 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
EN ROUTE TO EQUITY

It is very imperative that education, if it is to fulfill its potential as a decisive intervention towards social equity, must move beyond the domain of literacy to create an environment where girls, women, working children, disabled persons and persons belonging to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities are enabled to come together to explore their situations, recognise and affirm their own strengths and capacities, and act to bring about change. towards this end, all aspects of planning and implementation of educational programmes have been incorporated with a perspective that envisages enhanced participation of these groups.

Girls' and Women's Education

Women and young girls, all over the world, carry a historic burden of inequality which is visible in every aspect of their lives-in their share in the population, in the economy, in social and political life, in their access to health, information and all other aspects of development. Their educational status holds a mirror to the larger realities of their lives. There has been an increasing recognition of the fact that while UEE is the ultimate goal, no strategy can succeed without addressing its gender and class dimensions specifically.

States have exempted girls from payment of tuition fees up to graduate level. Other measures for promotion of girls' education include provision of scholarships, free text books, uniforms, attendance incentives, separate girls' schools, construction of toilets for girls and increasing proportion of women teachers in primary schools.

Participation of girls in primary education has improved significantly. Girls enrolment ratio at the primary level has increased from 5.4 in 1950-51 to 47.4 in 1995-96.

Though girls' enrolment has been outpacing that of the boys, there still exists a big gap in gender achievements. The sixth All India Educational Survey supports the contention that girls, particularly in rural areas, are the single most important group required focused attention for achievement of UEE. Recognising this, most programmes have specific components for ameliorating the conditions of the girls children and women.

Some gender specific interventions are:

* Mahila Samakhya, one of the most successful efforts to link women's empowerment with education, has expanded its coverage to 35 districts.

* The TLC has been successful in raising the demand for educations, especially among women. In most of the 417 districts, women make up over 60% of adults enrolled in the programme.

* Under the scheme of Operation Blackboard, of the 147,000 teachers appointed, 47% were women.

Mahila Samakhya Project

Mahila Samakhya (MS), which means women's equality through education, is a women's equality through education, is a women's empowerment project which aims not only at service delivery but seeks to bring about a change in women's perception about themselves and that of society in regard to their `traditional roles'. It endeavours to create an environment for women to seek knowledge and information in order to made informed choices and create circumstances in which they can learn at their own pace and rhythm. The centrality of education in the struggle to achieve equality is an important focus of Mahila Samakhya.

The process of mobilising and organising women is facilitated by a "sahayogini" (a cluster coordinator in 10 villages). She is a crucial link between the village sangha and the district implementation unit of the programme. The latter provides resource support and inputs to meet the needs of the women. The district units are supported by a state office. At the state level, an autonomous registered society, as an empowered body, has been set up to oversee the programme. At the national level, the programme is coordinated by a Project Director. A National Resource Group-an advisory body of eminent women activists, academics, development workers and bureaucrats-supports the programme, providing it with new concepts, ideas and experiences.

The programme is operational in 5000 villages spread over 35 districts in seven states. The Mahila Samakhya was launched in March 1989 as a pilot project through Dutch assistance in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. In 1992, the programme was extended to Andhra Pradesh. The Mahila Samakhya approach and strategy has been further extended through other basic education programme in three districts each of Madhya Pradesh and Assam. The UP Basic Education Project is also assisting MS expansion in Uttar Pradesh.

* Non-formal Education centres run exclusively for girls get 90% assistance from the central government. number of such centres has been increased from to 40% during the 8th Plan.

* In Navodaya Vidyalayas-pace setting schools for talented rural children-at least one third of the students are girls.

* The DPEP has been targeting educationally backward districts which have a female literacy rate below the national average.

* Internationally assisted projects-SKP, LJP-have made gender issues a focus of their attention.

The programmes of elementary education though acknowledging girls as the single most important group requiring greater attention, have to be further strengthened to adequately address the many needs, risks and fears of girls and their families. The 9th Plan is expected to give greater attention and direct more funds to meet the special needs of girls.

In addition to existing schemes, states will be encouraged to:

* promote formation of village level women's collectives and train local women activists to catalyse collective actions around educational issues;

* empower local bodies such as VECs, Mother-Teacher Associations and women's groups;

* build capacity of existing women's organisations/ institutions in rural areas;

* encourage women representatives in PRIs to take up school mapping and microplanning activities; and

* mobilise informed and active women's participation to build and sustain an environment supportive of girls' education.

Gender Perspective in other Programme

In line with the broad objectives of the NPE, 1986, the various educational schemes have specific gender components for the promotion of girls' and women's education.

Total Literacy Campaign(TLC)

TLC has been successful in raising the demand for education especially among women. In most of the 430 districts, women made up over 60% of adults enrolled in the programme. The classes have motivated women to fight for minimum wages and launch a crusade against prohibition. In campaign mode, the Programme actively seeks to attract women and girls to participate in the educational process. In 195 TLC districts, post literacy campaigns have begun and these address the needs of neo- literate learners. TLC is gradually being extended in the educationally backward states.

District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)

One of the important components of DPEP is to enhance girls' access, enrolment and retention in the school system. Specific strategies have been designed in the Programme to enhance girls' participation in the school system. Educational incentives such as free textbooks, flexible school timings, gender sensitive curricula and textbooks, more female teachers, escort system, school health programmes, improved school buildings with provision of toilets for girls, ECCE centres close to primary schools and convergence with the ICDS to support girls' attendance in schools, are some of the significant features of the Programme.

Shiksha Karmi Project (SKP)

The project has a strong gender focus. More than 40% of the children enrolled are girls. Seven residential training centres for women have been set up in interior rural areas by NGOs for providing training to women shiksha karmis. Forty Angan Pathshalas (courtyard classrooms) for education of girls in their neighbourhood have been set up. Mahila Sahayogis (women escorts) are engaged to accompany girls to schools in difficult terrain. Prahar Pathshalas (schools of convenient timings) have attracted girls in large numbers. They constitute two thirds of children enrolled in these schools.

Lok Jumbish (LJ)

LJ has sharpened its strategy to mobilise and involve the whole village in the process of primary education. From amongst the villagers, potential volunteers are identified who will work towards improving education and gradually assume the role of becoming the core team. Women are encouraged to join the core team. It is ensured that there are women field personnel in every cluster (collection of villages). The field centres at the cluster level play an important role in training women's groups and providing continuing education for girls who have completed class V and are unable to go to day schools. Financial assistance for girls from weaker sections, formation of an active group within VECs for promotion of girls' education, free distribution of books, organising Kishori Manch (adolescent girls' forum) for the adjustment and empowerment of adolescent girls, are important initiatives of this project.

Non-Formal Education Programme

The NFE programme caters to the special needs of working children, girls and children in far-flung schoolless habitations. Under the programme, states are being given 60% central assistance for coeducational centres and 90% for girls' centres. The programme, at present, covers around seven million children (majority of whom are girls) in 23 states/UTs in about 279,000 centres. About 118,000 centres run under the Programme are exclusively for girls.

Working Children

Child labour has been one of the major concerns in the socioeconomic development of India. According to the 1991 Census, there were 11.28 million child labourers in the country. Promotion of education for working children as a special target group requires specific strategies and programmes.

Under the National Child Labour Projects, 1810 special schools are being run in 76 districts covering 104,400 children to impart education to children with a view to weaning them away from work. The Ministry of Labour proposes to expand this programme to cover about 2 million children by the year 2002. The department of Education will coordinate and cooperate with the Ministry of Labour in this endeavor.

Educational Development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

Scheduled Castes constitute 16.3% of the population and Scheduled Tribes, 8%. Overall, both the groups lag behind the general population in terms of enrolment, literacy and other indicators of progress. However, they are not homogeneous target groups. There are wide variations between SC and ST groups regionally.

The following special provision for SCs and STs have been incorporated in existing schemes of the educational programmes.

* All state governments have abolished tuition fees in government and local body school at least up to upper primary level.

* Most of the states provide assistance to students belonging to SC and ST communities for meeting other costs of education, such as text books, uniforms, stationery, schools bags and transport.

* Secondary education is free for children belonging to SCs and STs in all states and Union Territories.

* Under the Scheme of National Scholarship at secondary stage for talented children from rural areas, 13,000 scholarships are provided to SC/ST students out of the total of 43,000 scholarships annually.

* The central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) Mysore, prepares textbooks, primers, grammars, dictionaries, bilingual textbooks, facilitating translation from regional languages into tribal languages.

Minorities and Educational Development

Both linguistic and religious minorities deserve special consideration in expansion and promotion of elementary education. An area intensive programme for educationally backward minorities was launched in 1993 with the objectives of providing basic infrastructure and facilities in areas of concentration of educationally backward minorities which do not have adequate provision for elementary and secondary education. Under the scheme, 100% financial assistance is provided to stage governments and voluntary organisations (through state governments) for the following programmes.

* Establishment of new primary/upper primary schools and non- formal education centres where such need is felt and viability established on the basis of a school mapping exercise.

* Strengthening of educational infrastructure and physical facilities in the primary/upper primary schools.

* Opening of multi-stream residential higher secondary schools for girls where science, commerce, humanities and vocational courses are taught.

Towards Integration of the Disabled

According to POA, 1992 there are about 12.6 million differently abled children in the age group 5-18.

With an aim to place children with disabilities on par with other children, the government has chalked out a concrete programme. Under this initiative, to provide for the integrated education of the disabled children, it has been funding interventions for the integrated education of primary school children with mild to moderate disabilities.

Provision of in-service teacher training for the development of skills and competencies for early detection of disabilities, resource support for integrated education at block/district level with nongovernmental agencies, educational aids and appliances to primary school children, innovative designs for primary schools are some of the activities undertaken under this programme.

The recently enacted Disabilities Act, 1995 provides for compulsory access to school to every disabled child.

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995

This Act which came into force on the 1st of January, 1996, ensures

* provision of free education to children with disabilities by appropriate governments and local authorities;

* implementation of schemes and programmes for non formal education;

* research activities for designing and developing new assistive devices, teaching aids, etc.;

* setting up of teachers' training institutions to develop trained manpower for schools for children with disabilities;

* preparation of comprehensive education scheme providing for transport facilities, supply of books, etc.;

* provision of amanuensis services to students with visual handicap by the educational institutions.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES EN ROUTE TO EQUITY