 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Studies across the world, especially in developing countries, have shown that investment in elementary education results in high rates of return both social and private. It is well-known that universal ele- mentary education contributes substantially to social and economic progress and to population control. Further, universal elementary education being our constitutional commitment, realization of this objective cannot be delayed any further, without a grave cost to the nation. There are serious obstacles to be overcome ensuring the active participation of learners from the poorer and backward sections of society. The Seventh Plan must make determined effort to overcome such obstacles and do all that is necessary to ensure Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) by the year 1990.

2. Despite the substantial progress made so far the magnitude of the problem still remains immense. At the end of the Sixth Plan 1120 lakhs children are expected to be enrolled in schools in class I to VIII, another 40 lakhs in non-formal educational centres (for State wise and other details see Statements I and II). This constituted 76 per cent of the school going children in the age group 6-14 in the year 1984- 95.

3. In the year 1990 the number of children in the age group 6-14 is estimated to be 16.3 crores. Facilities have to be provided not only to this age group, but also for underage and overage children estimat- ed at 10 per cent of the total population in the age-group 6-14.

4. Not all the additional enrolment would be in the school system. The average additional enrolment in schools has tended to remain around 50 lakhs a year despite intensive enrolment drives. Also as one moves towards universalisation, additional enrolment in formal schools will become increasingly difficult, as the children to be enrolled will increasingly be from poorer sections of the community, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the bulk of them will be girls. Any strategy for universalisation of elementary education must take note of the reality that a large number of children cannot or will not attend full time formal schools for reasons that have been classified as social, economic and pedagogical. Further many children, even if enrolled are likely to drop out. Although strenuous efforts will have to be made to bring down dropout rates, if not to be completely elimi- nated. Hence, if the strategy of universalisation is based only on formal full time schools, it is unlikely that the goal would be achieved in the Seventh Plan. A two fold strategy is therefore, re- quired. Each State has to make a realistic estimate of the number of children likely to be enrolled on a full time basis and provide ade- quate facilities for such children. Simultaneously they have to orga- nise alternate systems of providing education to reach those children who are not likely to attend formal schools, including those who drop out from formal schools before completing elementary education. State- ments III to V indicate on an approximate basis the

number of children that could be enrolled in formal full time schools during 1985-1990 and the number of children that have to be covered through non-formal education centres in various States. These figures are in the nature of indicative estimates aggregated at the State level. More specific targets have to be worked out for formal as well as non-formal education, block-wise and village-wise through decentra- lised planning techniques by the states and union territories. Once such targets are worked out at the decentralised level for the next five years, it would be expected that the authorities responsible for the achievement of the target would take all necessary steps and adopt all needed strategies for the meaningful achievement of these targets.

5. In developing those block level plans the detailed plan of action should be worked out in the light of past experience and in the light of new approaches suggested in the Seventh Plan.

6. Approach to universalisation of elementary education during the Seventh Five Year Plan includes intensified use of existing facili- ties, provision of economically viable and educationally relevant new facilities, promotion of non-formal system of learning, promotion of appropriate incentives development of curriculum related to local socio-economic factors and environment needs and a preparatory pro- gramme of early childhood education, particularly for children of first generation learner's families.

7. Following this approach a centrally sponsored scheme of non-formal education on an equal sharing basis was drawn up and implemented in the nine States, which were classified as educationally backward, on the basis of low enrolment. Encouragement was given to voluntary efforts not only for running non-formal education centres in these States, but also for innovation and experimentation throughout the country. States and Union Territories were assisted in a big way by supplying paper required for printing reading-learning materials required for non-formal education programme. To increase the enrolment of girls, which is lagging far behind that of boys and which has been emphasised in the 20-point Programme of the Government announced in January 1982, Central financial assistance for opening non-formal education centres in the nine States was raised to 90% in 1983-84.

8. In the formal sector a scheme was drawn up and implemented under which Central financial assistance was provided to the 0extent of 80% for appointment of a specified number of women teachers in primary schools in the nine States. To give a further boost to the programme of universalisation of elementary education and to accord recognition for excellence in performance for the spread of girls education both in formal schools and in non-formal centres, a scheme of awards/incen- tives was drawn up and implemented. Under this scheme, awards were given to the different administrative levels viz. Panchayats, Blocks/Tribal Development Blocks, Districts and States/Union Territo- ries. For the spread of early childhood education a scheme of assist- ance to voluntary organisations in the nine educationally backwards/States for running early childhood education centres was formulated and implemented.

Tasks in the Seventh Five Year Plan

9. The magnitude of the task in the Seventh Plan would call for a new design of education to which reference has been made in the Chapter on approach and strategies, which should give the highest emphasis to provision of opportunities for part time or own-time education under non-formal education programmes to achieve the goal of universalisa- tion of elementary education by 1990 in addition to a vigorous drive to ensure enrolment in school. The effort at the block level will have to be multi-faceted for intensifying some of the strategies adopted in earlier plans and at the same time developing new strategies to reach the groups which have not hitherto benefitted from the educational system. Some elements of the new design at the block level are indi- cated below :

(i) The programme has to be planned in relation to the needs of spe- cific areas or community particularly those who have remained outside the reach of elementary education. Intensive efforts should be made to provide for educationally backward.

(ii) Girls in large numbers continue to remain outside the main stream of education. Proven efforts of the past should be intensified to enrol girls in elementary education - both in formal and non-formal channels. Effective steps should be taken to overcome the socio-eco- nomic barriers hindering the progress of girls education. It has to be remembered that spread of education among girls is the key to the success of the programme of universalisation of elementary education.

(iii) Spread of education among the children belonging to the Sched- uled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, other weaker sections of the society including landless poor, agricultural labourers and urban slum dwell- ers needs to be accelerated and suitable programmes of formal and non-formal education should be developed for these target groups.

(iv) Greater impetus has to be given to early childhood education by undertaking programmes with initiatives.

(v) Schemes of Central assistance for the spread of education amongst the target groups should encompass not only educationally backward States but even educationally backward regions and districts in other States.

(vi) Children employed in semi-organised sector constitute a major segment of non-enrolled children. Rough estimates indicate 1.3 crore children are unable to take advantage of schooling because they work for wage employment. Their needs have to be met preferably in places of their employment. All establishments employing child labour should be under an obligation to provide for education to all such children of school going age.

(vii) Further extension of formal schooling would be necessary in unserved habitations especially for middle school education. In areas where there is already a primary/middle school within easy walking distance, the available facilities be strengthened by improving build- ing, furniture, equipment, library, drinking water and toilet facility (especially for girls) rather than opening new schools.

(viii) In separately populated habitations there is no alternative but to open new single teacher schools. Teachers in such schools should be oriented adequately. It would be advantageous to think in terms of appointment of teachers on part time basis and mobilisation of commu- nity's educated workers and educated volunteers.

It may be necessary to have all alternative arrangements of formal type such as grouping of schools, creation of central and residential schools, arrangements for transportation of children etc.

(ix) Systematic evaluation of incentives provided for enrolment and attendance of children should be made to ensure that the incentives are effective in relation to objectives. It would be worthwhile to think in terms of new and effective incentives which should be judged only in terms of their impact.

(x) A comprehensive health scheme designed in collaboration with health authorities who are basically concerned with primary health care, should be introduced in primary schools, especially in rural areas. This will not only server as an effective incentive for enrol- ment and attendance but will also enhance the health status of the children. This will be an effective complement to the Mid-Day meals Scheme.

(xi) Open Learning System and Non-formal Education are further dis- cussed in para 32. The principle of the opening of non-formal educa- tion should be implemented effectively in order to make education relevant, effective and useful. Community involvement and use of radio and television in support of primary education should also be encour- aged.

(xii) Special emphasis should be laid on quality of education, care being taken to remove deficiencies in elementary schools.

Wider Diffusion of Innovative Approaches in Education

10. Work has been done by NCERT as well as SCERTs/SIEs and other institutions in developing innovative approaches that would help to universalise elementary education and enhance its quality and rele- vance. The various projects being assisted by the UNICEF and those undertaken by governmental and non-governmental agencies have

provided sufficient experience which can now be usefully utilised in the early realisation of the goal of universal elementary education. These innovations need now to become a part of the system.

Among others the following steps would be necessary to ensure that innovations become part of the total system :

(a) Dissemination of information about innovative ideas and experi- ences has o be undertaken. Information must be provided to all those concerned with universal elementary education, planners and adminis- trators, supervisory personnel, teachers and communities.

(b) The capability of counterpart institutions to adopt innovations to local situations needs to be substantially strengthened. In spite of their having been in existence for some years, most of the State Councils of Educational Research and Training and State Institutes of Education continue to be understaffed and with meagre resources and indifferently attended/staffed, making it difficult for them to under- take meaningful research, development and extension work. Teacher training institutions which have and can develop closer links with schools also do not have enough resources to undertake any worthwhile extension work.

(c) There must be a large programme for training of functionaries who are expected to utilise the experience from innovations. Training of these personnel must include an understanding of the innovation, participation in the implementation and assistance to incorporate the experience on a systematic basis.

(d) The implementation of new approaches will depend to a great extent on decision makers, particularly the administrators who play a key role in identifying and providing for different programmes. It is, therefore, necessary to make systematic effort to make decision makers aware of the innovative ideas and practices, as to how they can be incorporated in the system and the resources - manpower and materials required for the purpose.

(e) There is urgent need to coordinate the work done under experimen- tal projects with on-going activities of the State Departments of Education and State level institutions. For instance, while substan- tial work has been done by SCERTs/SIEs in decentralised formulation of curriculum and the development of textual materials in relation to specific community needs, the on going exercise of revising syllabi and preparation of textbooks does not seem to incorporate the exist- ence gained from these projects. Without such coordination, the two exercises seem to be going on parallel lines rather than converging into one major programme of syllabus revision and development of textual materials.

(f) The adoption of innovative projects requires funds. Most of the plans of elementary education have been concerned primarily with the establishment of facilities with very meagre resources being available for research and development work. In the Seventh Plan, it would be desirable to earmark funds for implementing on a system basis some of the new approaches which have been demonstrated to be useful.

VALUE ORIENTATION AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

(i) Teacher Training

12. One of the weakest aspects of elementary education has been teach- er training, particularly inservice training. There are teacher train- ing institutions under the State Governments which are responsible for the training of primary school teachers after their matriculation. The curriculum of the training institutions is, by and large, out of date. In order to meet the contemporary needs of elementary education, it is necessary to reform teacher training. It is the primary school teach- er, who is expected to improve the quality of primary education, bring in, environmental and health education, national integration and other values. The teacher is expected to motivate the children as well as their parents for enrolment and retention in schools. All these, a teacher can hardly be expected to do, unless his/her competence is of a higher order. The primary concern in the in the training of teacher should not remain limited only to pedagogy but a teacher should be exposed to mass media, science education and technology traits which he has to pass on. hence, the Steering Group strongly recommends that a concerted attempt be made during the Seventh Plan to upgrade the thousand and odd elementary teacher training institutions, and that the preservice programme of teacher training be improved forthwith. Additional inputs may be necessary in order to modernise these insti- tutions, increase the library facilities, introduce educational tech- nology etc. Wherever possible, linkages with secondary level training institutions, colleges and other institutions should be established in order to break their isolation.

13. While pre-service teacher training at the elementary stage needs to be improved, it is necessary to emphasise the point that 29 lakh teachers are already working in the system, and that they need to be exposed to training. They have to deliver the goods immediately, if U.E.E. is to be achieved. Their motivation has to be aroused; they have to be given the know how of child-centered and environment-cen- tered education.

14. Inservice training of such a massive number of elementary teachers presents a real challenge in the Seventh Plan. But this challenge has to be met. considering the importance of national integration and of a core of values that we cherish, the earlier the children are exposed to education in values, the better it is, because the foundations of character are laid very early in life, even earlier than the age at which elementary education begins. It is obviously a task of highest importance in the hands of the teachers, and surely, no inservice education worth the name can neglect this. So, whatever the methods, inservice education of elementary school teachers should receive urgent attention during the Seventh Plan period. Except in some parts of the country like north-east geographical distribution-wise there is now a well developed network of teacher training institutions. Keeping in view the areas of importance in the Seventh Plan , these institu- tions should be strengthened and further developed, if necessary by creating new faculties in these institutions to take

care of needs of pre-service teacher training in the fields of non- formal and early childhood education, and in-service training in the fields of early childhood education, elementary education particularly science, languages and physical education and non-formal education. Some of these institutions should also develop as in-service training places for educational supervisors and administrators and teachers of vocational and technology streams. Also, since we want to expose the students to mass-media and technological marvels like computers in schools, it would be logical to re-orient the teacher training to provide for optimum use of these media and for this purpose to proper- ly equip the teacher training institutions with modern teaching aids, radio-TV-VCP and Computers so that the teachers trained in these institutions are adapt at using these modern technological devices for better education.

(ii) Curriculum

15. In this report, we have not gone into the details of a revision of the curriculum at the elementary level, but it needs hardly any argu- ment that it needs revision. First, the burden on the child should be worked out carefully, after some trial. The temptation to give every- thing to the child at the primary stage has to be checked. Further, there has to be a core curriculum common throughout the country, consisting of minimum language competencies, arithmetical abilities and values like national integration, environmental care, health, sanitation etc. at primary stage. The young student should be steadily exposed to the world of work and technology by organising frequent visits. This is also the stage at which good citizenship qualities should begin to develop in a child. A large part of education at this stage should be encouraged. At the middle stage most of these would progressively get formalised into the teaching process. The student would participate vigorously in socially useful productive work and would be formally exposed to mass-media and technological innovations like micro-computers.