SOCIAL JUSTICE : UNIVERSALISATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION (1 & 9)
The Constitutional Imperative 4.01 The Constitution, while establishing a Democratic and Socialist Republic, laid down as one of its Directive Principles : "the State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years." The framers of our Constitution saw clearly that securing freedom and justice to all its citizens could only be achieved if it was, laid on the firm foundation of equality of status and opportunity. Apart from the demands of social justice and equity, as we move into a world where technology and communication have the highest currency, a skill-based education that aims at development becomes an absolute necessity. We are still far from achieving the goal of UEE though 25 more years have gone beyond the deadline of 1960 set by the Constitution.
Past Achievements 4.02 Much progress has, however, been made since independence to date in the field of education. Since 1950, the first year of the Republic, we have- recorded 136% increase in primary schools, while the growth of middle schools has been eight-fold. By 1978, 92.820/ of the rural population had primary schooling facilities within the habitation or within reasonable walking distance. While the enrolment of boys rose by about 3.3 times, that for girls rose by 5.3 times. The total enrolment in class I-VIII rose four-fold. The quantum leap that we have been able to achieve in education has been given earlier on page 11. But in spite of this major achievement, there is a big shadow in the picture. Statistics of the last decade show that the country is able to retain only about 31.1 to 39.6% in Classes I-V.
The size of the Problem 4.03 The Sixth Five Year Plan was able to achieve its target as far as formal schooling was concerned, but the performance was not so bright on the nonformal side. As against an estimated population of 1482 lakh children in the age group 6-13, the estimated enrolment would be 999.22 lakhs only, leaving a backlog of 482.78 lakh unenrolled children by 1985. As against an estimated 1630 lakh children in the age group 6-13 by the end of 1990 and the estimated achievement of 999.22 lakhs by 1985, the position of the children to be brought under the schooling system will be as follows :
TABLE
(Estimates in lakhs)1
Stage 1985 1990 Children to be enrolled
Primary 725.39 1036.00 310.61
Middle. 273.83 594.00 320.17
999.22 1630.00 630.78
631.00 Lakhs
1* 1985 figures from the Planning Commission.
4.04 It is obvious that to achieve UEE, 631 lakhs children will have to be brought under the schooling system, about 311 lakhs to the primary and as many as 320 lakhs to the middle classes. The heavy backlog at the middle stage is due to the fact that whereas 95.2 per cent children were sought to be enrolled at the primary stage, the target for the middle stage or 11-13 age group was only 50.3 Per cent. The magnitude of the jump that has to be made to achieve the target by 1990 may be estimated from the following table:
Year Growth in enrolment
1980-81 28 lakhs
1981-82 43 lakhs
1982-83 41 lakhs
1983-84 47 lakhs (estimated)
1984-85 45 lakhs (estimated)
1985-90 126 lakhs (annually)
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18 THE TEACHER AND SOCIETY
4.0.5 Retention is posing the most difficult problem to UEE. The drop-out rate, even today is as high as 60% in the very first year. As a result, we have the shocking fact that there are more students out of school, in the age group of 8-10 than in school. The main reason for this has been the poverty and deprivation of our people. Another equally serious obstacle has been the continuing social prejudice against the schooling of girls particularly in the rural areas. The Kothari Commission presented the following picture of dropouts in the years before and after independence.
Drop-out percentage in classes
Year V VIII
1946-47 68.2 87.5
1950-51 72.7 87.01
1965-66 70.1 84.6
4.06 It is obvious that the rate of drop-outs in the years after independence has gone up further and the retention rate even for primary sections in the pre-independence period has not been achieved. The position has changed very little since then as is evident from the following table:
TABLE* 1
Drop-out Rate
V VIII
Year Total Girls Total Girls
1967-68 65.0 69.0 7 5.8 81.6
1968-69 68.9 71.1 7 8.0 83.6
1969-70 66.0 71.3 7 7.9 83.6
1970-71 67.0 70.9 7 7.9 83.4
1971-72 66.5 70.3 7 9.0 84.3
1972-73 65.0 68.7 7 9.1 84.2
1973-74 68.7 73.0 8 2.3 87.0
1974-75 63.2 66.7 7 8.7 83.7
1975-76 62.8 66.2 7 7.6 82.8
1976-77 63.1 66.8 7 7.2 82.2
1977-78 60.4 65.0 7 8.8 82.8
1978-79 60.4 65.3 7 6.7 82.0
4.07 In twelve years, the figures for which have been presented above, the drop-out rate has decreased by less than a mere five per cent at the primary stage.
At the middle stage even this reduction has not occurred. A similar conclusion applies to girls. as well. It should be mentioned that the retention rate or the drop-out rate presented in the tables above is on the basis of the percentage of pupils relevant in different classes in proportion to the enrolment in class I during the same year. However for a more correct idea of wastage, it is necessary to trace the enrolments in Classes V and VIII back to class I, four and seven years ago, respectively. By this calculation the drop-out or, for that matter, the wastage at the Primary and Middle stages comes to 63.1 per cent and 77.1% respectively.2
4.08 One more aspect of wastage deserves notice. In a study on the "Effective Cost of Primary Education in India"3. Planning Commission has worked out the excess cost of education for every functionally literate person in the country. The excess cost for the whole of India comes to 85.7 per cent, of which 39.4 per cent is due to stagnation and 46.3 per cent to dropping out, A further break up of this excess cost, sexwise, is as follows:
TABLE
(The figures represent percentage)
Boys Girl Total
Excess cost due to stagnation 38.2 42.0 39.4
Excess cost due to dropping out 42.6 53.8 46.3
Total 85.7
4.09 The study reveals the huge wastage of monetary resources that the nation is incurring on elementary education. If the figures are any indication of the wastage that is taking place, we lose almost Rs. 86 out of every Rs. 100 that we are investing in this important sector of human resource development. This national loss is truly staggering, considering the limited total budget allocation for this vital sector.
4.10 If we were to consider the purely educational obstacles to UEE, a major hurdle has been the non-availability of qualified local teachers. There is no real shortage of qualified teachers as such. Except for a few States/Union Territories of the NorthEastern region, the percentage of trained teachers, at the primary and middle levels for the country as a whole is 87.1% and 89.2% respectively. The trouble is that the existing supply, otherwise reasonably adequate for the country's requirements does not reach the isolated and rural areas. One has only to refer to the widespread phenomenon of teacher absenteeism to indicate how serious the problem is. It is no secret that in many rural schools, teachers are more often absent than present but still get regular salaries.
1 a Handbook of Educational and Allied Statistics, Ministry of Education and Culture, Government of India, 1983, and Third All India Educational Survey NCERT, New Delhi, 1977.
2 Report of the Subgroup on Universalisation of Education, 1984.
3 By P. R Gopinathan.
SOCIAL JUSTICE : UNIVERSALISATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 19
The target year-1990 4.11 We have to bring 6311 lakhs of children to the school as mentioned earlier. Is the problem too enormous to handle ? Do we have the wherewithal to meet this challenge ? We feel that these are not the relevant questions. The question is whether we really want to do it. If the answer to that question is, an unconditional, Yes, we will then find the ways and means to achieve the goal of UEE, as indeed we. have shown in completing several practical projects in the past.
Strategies for Implementation of UEE 4.12 We are constrained to observe that our planning for elementary education can be faulted on many counts. Perhaps no single fault is as serious as its continuing pre-occupation with macro-planning to the virtual neglect of micro-planning. To break down aggregate targets into sub-targets, regionwise, districtwise, blockwise, or according to any other suitable scheme of operational areas, and to convert targets into feasible programmes and concrete projects, the active involvement of the local executives is essential. Unless we can effectively reverse the centralised top-to-bottom planning model and replace it by planning from the local and grass- roots level, there will be little prospect of our reaching the goal of I-TEE in the forseeable future. Let us elucidate the point a little.
4.13 Suppose we decide that the existing participation ratio of girls in the age group 6-10 is to be raised in a particular State from 50% to 70% during, 1985-90. There are two possible ways of arriving at such a. target. The planning authorities may, considering the general backwardness of girls' education in the State and after considering the progress of girls' education in the previous years, arrive at the judgment that would be a reasonable target to aim at. Here the basis of the target is a 'hunch', although it does presume some familiarity with the existing situation. Now whether this target will be actually achieved or not in the next five years, only time can tell. It past experience is a guide, in an area like girls' educa- tion, where a large number of factors-social, cultural and others besides educational intrude-the chances are that the target may not be reached.
4.14 Alternately one might proceed from the bottom, by making an actual survey in every village and habitation of the State to determine the number of girls of school-going age who are not attending school or who have dropped out prematurely to have a clear idea of the reasons of their non-participation
1 For financial estimate under different assumptions see paras 10.55 to 10.61 of Chapter X.
and to devise special measures to remove the obstacles in the way. Then a proper realistic increase in enrolment can be planned. The target for the district and the State as a whole, would finally emerge from the aggregate of the targets for different villages and districts. This is the only scientific way to come to grips with the problem and to reach the State or national targets within a stipulated period of time.
4.15 The Development Block has already been considered as a convenient unit for decentralised planning and administration of development programmes and we would strongly urge that serious efforts be made to decentralise educational planning, particularly at the elementary stage, to the Block level and subsequently to smaller areas of about 25000 to 30000 population by dividing the block into suitable sub-divisions based on agro-climatic conditions and communication facilities. With smaller operational areas, it would be possible to formulate concrete and workable programmes of UEE in accordance with the needs of the population in each sub-division.
4.16 A decentralized planning responsibility at the Block and its sub-divisional levels could be easily entrusted to the Block Education Officers who have already been appointed in some States by way of advance action for the VII Plan. Along with the responsibility for planning, the necessary financial and administrative powers need to be delegated to these officers.
4.17 We suggest below the elements of a new strategy considered essential for attaining the national goal of UEE.
(a) The basic instrument for the implementation of the programme should be the school complex or better still the educational complex. Each district in every State should be subdivided suitably into a number of school/ educational complex. A complex should consist of all the primary schools in the area, which would be supported by all the middle schools of the area. both of which will have the support and supervision of the secondary and Senior secondary schools, and all three assisted and aided by a college or institution of higher learning, if it exists, as well as by other insti- tutions which can provide educational support to the complex. When forming a school/educational complex, care must be taken that it is neither too small, nor so big as to become unwieldly. Two relevant considerations will be the density of population, and the number of institutions in the area.
20 THE TEACHER AND SOCIETY
(b) A suitable person should be appointed as Head of the complex. This person could be the existing head of an institution of higher learning or of a senior secondary school or a person specifically appointed for this purpose. Since we consider this head of the complex as the key person for the success of the project, personal competence and the degree of motivation and commitment to the project should be the only consideration in making this appointment. We plead that pressures and pulls should not be allowed to. influence the selection.
(c) The head of the complex should have available to him continually the advice of a small committee consisting among others, of the heads of the institutions in the complex and a few local leaders of the area who are genuinely interested in this programme. The head of the complex should be the Chairman of this group.
(d) The first task of the head should be to initiate a detailed survey of the area to generate exact information regarding the educational reality in the area. This survey should collect data on children actually in school as against those on the school register, students who have dropped out and the stages at which they dropped out, as well as children who did not enter school. It should also be one of the main objectives of the survey to identify the nature of the socioeconomic difficulties in the area which prevent these children from participating.
4.18 The survey should also compile a comprehensive list of all teachers as well as other anciliary staff and senior students in the age group 14-16 who could be associated with the programme and support it. This should be done school-wise initially and then collated to indicate the strength of the human resources available for the project in the complex.
4.19 Meetings should then be held with cross representatives of the entire complex to make available to them the results) of the survey data. This is expected to stimulate serious 'discussion on how to find solutions to the problems that the survey has uncovered, how to determine and develop programmes needed to overcome the difficulties, how to mobilise additional resources, how to coordinate more effectively, how to mobilise the interest and support of the entire population of the complex in favour of the UEE programme, and so on. It is important that these meetings are not conducted in the traditional manner, where hierarchy pre-dominates, but as truly participatory so as to receive as much ground-level information and suggestions as possible. This is necessary for shared cooperative decision-making. Such a process will make decisions easy and relevant and ensure effective implementation, since people have had a chance to participate actively in the process of decision-making.
4.20 The purpose of the school complex is to create an intensive atmosphere of learning within and outside the schools in the complex. The responsibility of the teachers in the complex would be to ensure that the pupils who are enrolled in their schools continue to learn well, that more and more pupils enrol (especially in the primary schools) and that the expectations of learning entertained by the parents are satisfied and that children who, for some reason or the other, cannot attend full time school are given opportunities to learn during their spare time. This part-time, non-formal, education and full-time formal schooling need to be planned carefully at the micro- level in such a manner that there are close linkages between the two and that the outcome of both are comparable.
4.21 To return to the strategy the head, of each educational institution in the, complex would prepare an institutional plan, indicating, among other things the targets, the deadlines for achieving them and also identifying the persons being associated at each stage of the programme. Group action has its own inner dynamic. Serious goal setting in which a large group of people have participated is bound to generate a great deal of interest and enthusiasm so vital for the success of the programme.
4.22 While taking into consideration. the resources available, a special effort must be made to recruit as many women teachers as possible. Women teachers will be able to take greater care of preparing the mothers at home as well as the girls on why they ought to attend school, stay in school and study better. It will be of tremendous advantage if the women teachers are from the locality of the school or complex, for in that case they will have the added advantage of commitment to promote a cause that serves the interests of children of their own village/area.
4.23 To arouse community motivation and sustain it in the UEE programme both folk and modern media should be used. Piquant and topical drama. mime, puppet shows, specially prepared, songs and couplets, attractive both, because of, melody and
SOCIAL JUSTICE : UNIVERSALISATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 21
message, as well as posters, films, and soon also video cassettes would help achieve the objectives of community. motivation and fuller community participation. Likewise the intelligent use of mass media of communication, radio and television would go a long way in reaching out to large members and supporting the role of the teacher. To be effective, these should have as much local flavour and relevance as possible, and should be prepared only by those who are fully acquainted with the local or regional situation and hence can communicate with them directly.
Monitoring 4.24 Each institution of the complex, participating in the programme, is to be expected to have complete records of each individual child of the school-going age to be covered by the programme. In maintaining these records and in collecting data for monitoring the progress of the programme, help could easily be taken of students in the age range 14-16, which will form a useful part of their training and of SUPW.
The role of the Teacher in UEE 4.25 We have a teacher force of close to 3.5 millions. For the most part these are trained. Hence they provide a readily available work force for the national task of educating all. The problem of UEE lies less with enrolment and much more with retention. This is where the teacher has a direct and active role to play. There are many factors, several of which lie outside the pale of the teacher and the school, in the conventional sense of the term, which result in drop- outs. But a motivated teacher can do much to retain a student. He may do this by establishing better relations between the student and himself. by establishing communication with parents and helping them see the value of educating their children, by providing remedial help and encouragement where needed, and above all by making his, own teaching interesting, relevant and effective. For instance, the teaching of reading in class I is so defective, laying stress as it does, on memorisation of a page rather than on reading with understanding, which makes the child totally disinterested in reading. If teaching improves and becomes more interesting many students may be saved and retained.
4.26 While on the subject of reading, it is important to point out that in preparing instructional materials for the primary school child, particularly at the early stages, every care must be taken to use words which are close to the child's own linguistic background and environment. A research project conducted by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education revealed that simplifying the language of exposition of science texts improves considerably the performance of students and led to a much better teacher-pupil interaction in the classroom. In another project to improve the scholastic achievement of scheduled caste students, it was found that use of difficult unfamiliar words, lack of visual imagery, and the inability of the teacher to convey clearly to the child the rules of the game prevented concept formation. It was found that once these difficulties are identified and removed, teaming becomes smoother and faster.
4.27 The Teacher's involvement must obviously extend also to non- formal education to be provided for children who had dropped out early, in the primary stage, and who are still in the age group 6-13. This will also provide necessary coordination and link-ups between formal and non-formal education.
4.28 The NCERT UNESCO-sponsored programme of Comprehensive Access to Primary Education (CAPE) provides a method and approach to make education, situational and contextual so that it relates better to the needs and realities of the students. Learning episodes are developed which provide the starting point for learning. The system as in vogue today encourages a highly passive learning by the child and an overactive role for the teacher. Any change can come about only when there is a proper re-orientation of the teacher. His attitude must change drastically till he learns to become a guide or felicitator of the child. If the national goal of UEE has to be met, the teachers have to be involved in a big and regular fashion. This may mean that the teachers would have to give an additional hour of work or more each day. For work done in excess of what is prescribed by the State Act or Regulation, the teachers should be suitably remunerated, the reward should be sufficient to provide an incentive to do a good job. Otherwise we will be wasting money without getting any reasonable return.
The First Essential Step 4.29 We have identified the school/educational complex as an effective medium or instrument for implementing UEE. Although the school complex, in which a large number of institutions come together in mutual support, was proposed by the Kothari Commission two decades ago, most of the States, with a few exceptions have not given this any serious attention. We see great advantage in an organised and nation- wide setting up of school complexes in the
1 See also para 6.60 and 6.71 of Chapter VI, 8.22 of Chapter VIII and 10.03 of Chapter X.
22 THE TEACHER AND SOCIETY
context of UEE. The reasons are the following:
(i) The complex effectively applies the principle of decentralised planning and involvement of persons at the grass roots level.
(ii) The resources of the community, human and material, would become more fully available.
(iii) The centrality of the role of the teacher in UEE is highlighted in the complex, that we have envisaged.
4.30 We are not pro sing the complex as a magic formula to meet the challenge of UEE, but we do suggest it is a much better management model. The head of the complex, as pointed out earlier, is a key person. He has to be given the necessary administrative and financial powers as well as adequate transport facilities to function effectively and with dignity. The community thus grows together.
4.31 In order to operationalise this strategy, we suggest that an early meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) be convened.
Education and the Community 4.32 The target set for the nation of Education for all can be achieved only when the resources of the community and of the mass society are mobilised to the full extent. Every section of society must feel that he has a stake and a share in this national task. We have suggested how the teachers can and should be fully involved through the educational complex in UEE. But UEE being the concern of the whole community, financial resources of industrialists and agriculturalists etc. would be, forthcoming, if they see that there is a direct link between them and the products of the education. In developing job-related courses in technical and vocational streams, industry and agriculture should therefore be linked, which would mean that pre-employment field training would also be provided by these agencies. Similarly, participation by voluntary organisations such as trade unions, kisan sabhas, etc. would also seem necessary. In other words the target of UEE can only be achieved through a MASS MOVEMENT and the creation of a national fervour for education among all sections of the people.
4.33 Mass, media, especially the television, offers the concreteness and strength of visual communication. If even a part of the ingenuity that is evident in advertisements, whether through films, television or through magazines, and hoardings, is made use of in a sustained fashion, it should be possible to bring conviction and commitment, in the minds and hearts of the people to ensure that UEE becomes a reality, if not by 1990, at least before the turn of the century.
Supporting role of Pre-school Education 4.34 Considering that the vast majority of our children entering class I come from homes that are illiterate and very poor, the case for schooling and learning preparedness needs no special advocacy. It is also known that the first five or six years of a child's life form the most crucial period for his total development later in life. Hence, during this formative stage, the child in the pre-school, must find a homely and congenial atmosphere away from home. Ho must be helped to awaken his senses and open his mind to the world around him and learn to relate to nature, to people, and to the environment and be socially and emotionally integrated. We also recognise how impor- tant is the need to get children ready for formal schooling and bow much imagination and flexibility are needed on the part of the teacher to achieve this.
4.35 Hence, while early childhood education is important enough in its own right, it assumes special significance in the context of the non-fulfilment of the national goal of UEE. One of the surest ways of retaining children in the primary classes is to help them look at school as a place of joyous learning and play. When the introduction to formal schooling is a happy experience for the child, the chances of retention are greater. Basic orientation to health hygiene and nutrition, aural-oral initiation to language learning and socialisation make pre-school meaningful and for first generation learners a necessary first step. The work done by the Integrated Child Development Scheme (lCDS) in urban slums, under-privileged rural and tribal areas by Anganwadi and Balwadi workers is commendable and needs to be expanded further.
4.36 We find that the need for pre-school education has also been recognised by the urban educated classes as seen by the proliferation of nurseries and kindergartens but we are disturbed by what goes in the name of 'education' at these pre-school centres. There is urgent need for the orientation of teachers and parents to the purpose and scope of pre-school education and this should be taken up earnestly by the NCERT and SCERTs in the States and also by other agencies like the Bal Bhawans. It is time also that the status and salaries of this category of staff are given some attention.
Suggestions 4.37 We make the following specific suggestions:
(a) Two broad categories of workers be recognised, termed as professionals and paraprofessionals respectively.
SOCIAL JUSTICE : UNIVERSALISATION OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 23
(b) The emoluments, including pay, benefits, service conditions, and opportunities for advancement of professionals be on par with that of primary teachers in each state.
(c) An exercise be conducted in collaboration with Departments of Social Welfare and concerned authorities to determine the same for paraprofessionals.
(d) The education, training and professional improvement of all categories of personnel concerned with the young child be studied and a comprehensive plan prepared.
(e) Professional associations like the Indian Association for Pre-school education be associated with such studies and be given all help and encouragement.
Special Education as an imperative of Social Justice 4.38 An area that calls for special attention from the point of social justice and equity is that of the education of the disabled. India has about 800-1,000 special schools imparting primary and secondary education to the visually and hearing handicapped children. The average intake is about 400-500 for the deaf and 40-50 for the blind. There would be, it is estimated, about 8,000-10,000 teachers in these institutions with a pupil-teacher ratio in the range of 1:8/10. Currently not more than 5% of the blind and deaf children and, perhaps, 0.5% of mentally retarded are estimated to attend school.
4.39 In addition, the Government of India operates a centrally sponsored scheme of integrated education where the handicapped children are admitted to general schools so that they may grow together in the same atmosphere.
4.40 One difficulty in the planning of special education is that no comprehensive survey of the magnitude of the problem of handicapped children exists, in the absence of which it is not possible to work out a national plan for the education and rehabilitation of the handicapped. This must be remedied by a big initiative from the Central Ministry. Justice demands that the problems of handicapped children receive a favoured treatment from the nation.
Training of Teachers for the Handicapped 4.41 The present provision is inadequate both in terms of numbers required and the quality of training.
There are only 4 centres one each in Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta for the blind with an annual intake of 50. There are half a. dozen centres for the training of deaf teachers with a capacity not exceeding 100. and 4 centres for teachers of the mentally retarded again with a total capacity not exceeding 100. These centres offer a one-year diploma course. In addition, the S.N.D.T. University and Jamia Milia have initiated B.Ed. and Post-Graduate courses respectively in the field of special education.
4.42 We strongly recommend that the following steps be taken:
1. All education programme for the handicapped and the disabled form an integral part of the educational system and be dealt with by the Department of Education. Education of disabled children should no longer be treated as a welfare measure.
2. As a corollary, grants to special schools should be given on the same basis as to regular schools with adequate provision to meet special needs of disabled children.
3. Special educators should be given the same scales as prescribed for oridinary teachers in primary and secondary schools. A special pay or advance increments should be allowed for specialised qualifications.
4. Other benefits allowed to ordinary teachers in Government or aided schools should be extended to special educators.
5. Teachers of special education should form part of the States cadre of teachers.
6. More Universities should be persuaded to initiate degree and diploma courses for special education. Courses in special education should also be started at the, Master's degree level.
7. Central and State governments as well as Universities should initiate refresher courses for the in-service orientation of teachers of special education.
8. Curriculum development for teacher preparation in special education should be kept constantly under review.
9. Growing use should be made in special education, wherever necessary, of modern educational technology.