieve the above purpose, planning for educational development of any given region would have to be necessarily conducted at the Block or sub-Block level. This task would be facilitated if it is undertaken through the proposed Educational Complexes in which there will be Block-level representatives of the various agencies/departments concerned with social welfare and development, along with teachers, Anganwadi workers and representatives of poor women's groups and Panchayati Raj institutions. (4.1.10)

NOTE : The number given in brackets at the end of each recommendation is the paragraph number of the Report of the Review Committee under which that recommendation appears.

5. Teachers, Anganwadi workers, village-level functionaries of other departments, and representatives of women's groups and community-level organisations should play an important role in making micro-level information available to the Educational Complex for prioritisation of action in this regard. (4.1.10)

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

6. The policy framework on women's education must bring out the criticality of the link between ECCE and girls' accessibility to elementary education. (4.1.13)

7. Comprehensive and effective ECCE services should be provided in proximity to every primary and middle school and be programmatically linked with elementary education. (4.1.13)

8. Priority should be given to child-care programmes catering to the 0-3 age group, particularly among the under-privileged sections of society. (4.1.13)

9. The timings of the ECCE centres should include the school hours so that the girls in the 6-14 age group are relieved from the responsibility of sibling care. (4.1.13)

10. While the Anganwadis (ICDS) should continue to be given importance, other models which are sensitive to local needs should also be encouraged. (4.1.13)

11. The management of Anganwadis and other ECCE programmes should be decentralised and be made participative, as recommended in the chapted on ECCE. (4.1.13)

12. In order that child-care facilities and pre-school and primary education of girls are prioritised in the village and the community, the Anganwadi workers and poor women's groups should be represented on the Village Education Committees. (4.1.13)

Regional Disparities

13. The issue of regional disparities needs to be incorporated into the operational design for universalising girls' access to elementary education. (4.1.16)

14. Any effective strategy for raising the educational status of women in India would have to give priority to the educationally backward districts. (4.1.16)

15. Educational planning at the level of Educational Complexes will depend on block-level or sub-block-level profiles. These profiles should be based on micro-level information collected from habitations/villages. Teachers, Anganwadi workers, other village- level functionaries and representatives of poor women and other community level organisations should be involved in making such information available. (4.1.16)

16. Decentralised and participative mode of planning and management offers an effective basis for responding to the challenge of regional disparities in education, including girls' education. Diverse strategies and disaggregated time-frames, worked out locally, constitute the twin instrumentalities to achive the goal of universalisation. (4.1.16)

Content of Education and the Gender Bias

17. The curriculum in schools should include :

- Increase in the visibility of women and projection of a positive image of the role of women in history, their contribution to society in general and the Indian context in particular. For instance, social history should project the contribution that women have made in the national movement. All such issues should be carefully incorporated in the training and orientation of teachers, educators and administrators.

- Special efforts should be made to strengthen mathematics and science education among girls. Girls' schools should give greater importance to mathematics and science than at present.

- Undifferentiated curriculum for boys and girls.

- Elimination of negative stereotypes and biological and social concepts which have a sexist bias. This has been dealt with in greater detail in the Section that follows.

- Outmoded traditions and myths that hinder positive development of women and their role in national life should be objectively discussed in the classroom in a gender perspective. Similarly, the portrayal of women in our epics and mythology needs to be critically examined in the classroom.

- Basic legal information including protective laws regarding women and children and extracts from the Constitution to make the children aware of the fundamental rights and other basic concepts therein.

- Specific measures to improve the participation of girls in physical training and sports should be undertaken. (4.1.19)

Stereotypes in Text-books and the `Hidden Curriculum'

18. It is recommended that all school text-books, both by NCERT/SCERTs and other publishers, be reviewed to eliminate the invisibility of women and gender stereotypes, and also for the proper incorporation of a women's perspective in the teaching of all subjects. This review should also cover all the supplementary reading material and library books being recommended for schools, particularly those supplied by Operation Black-board. (4.1.22)

19. As an immediate step such an exercise should seek the active participation of different groups and individuals, such as Women's Studies experts, Women's Studies Centres of the Universities and Research Institutes, and women's organisations working at grass-root level, rather than exclusive dependence on NCERT/SCERTs. (4.1.22)

20. A similar exercise should be undertaken for the university curriculum and text-books in all disciplines. This should be initiated by University-based Women's Studies Centres and individuals already working on these issues. (4.1.22)

Role of the Media

21. All media channels, both in the public and private sectors should take serious note of the crucial role that the media can

play in promoting gender equality and empowerment of women as enunciated in NPE. (4.1.23)

22. In the specific context of gender, advertisements displaying women as sex symbols and using them for sales promotion should be seriously dealt with. (4.1.23)

23. Media should project positive images of women. Women should also be shown in professional roles, for instance as doctors, engineers and scientists, so that they can serve as role models. (4.1.23)

24. An awareness of the need for Women's education, especially elementary and vocational education, should also be spread. (4.1.23)

25. The information and Broadcasting Ministry should evolve a network to monitor the projection of women, and evolve a code of ethics with regard to the presentation of women in all types of media (similar recommendations are also made in the Shramshakti Report, 1988). (4.1.23)

26. An Inter-Ministerial Committee, comprising of represen- tatives of the Departments of Education, Women and Child Development, Culture and Information & Broadcasting, should be constituted to monitor and ensure that the policy guidelines emerging from NPE and POA are being supported, rather than being violated, by the media, particularly Radio and TV. Representatives of women's organisations and Women's Study Centres may also be included in this Committee. (4.1.23)

27. A National Policy on Communication, giving a gender perspective to all forms and processes of mass communications, should be formulated urgently. The National Commission on Women should play an active role in this exercise. (4.1.23)

Vocational Education

28. Vocational Training for women should be planned and implemented at the State level, partly through the proposed Educational Complexes. (4.1.27)

29. Vocational Training for women should be encouraged in non- traditional occupations, following an undifferentiated curriculum. (4.1.27)

30. Concerted efforts should be made towards discouraging the existing biases in vocational courses for women. (4.1.27)

31. Vocational training courses for girls at `Plus Class VIII' level (i.e. secondary stage) in order to expand the social base of vocational education. Opportunities should be especially given to dropouts after middle school. (4.1.27)

32. Diversification of courses and trades to match with the, job potential at local level is important. For encouraging access to technical or craft-and-skill-training institutions, increased stipends, fellowships, and a system of placement is recommended. There should be at least one women's polytechnic in each District. (4.1.27)

Training of Teachers and Other Educational Personnel

33. Teacher training programmes in general require a critical evaluation and re-orientation within which the incorporation of the women's perspective should be a key dimension. This would include sensitivity to women's issues and awareness of the problems in the education of girls. (4.1.30)

34. Teacher educators, Women's Studies researchers in universities and institutes including those in the Women's Cells, as well as representatives of women's organisations and development groups, and not just a handful of Central or State level agencies, should be involved in this process of evaluation and re-orientation of teacher training programmes. (4.1.30)

35. The `core' elements of a restructured teachers' training programme should emerge from the above exercises. Subsequently at the level of the State (or region), the DIETs and Educational Complexes alongwith educational institutions, Wowen's Study Centres, educators and grassroot level organisations should participate in evolving the actual curriculum of the teacher's training programme. This kind of decentralisation in curriculam planning, and later even in its implementation, allows for greater flexibility and meaningfulness. (4.1.30)

36. Teachers' training institutes should adopt the revised curriculum so that all teacher trainees, male and female, are exposed to the restructured training programme. (4.1.30)

37. A separate training and sensitisation programme for the teacher educators would have to be undertaken on a priority basis. (4.1.30)

38. Simultaneously in-service training programmes should be conducted to sensitize teachers who are already in schools. The DIETs in consultation with the Education Complexes should take the initiative in organising these in-service programmes. (4.1.30)

39. The actual form that the in-service training programmes will take, should be left to the DIET's in consultation with the Education Complexes. For instance, one school can serve as the training school where teachers' training will include practice teaching. The `intership model' referred to elsewhere can be explored. (4.1.30)

40. Administrators and planners in education (including Heads of institutions) can be sensitised to women's issues through the diffusion of information, holding of workshops and frequent interaction with resource persons in the area of Women's Studies. This is particularly crucial when exercises involving decision making in education are undertaken. (4.1.30)

Research and Development of Women's Studies

41. Women's Study Centres should be organised in all the Universities and recognised social science research institutions within the Eighth Plan. (4.1.32)

42. Women's Studies research findings should be incorporated into curriculum revision and development, and teacher training programmes at all levels of education. At the university level, representatives of the Women's Study Centres should be included in all official bodies concerned with curriculum and syllabus development in all disciplines. (4.1.30)

43. A close linkage in the work of the University-based Women's Study Centres and Educational Complexes should be

encouraged with a view to widen participation, decentralise and diversify training, sensitisation and curriculum evaluation. This will also enrich the work of the Women's Study Centres themselves through feedback from the field. The Women's Study Centres of a university should play a key role in introducing a gender perspective in school education within the Education Complexes of the region that they serve. (4.1.32)

Women's Studies Courses

44. The foundation courses introduced by the UGC should be reviewed and revised to incorporate women's dimensions. This should be part of the students' overall assessment at the undergraduate level. The course should be carefully structured with the active involvement of Women's Studies research and development organisations and women's organisations working at the grass-roots level. Adequate representation of women's issues, from all sections of society, their concerns and living conditions should be incorporated. (4.1.33)

45. Existing courses should also incorporate the gender pers- pective, as suggested in the POA. This must apply to all courses, including science and technology, medicine, law, agriculture and veterinary sciences. (4.1.33)

46. All issues related to curricular revision and development on Women's Studies should be extended to the orientation of teachers as well. (4.1.33)

Extension Services

47. Women's Development Centres, such as the ones existing in some University Colleges should be extended to all Colleges and higher educational institutions. (4.1.34)

48. These Centres should also be given funds to conduct awareness workshops/seminars etc. at both the school and community levels. (4.1.34)

Representation of Women in the Educational Hierarchy

49. The proportion of women teachers in Primary, Middle and High Schools should be increased to at least 50 per cent. For the success of this measure it would be desirable if the woman teacher is selected from within or near the habitation where she is to teach. In case a local woman teacher cannot be found, it would then be necessary to-

(a) provide living quarters with certain minimum amenities to women teachers on a priority basis,

(b) locate the living quarters within the habitation in order to ensure security, and

(c) wherever possible, provide living quarters to all women functionaries, apart from women teachers, in close proximity to each other. (4.1.36)

50. While an increasing number of women should be recruited at different levels of education, there should be promotional avenues also within the educational hierarchy. Special measures would have to be devised to ensure that women are fairly represented in decision- making bodies in teaching and educational administration. (4.1.36)

51. Special provisions to take care of women's needs should be built into the recruitment and service procedures, evaluation criteria, guidelines for promotion, etc. An example of such procedures is association of women in Selection Committees and Departmental Promotions Committees. This will ensure that women are not prevented by socio-cultural factors from rising in educational hierarchy. (4.1.36)

52. Women and men in positions of planning and decision-making within the educational hierarchy and public administration should be sensitised to women's issues so as to adequately discharge their leadership roles. (4.1.36)

Empowerment of Women

53. Develop Mahila Samakhya in a decentralised and participative mode of management, with the decision-making powers devolved to the district or block-level, and ultimately to the poor women's groups themselves. (4.1.40)

54. Implement Mahila Samakhya in such a way as to establish organic linkages with the ECCE programme and the efforts towards universalisation of girls' elementary education. (4.1.40)

55. Build a component of closely working with men in the community also, as part of the process of women's empowerment. (4.1.40)

56. Along with the means for economic independence for women, the issues of women's health, including reproductive health and sexuality, should be included in the parameters for empowerment of women. (4.1.40)

Adult Education

57. For imparting adult education to women and thereby empower them, the Mahila Samakhya model should be tried out. (4.1.41)

Resources

58. Fifty per cent of the elementary sector allocation for, measures to increase girls' participation and be earmarked this allocation be made non-divertible. (4.1.42)

59. A share of all developmental allocations for secondary, vocational and higher education be earmarked for measures to improve girls' access thereto and the quality of education in these sectors be improved. (4.1.42)

60. There should be special earmarking for girls within the Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub-Plan. (4.1.42)

Management

61. Continuance of all Centrally Sponsored Schemes relating, in part or in full, to women's education may be treated in terms of the detailed recommendation given by the Committee in regard to Centrally Sponsored Schemes as a whole in the chapter on Decentralisation and Participative Management. (4.1.44)

62. The responsibility for planning, implementing and internal monitoring of all school-based programmes for women's education

be handed over to the Educational Complexes in the Panchayati Raj framework. At the institutional level, the Head of the institution (Primary/Middle/Higher Secondary Schools) should be made fully responsible for micro-level planning and ensuring universalisation (not just enrolment) of girls' education and their access to high school or vocational education, according to disaggregated strategies and timeframes. (4.1.44)

Education for the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and other Educationally Backward Sections

Incentive Schemes

63. A series of studies should be instituted to investigate into the impact that the various incentive schemes implemented in different States have had on enrolment and retention of SC/ST children in the schools. Community profiles of educationally backward communities should also be prepared based on study of their current educational status. With reference to these profiles and the findings of the impact studies, on a disaggregated basis, appropriate and logical strategies should be established for the educational development of the backward communities. (4.2.5)

Status of Access to Education

64. The Fifth All India Education Survey shows that a number of habitations predominantly populated by SCs and STs are not served by schools within walking distance. There should be a programme for the coverage of these unserved habitations with schools as per norms before the end of the Eighth Five-Year Plan. (4.2.6)

Improvement of Capability and Educational Environment

65. The scheme of remedial coaching should be re-organised such that on a phased basis, majority of the schools introduce the same. Instead of coaching being confined to two or three months of pre- examination periods, the same should be offered in a sustained way throughout the academic session in the concerned classes. (4.2.7)

66. A strategy to enrich learning environment and the socio- economic conditions in the tribal regions as distinct from mere

remedial coaching should be evolved and brought under implementation. (4.2.7)

67. In the backward areas including SC, ST habitats, a network of school linked libraries should be established. For reaching out to smaller habitations without schools, a dynamic programme of bicycle- borne, mobile libraries or para-school-based libraries should be brought under implementation. These libraries need to be enriched with creative children's literature. While the children's literature would be primarily in the regional languages, efforts should be made to increase the availability of children's books in the local dialects or languages spoken in educationally backward areas. (4.2.7)

68. In order to nurture all kinds of talents and aptitudes in children, ranging from academic subjects to co-curricular and socio- cultural spheres as may be identifiable. Educational Complexes should organise a wide-ranging programme of specific theme-based workshops/work camps, using the best available resource persons in the area. This programme should encourage school drop-outs as well to join and contribute in this collective endeavour towards excellence. (4.2.7)

69. In the curriculum of the educationally backward the following should be emphasised at all stages of education :

(a) Science and Mathematics;

(b) Expression, both oral and written, and creative writing;

(d) Contribution of these communities to national life and development, including the freedom struggle; and

(e) Role played by women belonging to these commu- nities in national life and development,

(In fact, matters covering under (c), (d) and (e) should also be included in the National Core Curriculum) (4.2.7)

70. Above all else, in order to bring about universalisation of Elementary education among girls in backward areas, including those belonging to SC/ST communities, a network of ECCE centres should be established on a priority basis, with linkage to primary schools. (This has also been dealt with in the Chapter on ECCE). (4.2.7)

Recruitment of SC/ST Teachers

71. It should be ensured that in Government and Government-aided schools teachers from SC/ST communities are invariably in the order of 15% and 7.5% respectively. Recruitment to reach these levels should also be closely monitored. (4.2.8)

Curriculum and Tribal Culture

72. The rich diversity of the tribal cultural identities should be included in the common cultural heritage which is one of the elements of the Core Curriculum envisaged in NPE/POA. (4.2.8)

Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan

73. Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan should be specifically exhibited in the budget document, schemewise. (4.2.9)

74. To the extent feasible, schemes meant exclusively for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should be prepared and included under SCP/TSP. (4.2.9)

75. Wherever exclusive schemes cannot be formulated, specific physical targets for coverage of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes under the schemes generally applicable to all should be indicated. (4.2.9)

76. A more effective monitoring mechanism should be established in the Department of Education itself for the purpose of periodically following up the progress of implementation of SCP/TSP. (4.2.9)

Intensive Area Approach

77. The Ministry of Welfare, according to the Business Rules, is expected to do coordination in the implementation of programmes relating to SCs/STs. While they have given a list of blocks identified as tribal blocks they have not given, with reference to 1981 census, a list of blocks identified as those of Scheduled Caste concentration. This Ministry should, therefore, provide lists of blocks with SC concentration. With reference to such lists the Department of Education should get feedback from the States regarding their coverage under the various educational programmes. (4.2.10)

78. All the educational programmes should be implemented to the extent feasible conveniently in the same blocks of SC concentration/tribal blocks so that impact of educational development is felt in a demonstrable and balanced way in the respective areas. (4.2.10)

Monitoring

79. A single focal agency in each State should be identified for the purpose of reporting to the Government of India comprehensively on all the educational programmes. (4.2.11)

Minorities

80. Government of India should establish a standing machinery to closely monitor issue of detailed guidelines by the States for the purpose of granting recognition to minority managed educational institutions; to review the pace of disposal of applications for recognition of these institutions; and thereby to secure quality of education in institutions so recognised. (4.2.12)

81. All the educational programmes that are now under implementation should be concurrently implemented, to the extent feasible, in these districts on a priority basis after conduct of bench mark surveys as envisaged in POA. (There is no evidence of implementation of education programmes in these

EQUITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EDUCATION