MEANS OF INSTRUCTION, EQUIPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
The availability of textbooks, instructional material and infrastructure affects the quality of learning that the school system delivers. In a country like India, this takes on many dimensions both quantitative and qualitative. A number of efforts are, therefore, underway to ensure that the basic necessities of education are fulfilled.
Textbooks
School textbooksBy and large, textbooks remain the principal instructional material in the classroom. Thus, they assume great importance, especially, in contexts where for most students they are often the only reading material available. Efforts have, therefore, been made to ensure widespread availability of this critical educational input. Given that the Indian educational system enrols more than 100 million students in primary schools alone, it is significant that virtually all primary students have textbooks, with most receiving them in a timely manner, and at fairly affordable prices (the average primary text books are selling for about Rs.8, or about US$0.25).
At the national level, development of school textbooks often takes place, with the NCERT developing prototypes that are usually adapted or even adopted by states. Textbook publishing, however, is almost entirely in the hands of state agencies. The private sector too participates in varying degrees.
In most states, it is the SCERT that is responsible for textbook development, with a Textbook Corporation or Textbook Bureau that actually publishes textbooks. Typically, states publish textbooks for all the subjects, in all the significant languages of the state, with some states publishing hundreds of titles including books in more than 10 languages. It is in the printing and distribution aspects that the private sector is more involved, as in the case of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Some states, such as Madhya Pradesh, have set up regional depots and maintain computerised inventory control to ensure efficient distribution of textbooks.
With the textbook development and publishing capabilities in place, attention is now being turned to improvement in the quality of text- books. The Yash Pal Committee set up by the Government of India in March, 1992 comprised of experts who held extensive consultations across the country. In its report "Learning without Burden", the Committee has recommended decreasing the cognitive load that textbooks and curricula carry. Extensive studies
pertaining to the readability of Indian textbooks have been undertaken by national institutions such as the NCERT and the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) and their outcomes are being utilised towards improvement.
With the introduction of the MLLs, the focus has shifted from information-based textbooks to competency-based ones. A number of Indian states are in various stages of developing new MLL-oriented textbooks and are working towards books that are learner-friendly and promote child-centred, activity-based learning. One significant development is the introduction of trialling, whereby, experimental textbooks are field tested before being introduced on a large scale.
Material for Non Formal Education Considerable work has been done by the NCERT towards the development of self-learning materials for primary level NFE programme. The main focus of this effort has been to design a set of innovative materials to facilitate the NFE instructors in handling multiability groups in diverse teaching-learning situations. The material includes coloured charts, comic books and textual materials in book form, covering the course in an integrated manner. A large number of classroom practitioners, subject experts and teacher educators participated in the development of this material.
The NCERT has also facilitated the development of integrated teaching- learning material based on MLLs for NFE in several languages, learner- specific material for street and working children and local-specific supplementary materials for NFE programme.
In addition to the NCERT, a number of NGOs too have been developing and using materials for the NFE centres being run by them.
Textbooks for higher education In contrast to the school situation, textbooks for higher education are produced almost entirely by the private sector. The universities or institutions concerned specify their curriculum and recommend desirable texts. Indian publishers often receive financial assistance from the National Book Trust (NBT) towards publication of university level textbooks, particularly, medical textbooks. However, a significant proportion of textbooks used in higher education are either imports or Indian reprints and/or editions of foreign texts.
Scheme of Educational Technology Under the centrally sponsored scheme of Educational Technology, TV sets and Radio-cum-cassette players are made available to upper primary and primary schools. So far, 62,000 colour TV sets and 0.36 million cassette players have been made available to schools. CIET and SIETs prepare instructional materials.
Computer Literacy and Studies in Schools (CLASS) With a view to introducing computer literacy, CLASS scheme was introduced in 1984-85 under which about 4,000 Senior Secondary Schools have been covered.
Other instructional materials
Library facilities and teaching-learning materialLibraries are available in only one-fourth primary schools as against 90 to more than 90 per cent in secondary and higher secondary schools. Many states that have basic education projects (e.g. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam) have developed and disseminated supplementary reading material in
addition to launching projects to initiate classroom libraries.
Private schoolsFacilities in private schools are better and teachers have greater access to them than in government schools. Effective utilisation of teaching-learning resources, however, remains limited to a small number of schools,
Audio-visual material With distance education programmes being telecast for both school and higher education, a considerable repertoire of software is now available. The Central Institute of Educational Technology, under the NCERT, which has bee catering to the software and training require- ments of school education in general, has recently shifted its focus to supporting primary education. The Institute has also undertaken initiatives for teacher training using satellite-based instruction for teachers. At the state level, similar responsibility is borne by State Institutes of Education Technology (SIETs). Man states (for example Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh) have provided thousands of schools with radio-cum-cassette-players which are use for audio programmes. A large scale programme initiated by the Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, has developed software and broadcasts television-based educational programmes. A number of high schools across the country have been provide with television sets.
Operation Blackboard Launched in 1987-88, this scheme aims to bring all primary schools to a minimum standard of physical facilities by providing them with :
* at least two reasonably large all weather rooms along with separate toilet facilities for boys and girls;
* at least two teachers and as far as possible one of them, a woman; and
* essential teaching and learning material
AVAILABILITY OF INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITIES
IN DIFFERENT LEVELS OF SCHOOLS
Furniture for
Adequate Drinking Black- Teachers (Chair
School Level Building Classrooms Toilets Water Facility Library board &Table
Primary 56.26 18.74 15.50 46.35 26.18 55.41 39.62
Upper Primary 69.26 20.75 41.56 67.09 66.97 78.19 64.96
Secondary 72.97 26.03 75.18 84.99 90.12 91.26 81.32
Higher Secondary 89.39 30.47 87.71 92.42 94.08 94.43 87.97
Source: NCERT, Fifth All India Educational Survey
including blackboards, maps, charts, a small library, toys and games for work experience.
Central assistance has been fully provided to all the targetted primary schools and the coverage is now being extended to upper primary schools. Primary schools with enrolment of more than 100 students and two teachers are now being provided with a third teacher.
So for, 5,30,000 schools have been covered under this scheme. The number of teachers' posts sanctioned is 1,52,000 (of which 1,43,000 posts have been filled up), while the number of classrooms to be constructed was targetted at 2,63,000 (of which 1,72,000 have been constructed). The expenditure on this scheme was Rs. 15152.9 million from 1987 to March 1995 and was Rs.2682.6 million during 1995-96.
Recent studies of students' learning achievement at primary level in selected districts (NCERT 1994) revealed that charts, maps and globes are available in the blocks covered by the Operation Blackboard Scheme. The use of teaching aids, though, was reported by one-third or less teachers.
ClassroomsGiven the large numbers of enrolment, there is no doubt a tremendous pressure on facilities available in schools. A visual on infrastructural facilities given above, indicates the availability of building and other facilities in different levels of schools.
Conclusion Difficult working conditions, lack of infrastructural development, inadequate instructional material and textbooks have a direct bearing on the development of education. It is imperative to create appropriate working conditions for teachers and facilitate their efforts to enable children to learn. As the numerous ongoing efforts in this direction show, supporting educational efforts and quality improvement through these components is a vital component of India's drive for EFA.