 SYSTEM OF EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS IN INDIA

Constitutional Provisions

2.1. Education including Technical Education, Medical Education and Universities figure in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution. Besides, the Central Government is also vested with direct responsibilities in a few specific areas e. g. co-ordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education and research and scientific and technical institutions, union agencies and institutions for professional, vocational or technical training and the promotion of special studies or research and the adminis- tration, and maintenance of Central Universities and any other educational institutions including those for scientific or technical education declared by an Act of Parliament to be an institution of national importance. Planning including educational planning is also in the concurrent list.

2.2. Besides, the Constitution provides for two onerous responsibilities on the State viz. provision of univerasalisation of elementary education and promotion of educational and economic development of the weaker sections of the society.

Structure of Education

2.3. Based on a comprehensive review of the educational system in all its aspects, undertaken by the Kothari Commission (1964-66), the National Policy on Education was adopted in 1968. Therein, a uniform structure of education

has been recommended generally known as 10+2+3 system, consisting of 10 years of general education at the school stage, followed by 2 years of higher secondary education and 3 years of university education to the first degree. Within this broad pattern, which is yet to be introduced in a few States, there is considerable variation amongst States in respect of the grades which constitute the different levels of education. For example, primary stage consisting of grades of I-IV and middle stage consisting of V-VII is obtained in some States, whereas primary stage consisting of grades I-V and middle stage of grades VI-VIII is operative elsewhere. Similarly, the age of entry also varies from State to State but in majority of them it is 6+. For purpose of reporting statistics on enrolments at the national level, the following structure is used: -

primary level-grades I-V.

middle level-grades VI-VIII.

secondary education-grades IX-X.

higher secondary education-grades XI-XII.

university education-grades XIII onwards.

2.4. Non-formal education programmes for children in the age- group 9-14 has been recently introduced in a big way. States are opening more and more centres of nonformal education for the children who are not able to attend the formal schools. In higher education, similar opportunities are extended through Correspondence Courses leading to recognised degree/diplomas, to those who are not in a position to attend regular colleges.

Educational Planning.

2.5. (a) The implementation of the policy is undertaken through appropriate programmes in the Five Year Plans adopting suitable strategies. The Planning and Statistical

Division in the Ministry maintains the necessary link and co- ordination with the Planning Commission at the Centre and the State Education Departments.

2.5 (b) As a result of the planned educational efforts so far, the country has steadily moved towards the realisation of the constitutional directives of providing free education to the children in the age group of 6-14. The programme of universalisation of elementary education with special emphasis on girls' and the weaker sections education and the eradication of adult illiteracy are in- cluded in the Minimum Needs Programmes of the Sixth Plan. The fulfilment of the constitutional directive of universalisation of elementary education by 1990 is the goal of the 20-Point Programme launched in January, 1982.

Educational Administrative Set-up

2.6 The Ministry of Education plays a major role in ensuring a coordinated development of education all over the country. The States have the major responsibility in administering education, particularly at the school level.

2.7 For the coordination and determination of standards in higher education, the University Grants Commission has been established by legislation. The National Council of Educational Research and Training is engaged in promoting the quality of school education throughout the country. The National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) provides technical support to the Ministry in educational planning and administration.

2.8 At the State level, by and large the State Education Department is vested with the policy, coordination and administration. The Directorates of Education are responsible for implementation, through the region/district and

block levels organisations. There are also several other educational programme e.g. in the field of Health, Agriculture, Labour, etc., looked after by a number of other Ministries/Departments both at the Centre and the States.

Outline of the Educational Statistical System

2.9 Educational Planning, policy making and evaluation, depend on a good statistical service, which is the major responsibility of the Ministry of Education at the Centre and the State Education Departments. Besides, educational statistics also serve the need of educational research and dissemination of information for use by vari- ous national and international agencies. Educational decision making/planning in the country largely rests on the statistics collected by the Ministry of Education, and its sub-formation as an integral part of their regular functions, with such supporting general statistics and information as collected by the Office of Registrar General, the Institute of Applied Manpower Research, the National Sample Survey Organisation, the Education Ministry and other similar agencies. The type of educational statistics collected and compiled by the organisations concerned is suited to their requirements.

2.10 Under the existing system of collection of educational. statistics, the Ministry of Education obtain certain basic data from the State Governments collected annually on census basis. The basic constraint is the size of the educational system of the country which consists of nearly 6.75 lakhs educational institutions. The lack of adequate staff at various levels and of modern data processing equipment come in the way of collecting detailed data on census basis from all the educational institutions. Efforts are, therefore, being directed to collect some data on sample basis. Very recently certain theme-oriented

studies have also been taken as a regular function of the Ministry of Education.

2.11 Apart from the Ministry of Education & Culture as earlier mentioned, information on education is collected by a number of agencies viz. University Grants Commission (UGC), Planning Commission, NCERT, National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), Registrar General's (Census) office, etc. The National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT) collects some data as part of the All India Educational Surveys which are generally conducted once in 5-6 years. Excepting the Third Educational Survey, these surveys covered only school education information on various aspects of educational facilities in schools, etc.

2.12 The U.G.C. collects information from universities and colleges. These statistics are collected on census basis. The Planning Commission collects information from the States on selected items like enrolment at various stages of education in institutions of various types, teaching personnel, expenditure incurred or likely to be incurred on specific education programmes. The NSSO collected some data on education during its 27th, 32nd, 34th and 35th round. In the 34th round, detailed information has been collected about the statistics of unrecognised institutions in the country. The RG's office provides information on literacy, educational attainments of population, and the population enrolment in schools and other educational institutions. This is done every 10th year as part of the population census. The Directorate General of Employment & Training collects information from employment exchanges about teachers seeking placement assistance.

2.13 At the Central level, the Committee assigned the responsibility to the Education Ministry for collection of

data from the State Governments. It would be incumbent on the other Central agencies to consult the Education Ministry before collecting data on their own from the State Departments.

2.14 In the State Education Departments, the Directorate of Education coordinates the State educational activities. They are the primary agencies responsible for collecting, compiling and disseminating State educational statistics. Information is collected by the Statistical Unit located in the office of the Director of Education. However, in some States, information is being collected and consolidated by more than one Directorates and then supplied to the Statistical Unit which is functioning tinder one of the Directorates.

2.15 The States supply data in the forms prescribed by the Ministry of Education for which purpose they have their own data collection system. The collection of data is done at three levels. The collection of statistics of the primary and middle schools is generally done at the block level, whereas the district level is concerned with the consolidation of block-wise returns of the primary and middle schools, and the collection and compilation of data in respect of high/higher secondary schools. The pattern, however varies from State to State. The State Headquarter collects data in respect of institutions of higher education and consolidates the other material received from district education offices, for the whole State and submits it to the Ministry on its prescribed forms. A flow chart showing the system of collection of the educational statistics is given in the Annexure V.

2.16 In the system of collection of data in the various States/UTs by and large, the statistical units collect information on an annual basis through prescribed forms.

Besides, the state inspecting/supervisory agency at the different levels usually collects information on traditional type of statements separately on students, teachers, expenditure, etc., on monthly or quarterly basis. In many of the States, educational planning being the responsibility of administration or budget section the planning unit also collects information besides the statistical unit. The Committee noted the multiplicity of agencies collecting educational data within and outside the education departments, without effective coordination.

2.17 The practice of different central government agencies collecting statistical information directly from the different units of State Government results quite often in divergent data being furnished on the same item. The Committee, therefore, recommends assigning the responsibility for furnishing data to the statistical units in the State Education Departments. In the event of these statistical units being identified for the purpose of the data, there is no need for other units of the State government to collect on their own. For such of the material not available in the process of normal collection by the State Statistical Unit, the department/unit con- cerned may be required to consult the State education statistical units, before taking up collection on their own. It would be for the State statistical unit to advise on the need for collection of additional information sought, its scope, coverage and frequency of data collection.

2.18 The Education Ministry also collects data on foreign students in India and Indian students going abroad, Boards of Secondary Education examination results and selected educational statistics. The Ministry of Education also started collecting statistics relating to Correspondence Courses in India as part of its theme-oriented studies.

2.19 The educational statistics collected by the Ministry in ES forms I to VI thus covers the entire educational system in the State, right from pre-primary to the post-graduate/doctorate level. The Ministry of Education supplies the printed forms to all the States according to their requirements, together with model proformas to collect statistics from institutions. To ensure accuracy in the collection of educational statistics, the Ministry has prepared a Manual of Instructions giving concepts and definitions for use by the State Governments, both at the State Headquarter and the district offices for filling up the statistical return.

2.20 The Ministry of Education also organises training courses for the statistical staff engaged at the State Headquarters to explain to them the various concepts and definitions given in the Manual of Instructions and other points in regard to scrutiny of data. Besides, the Ministry of Education also deputes resource personnel to the State Governments in helping them to conduct training courses for the district/block level officials on this job.

2.21 The data furnished by the State governments in these forms are scrutinised by the Statistical Wing in the Ministry of Education and the various points of discrepancies are reconciled and finally published in the annual publication of the "Education in India" series.

2.22 The Committee noted that after the introduction of the revised system, the Education Ministry has brought out the 1976-77 numerical data in 1980 and that of 1977-78 in 1982. While there has been some improvement and the time-lag is not so large as it used to be, the Committee felt that efforts should be made for further reduc- ing the time-lag without sacrificing information. Considering that time-lag in data collection is a major factor contributing to the delays in the publication of data, this

requires to be constantly followed up. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry of Education should present an annual review of the progress of collection and dissemination of statistics which may be discussed at the annual conference of the Education Ministers. Further, the system envisaged a good deal of support material through survey and theme-oriented studies. The Committee noted that certain studies are under way. The Committee is of the view that this activity should be built, up on a regular basis, and for this purpose the statistical machinery available in the Education Ministry and in the State Education Departments should be strengthened and the technical competence enhanced to undertake such work.

2.23 The NCERT collects data periodically through All India Educational Surveys in the country. The last survey was conducted in 1978-79 and the All India Report thereof published in 1982. Comprehensive data relating to school education is covered in these Surveys. The Surveys are undertaken by the State Governments whereas NCERT provides academic and technical guidance. The Survey Unit at the State and district levels are responsible for conducting the Survey. Orientation to the State Survey Officers in organising the Survey is imparted by the NCERT. The State Survey Officers conduct orientation courses for the District Survey Officers who in turn train the Block Education Officers. On Completion of the Survey, national tables are, completed by the Survey and Data Processing Unit of the NCERT. Besides the All India Report published in 1982 and a Pre- liminary report published in 1981, Statewise reports have been also prepared by some of the State Survey/Statistical Units.

2.24 The Committee suggested that NCERT and other agencies while conducting All India Survey may also

collect data on the items now being covered in Form ES VI (quinquennial collection by the Ministry of Education).

2.25. The Committee recommends that the conduct of All India Educational Surveys by the NCERT should be a regular feature, once in five years. The scope and coverages of the surveys should be decided according to the requirements on each occasion. It is desirable that the reference date and concepts and definition of the terms used by the NCERT are such as to maintain continuity with the annual statistics collected and compiled by the Ministry of Education. The next all India Educational Survey may be taken up in 1983 and planning for this should commence immediately. The data so collected should be available within a year thereafter so that the data can be helpful for the preparation of the Seventh Five Year Plan. It would also be desirable to have the educational survey data in future too being made available well in time for the formulation of the next Five Year Plans. It is also necessary to have periodical comprehensive educational surveys in regard to higher and professional education too by appropriate agencies and the survey data should also be available for the formulation of Five Year Plans well in time.

2.26. Information on higher education which is of relevance to its own work is collected by the UGC. The schedules B-3/B-4/13-5 currently being used for collecting data have been revised largely in consultation with the Ministry of Education and Culture to serve the needs of not only the U.G.C. but also of other agencies. The collec- tion is done directly from the colleges and universities and published by the UGC university-wise. The main statistical publication of the Commission is "The University Development in India-Basic Facts and Figures." It was noted that the collection of educational statistics in respect of higher educational institutions has also been

undertaken by the Ministry of Education through the State Governments. This data covers all the universities, affiliated and nonaffiliated colleges, as well as nonaffiliated courses and school classes attached to affiliated institutions of higher education. This data is compiled and published by the Ministry of Education State-wise.

2.27. The Committee recommends that work relating to collection of educational statistics in respect of universities and affiliated colleges may be taken up by the UGC. The Ministry of Education may, however, continue to collect data in respect of non-affiliated institutions and also about the schools/school classes attached to institutions of higher education. Pending the transfer of work, Education Ministry should, however, collect data from all types of higher education institutions for a period of two years for maintaining the continuity of the statistical series.

2.28. At the national level, the Directorate of Adult Education introduced a carefully designed monitoring system which apart from furnishing statistics helps timely corrective action being taken. The data flow process commences from the adult education centre, and flows through the project level/State level to the national level. Two way flow is maintained at all levels to enable the project officer/State level officer to monitor progress and take remedial measures. The Committee expressed its satisfaction with these arrangements and recommends that the basic data in regard to adult education centres be incorporated by the Ministry of Education as a part of its annual collection.