TRANSLATING WORDS INTO ACTION : IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
10.1 In the foregoing chapters we have made a number of recommendations concerning the status, salary, service conditions, training and performance of the teacher. The main thrust of our recommendations has been towards a greater decentralisation of the control and management of our schools and school programmes. We have also been clear that the decentralisatiou without accountability all along the line will only mean chaos. What we need today is not only greater accountability from the teacher but from the administrator and the politician as well.
10.02 In this last chapter we wish to elaborate further this concept of decentralisation. More specifically we propose to dilate upon the school complex idea. the role and qualities of the Headmaster. Vie place of the private school in the national system. and the development of non-formal education as a strong ally of UEE. We propose to recommend immediate steps towards the establishment of a National Commission for School Education (NCSE), giving of statutory powers to the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) and the revival of the Indian Educational Service (IES). Before concluding the chapter, we would like to say a word or two in general about the greater need for accountability among educational administrators particularly the District Education Officer, and the need to make substantially larger allocations for educational research and collection of statistical intelligence. We shall conclude the chapter by presenting the cost estimates of our major recommendations.
School Complex' and Institutional Plans 10.03 If the idea of the, school complex as the main strategy for UEE is to work, every institution in a complex must prepare an institutional plan, indicating among other things the targets of school enrolment and retention to be reached annually, and the additional
1 See also paras 4.29 of Chanter IV, 6.60, 6.71 of chapter VI and 8.22 of Chapter VIII.
community resources in cash and kind to be raised for improving the school facilities and for overcoming the socioeconomic barriers which at present prevent a large number of girls and children from the weaker sections from coming to schools or from staying there long enough to acquire permanent literacy.
10.04 It must be clarified that an institutional plan is not a 'Charter of Demands' ; it is a statement of the educational tasks. including enrolment and retention of children, to be completed by an institution within the stipulated period of time, largely from its own resources plus those it can mobilise from the local community. There is nothing new in the idea of an institutional plan. There are a number of good schools which prepare and implement such plans already. What we are suggesting is that this practice, which is now confined to a few institutions should become more general.
10.05 A number of suggestions to facilitate the initiation and diffusion of this practice readily come to mind. It will be a good thing, for instance, if each State Education Department could prepare a set of guidelines in, the matter for the guidance of the school headmasters. Such plans could also be made an important basis of school inspection.
10.06 If these institutional plans have to be prepared meaningfully, we foresee clearly a need for arranging short training courses for heads of institutions. At the national level such courses are already arranged by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA). We understand that some of the State Institutes of Education (SIE) have also been taking some interest in this direction. But if the preparation of institutional plans is seen as an essential component of the strategy to reach the UEE goal, the organisation of short orientation courses will have to be done on a much larger scale.
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Mobilising Community Resources 10.07 Mobilising community resources for educational programmes is not just an idea, it is, as there is enough experience to confirm it, an entirely practicable proposition. People everywhere can be relied upon for their keenness to, contribute towards educa- tional programmes according to their means, only if they are convinced that what they are being asked to spend or contribute is directly for the good and benefit of their own children, or for those of their community.
10.08 In order that the community contributions become available for use to the school authorities, it is desirable to institute an Education Fund at each institution for this purpose. Such a fund could consist of donations and contributions voluntarily made by the local community; a betterment fund to be levied on the students ; sums placed at the disposal of the institution by the local authorities, and grants. in-aid if any, to be given by the State government, say on an equalisation basis. The idea is that the bead of the school should be able to utilise these funds according to the approved institutional plan of the school as and when the need arises without any delays.
10.09 A school complex in a rural or tribal area often faces staffing problems. A high percentage of schools in these areas consist of single teacher schools, where teacher absenteeism is chronic. It is suggested that recruitment of teachers to these schools should primarily be from amongst the local people. If quali- fied persons are not available, the qualifications should be relaxed and arrangements made for improving the teacher's credentials, through correspondence courses and other devices. It will be appreciated that while it may not be possible to provide leave substitutes in single teacher schools, the school complex idea easily creates possibilities of attaching one or two leave reserve teachers to the Central Secondary School from where they could be sent out to wherever the need is
Private School*1 10.10 Many representatives of teachers' organisations drew our attention repeatedly to the unsatisfactory management and service conditions of teachers in some of the private schools. A suggestion frequently made in this behalf was that as a matter of policy all private schools should be abolished and their management taken over directly by the Government.
10.11 We are aware of the many problems faced by the teachers of private schools. Indeed, it will be
1 See also paras 6.81, 6,83 of Chapter VI, 10.24, 10.25 of this Chapter, most useful if some general guidelines to improve their management are worked out for the use of their managers. But we see no reason why such a drastic step as the take over, lock, stock and barrel, of all private institutions should be contemplated. Not only does the Constitution gives full freedom to the minorities to run their institutions, we have also a long tradition of private educational effort in this country It must be appreciated that a private school has several advantages which are not shared by a government school. Many of them have strong ties with the local community on 'whom they depend for support, they also have the much greater advantage of the loyalty of their teachers who are recruited, unlike those in government service, to individual institutions. in Government or Local Body institutions, the teachers belong to a cadre and not to the institution, and are liable to be transferred from one institution, to another. Since in many places transfers are rather frequent, the only loyalty the government teachers can possibly develop is towards their own, cadre and not to the individual institutions where they work.
10.12 The point we wish to underline is that the private institutions which operate under the law of the land are as much part of the national system as the other institutions. Their contribution to education is great as it has been in the past. can be greater still in future provided they receive proper encouragement, support and recognition, and give a fair deal to the teachers working in them. It is hardly necessary to remind ourselves that the majority of secondary schools. special schools, institutions for higher education and colleges for special education in the country are private institutions, even though a great many of them receive financial support from the Government.
Supervision of Non-formal Education 10.13 Considering the importance of development of non-formal education is likely to get in the years ahead, a special problem to which we would like to invite attention concerns arrangement for the inspection and supervision of NFE centres. Experience suggests that, as most of these centres work in the evenings or at odd hours, and in many cases, for a couple of hours only, it is not practicable for the normal inspecting staff of a State Education Department to assume responsibility for their proper conduct and supervision. It is suggested, therefore, that apart from having the needed qualifications. a supervisor of nonformal education should as far as possible be a person recruited locally and one who is highly respected in the community and is able to take on such an onerous task.
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10.14 Among the many important functions which a supervisor of NFE centres will be expected to perform are:
(i) To guide the teacher and children by giving demonstration lesson
(ii) To maintain close contact with the leaders and influential persons in the community
(iii) To maintain liaison with officials of the. other departments ; and
(iv) To monitor the progress of the centres by supplying required information and statistical data to the higher authorities.
It is obvious that local persons. if appointed to the supervisory role, will need some initial training, which may have to be repeated from time to time according to the individual needs of the supervisor and those of the NFE programme.
School Headmaster*1 10.15 It is on the headmaster that the proper working of a school will, in large measure depend. The reputation of a school in the community depends greatly on the influence that the headmaster commands over his colleagues, the pupils and their parents, and over the general public. It is through his contact with the parents and general public that the school will succeed in forging that link with the larger community which is the basis of so many of our recom- mendations. If a headmaster is to meet all these expectations. the choice of the headmaster of a school is of crucial importance. It will be very risky indeed, if in this crucial matter we went entirely or even largely by seniority. We were told that in one State 7.5% of the Principals of the Secondary Schools are promoted from, amongst school teachers purely on the basis of seniority, and that all the vice-principals of secondary schools and headmasters of middle schools are appointed entirely on seniority. We cannot disapprove of such a policy too strongly. In our judgement the main consideration, in fact the sole consideration, in the selection of a headmaster should be his merit. The first preference, obviously must go to the serving teacher and not to an outsider. But if a suitable person does not exist. mere seniority should not be, allowed to influence selection and there should be no hesitation whatsoever in recruiting a person from outside. Whatever the career interests of serving teachers. in our humble judgement, the interests of the institution and the children studying there should take precedence. 1 See also paras 6.75, 6.85 of Chapter VI, 10.28 of this Chapter.
Need for Additional Financial and Administrative Powers to
Headmasters
(a) Financial Powers 10.16 In many states the repairs and maintenance of high and higher secondary school buildings, staff quarters, play fields etc. are the responsibility of the Public Works Department while in the case of middle and primary schools, this responsibility belongs to the District/Block Education Officers. The headmasters who are the real sufferers from delay in carrying out needed urgent repairs cannot take any action other than reporting the matter to the appropriate agencies. These agencies being away from the school, and being in- charge of repairs etc. of many institutions take a long time to attend to the reports of the headmaster. Many a time a repair of a minor nature becomes a major work simply due to lapse of time and the further damage that occurs in the meantime. We feel that an educational institution will be much better maintained and at a lower cost, if the headmaster is authorised to undertake the routine repairs locally. We suggest that he be given an imprest of atleast Rs. 1.500 to have necessary repairs to the school plant carried out at his own level, since the headmasters of primary and middle schools, being non- gazetted officers, do not usually exercise any financial powers. often there is broken furniture in a school which, if repaired at a small cost, can meet the school requirements without having to go in for additional new furniture.
10.17 Some other suggestions to augment the financial powers of a school headmaster that we would suggest for consideration are: competence to sanction loans out of the Provident Fund, to write-off unserviceable books, equipment and furniture upto the value of Rs. 1,000/- at a time, and to buy books, periodicals and other material for the school library subject to the availability of funds in the school budget.
10.18 We were told that in some places children of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes communities are exempted from the payment of the Pupils' Fund. Many schools where such students are enrolled in large number are consequently deprived of this resource. In order that the heads of these institutions may not feel handicapped in developing their programmes normally, we would suggest that the Pupils' Fund for such students should be reimbursed to the school by the State government.
(b)Administrative Powers 10.19 The headmaster should be authorised to sanction all admissible leave to the teachers of his school, This will be of help to the teachers, avoid considerable correspondence and save much time. He should
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also be authorised to, take substitute teachers in the vacancies caused by long leave, training and suspension, and in other temporary vacancies. This will enable him to run the school smoothly without undue interruption.
10.20 It is also important that he should have a major say in the transfer and postings of his staff. No teacher should be transferred from his school or posted there without consulting him. He should also be given authority to ask the Department to transfer upto 10% of his staff should such transfers be considered necessary by him for the smooth running of his school. If he complains against a staff member to the Department, action should be immediate. in fact, he should have the authority to relieve any employee working in his school and direct him to report back to the Education Officer of his area. He should have full powers to expel or rusticate a student. Since the headmaster is, the key person in building up an institution, he should stay for a sufficiently long, period of time and should not normally be transferred, unless there is a good reason to do so.
10.21 A number of other suggestions have been made to us to strengthen the position of the headmaster. It is not necessary for us to mention all, but we would suggest that when a teacher from a school is to be sent for in-service training, his deputation should be in consultation with and approval of the headmaster. He should also be empowered to give permission to his staff to join correspondence or evening classes to improve their qualifications. It should also be within his competence to engage local artisans/ skilled workers on a temporary basis to develop and operate SUPW programmes.
Private Tuitions 10.22 Before concluding this section we would like to raise the question of private tuitions to which our attention was drawn on a number of occasions during our discussions in States. We are aware of the widespread abuse of private tuitions by teachers particularly in the urban areas. one important step to deal with the problem, one. in fact, which is already in practice in some of the good schools of the country, would be to introduce a system of remedial teaching in the school itself, whereby teachers would undertake the responsibility of helping weak students to improve their performance. Such remedial classes may be organised before or after school hours for which the teachers should be paid a suitable allowance. The practice will serve to institutionalise individual attention to the slow learner or a child with some other handicap, thus rendering private tuition unnecessary and preventing much avoidable wastage,
School Managing Committee 10.23 One of our important recommendations has been that the control of Government schools should be transferred to local Managing Committees with adequate powers and authority to run them efficiently. There is an urgent need to evaluate the experience and functioning of such Committees wherever they exist already. We understand that each of the Kendriya Vidyalayas has. a Managing Committee of its own and that the arrangement is working quite satisfactorily. We suggest that there be a national survey to make an in-depth study of the working of such Committees in different States. NIEPA would be a suitable agency to undertake such a study. The survey should be followed by a workshop at the national level to prepare suitable guidelines regarding the constitution and functions of such Committees. An im- portant aim of the workshop should be to develop a number of standard models that will meet effectively the individual needs of government institutions working in different parts of the country.
Autonomous Schools*1 10.24 Related to the notion of decentralisation of authority is that of the promotion of a net work of autonomous schools in the country. Autonomy is not to be construed as a licence to do what one likes but as the recognition of responsibility and competence of the head and staff of a given school to run the school independently. The idea is that an autonomous school takes its own decisions in such matters as curriculum, methodology, evaluation etc. within the broad framework of national goals and needs. Deserving institutions, to be selected according to a well-articulated set of criteria should be given every encouragement by government and voluntary organisations to function as autonomous establishments. It is our sincere hope that an important consequence of a policy of decentralisation of control will result in the emergence of a number of outstanding innovative institutions which be expected to have a favourable impact on the general system.