DECENTRALISATION AND PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT
Disaggregated Target Setting 303. While broad goals like universalisation of elementary education and vocationalisation of school education and education for illiterate adults have to be spelt out in terms of being achieved by certain deadline years, numerical target setting should not be an exercise flowing top downwards. Target should be fixed in a disaggregated way at the base level, keeping in View the levels of educational development and disparities reflected, therein, and therafter collated to State levels. (14.4.4).
304. Disaggregated target setting, besides being area specific should even be for different socioeconomic segments and ethnic groups, particularly in the context of fulfilling the constitutional mandate for ensuring equality and social justice. (14.4.4).
305. Educationally backward areas should be identified at the district and sub-district levels according to the criteria acceptable to all the States. The States on their part should prepare district, block and village level profiles to facilitate meaningful planning and educational development. (14.4.4).
306. Educational content planning should be diversified providing full scope for alternative learning strategies, models of non- formalising the schools etc. This should be done within the overall framework of national core curriculum. (14.4.4).
Educational Complexes 307. On a pilot basis, at least one Educational Complex may be established in every district during the Eighth Five Year Plan so as to develop a functional model. At the pilot stage full administrative and financial support should be given to these Complexes. The features of these Complexes are described below :
- The Management model may be that of a local college, a high school or group of high schools and the
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associated middle and primary. schools coming together in a cluster. The Complex may work in coordination with Panchayati Raj institutions as well as local development and social welfare agencies, voluntary or Government. The university serving the region may affiliate itself with this Complex. The university may help in the development of the Complex through its faculty, students and technical resources. There could be a memorandum of understanding between the Complex and the university on the one hand, and the Complex and the local body, on the other. The Complex will follow its own self-monitoring system. Parallel systems of monitoring through the university, District Board of Education, local body, resource agencies (SCERT/ SIE/DIET) etc. could coexist. The Complex should be provided with adequate intellectual resources as well.
- In the long term, these Educational Complexes may come under the umbrella of Panchayati Raj institutions/local bodies. The details of devolution of responsibilities at different tiers of education will no doubt depend upon the legal framework that may be designed by the State for the purpose.
- The management of education in the Complexes should be the job of professionals, i.e. the teaching community. Various aspects like curriculum, sylabi, content and process, evaluation, monitoring, teacher training and modes of delivery of education to different segment of the society will be the responsibility of the teaching community itself.
- In discharging this responsibility, teachers will closely interact with the community they are serving. In this arrangement, the quality of education will not be determined by a body of inspectors or functionaries external to the educational system. Consequently, education being directly in the hands
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of those for whom it is a matter of day-to-day concern, its quality should significantly improve.
- While the running of the Educational Complexes will be the joint concern of the community and the teachers who are internal to the system, their funding will necessarily come from the State Governments and other local bodies that may have jurisdiction. For the purpose of ensuring that the financial resources deployed by them really result in efficient delivery of education, the State Governments and the local bodies may interact with the Educational Complexes through District Boards of Education and Block-level and village-level Education Committees. These bodies will consist of educationists, teachers, social workers, representatives of voluntary organisations, trade unions and official development agencies as well as representatives of disadvantaged sections such as Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Other Backward Classes, women etc.
- The Head of the educational instituion, the Head- master/Headmistress/Principal shall have meaningfully delegated authority with the teachers being centre- stage.
- The community also will need to be made aware of simple parameters with reference to which they can make their own assessment of the learning outcome from the schools, in both the cognitive and the affective domains.
- The Educational Complexes should be autonomous registered societies in structures and they should be vested with the following powers :
* To take decisions, in Council, on all matters on which powers have been delegated which should include powers for recruitment of teaching and non- teaching staff, their transfers within a well defined transfer policy, discipline, control finance etc.
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* To organise professional orientation and updating of all the teachers and administrators, so as to make them perform better on the job and to increase their sense of professionalism.
* To develop suitable support materials and teaching aids.
* To engage in mutual and on-going administrative and academic supervision of schools, through a systematic and agreed programme of action, using the resources of DIETs and SCERTs, where available.
* To mobilise resources from within the community to supplement and complement the Government grants.
* To prepare and implement the action plans for universalisation of education, for those who come within the area of the Complex.
* To plan action programmes for adult and con- tinuing education, aiming at functional educacation for all and where possible also literacy; and accordingly, to organise programmes of skill, aptitude and knowledge education for the various sections in the area of the Complex. (14.5.4)
Indian Education Service 308. Instead of creating the Indian Education Service, Cadres of Educational Advisory Service should be created in the States on the model of the Government of India. (In the Government of India, larger number of posts should be operated under the Advisory Service). (14.6.5)
Involvement of Voluntary Organisations 309. In the matter of securing participation of voluntary agencies, the preferred path should be for the Government to respond to the initiatives of voluntary organisations with reference to their own programmes, rather than vountary agencies
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being mobilised to respond to patternised Government programmes. At the same time, it is equally important that voluntary groups realise the adverse impact that receiving large scale funds from government and foreign sources is likely to have on their own voluntary character. Transparency in the working of voluntary agencies should be ensured in order to make them accountable to the community. For this purpose, a system of social audit should be established. Decentralised mechanisms for monitoring the work of voluntary agencies at the local levels sould be evolved. (14.7.3)
Co-ordination and Convergence of Services 310. The Ministry of H.R.D. should undertake a serious review of the situation regarding inter-departmental coordination to bring about convergence of services coming within the purview of the individual departments under the Ministry. The Ministry should also lay down specific modalities of bringing about this co-ordination and convergence of services. An appropriate institutionalised mechanism should be created for the purpose by the Ministry. Interdepartmental coordination should percolate down to the, grass root levels for the purpose of bringing about convergence of services, particularly, for facilitating girls' universalisation of elementary education through support services such as provision of access for them to water, fodder and fuel. (14.8.7)
Central Institutions Functioning Style 311. Institutions like the NCERT and UGC should bring about a sea change in their style of functioning, confining themselves to the role of co-ordination and providing resource support. They should allow institutions in the State and sub-State levels to take initiatives and bring about educational reforms in the areas of their competence in a way relevant to the local circumstances. (It is keeping this in view that recommendations have been given in the relevant chapters for local area planning on matters such as formulation of curriculum packages, preparation of designs and courses for vocational education, designing of university level courses etc). (14.9.0)
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Centrally Sponsored Schemes 312. The on-going Centrally Sponsored Schemes started in pursuance of NPE, 1986 have been under implementation only for two years. They may continue till end of 1992-93. The status of implementation of these schemes may be reviewed well before the end of that year. In any case, no new Centrally Sponsored Schemes may be initiated unless they be for the purpose of securing decentralisation of education management at a grass-root level. (14.10.4)
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