ELEMENTARY & ADULT EDUCATION - THE PRESENT SCENARIO
PART A : Elementary Education
Quantitative Dimension 2.1 Size: In 1950-51, there were only about 34,000 and odd elementary schools having an enrolment of 223 lakh children. Since then, the elementary education system in India has grown at an accel- erated pace. it is now one of the largest in the world with an enrol- ment of 991.18 lakh children in 5.58 lakh primary schools and 338.82 children in 1.47 lakh upper primary schools i.e. 1324 lakh children in 7.05 lakh elementary schools. Besides, there were 2.72 lakh non- formal educational centres with the normative enrolment of 81 lakh children.
2.2 Access: Substantial progress has been achieved in the provi- sion of schooling facilities. Table 1 indicates the growth of recog- nised primary and upper primary schools in India from 1950-51 to 1989- 90, being two and a half times in the case of primary and 10 times in the case of upper primary schools.
TABLE 1
Expansion of Elementary Education since 1950-51
1950-51 1990-91
Number of Primary Schools 20967 558392
Number of middle schools 13596 145636
Number of elementary schools 34563 705028
Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development Annual Report 1991-92
(Part-I)
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2.3 Fifth All-India Educational Survey : At the time of the Fifth All India Educational Survey (1986), of the 979,065 rural habitations, 502,806 (51.36 per cent) habitations covering 80.34 per cent of the rural population had primary schools/sections, 94.60 per cent of the rural population were served by primary schools / sections located either within the habitation or upto a walking distance of 1 Km. In the country as a whole, of the 530,246 (54.16 percent) habitations with a population of 300 or more, 76.98 per cent had the facility for primary education within the habitation of residence or within a walking distance of 1 Km. In 1986, 36.98 per cent of the rural population had upper primary schools / sections within the habitation of residence, 85.39 per cent of the rural population had the facility for upper primary stage either within the habitation of residence or within a walking distance of 3 Km. of the 358,996 (36.67 per cent) habitations with a population 500 or more, 29.03 per cent were served by upper primary schools / sections within the habitation of residence and 84.45 per cent had the facility either within the habitation or within a walking distance of 3 Km. (see table No. 2.5 - 2.6).
2.4 Small habitations Though substantial progress has been achieved in terms of provision of educational facilities, it has not been sufficient enough to provide access to education for all. The major thrust of the programmes for quantitative expansion of educational facilities has been to cover all habitations which have a population of about 300 with the provision of primary school / section within a distance of one
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kilometer and to cover all habitations with a population of about 500 with the provision of upper primary school / section within a distance of three kilometers. In 1986, there were 31,750 habitations which had a population of 300 or more but had no primary schooling facility within them or within a distance of 1 Km. However, the major problem is of providing primary schooling facilities within a distance of 1 Km. in respect of 120,480 habitations which have a population less than 300.
2.5 In 1986, schooling facilities at the upper primary stage within a distance of one kilometer were available to only 54.81 per cent of the population. The same were available to 72.45 per cent of population within a distance of three kilometers. About 14.61 per cent of the rural population did not have upper primary schooling facility within 3 kilometers. 2,36,986 habitations were unserved by upper primary schooling facility within a distance-of 3 Km,. in 1986. These included 55,833 habitations with a population of 500 or more and 181,147 habitations which had an average population below 500. Since upper primary schooling facilities are not available within convenient walking distance from the homes of children, many of them after completing primary education for which facilities are available within convenient walking distance, tend to discontinue education.
2.6 Disparities: A wide disparity exists in the provision of educational facilities among different States and Union Territories. For instance, in 1986, while for the country as a
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whole, primary schooling facilities within the habitation or within a distance of 1 km. was available for 94.60 per cent of the rural population, the variation in the country ranged between 73.35 per cent in respect of Arunachal Pradesh and 100 per cent in respect of two union territories viz. Delhi and Lakshadweep (see Table No. 2.5). The percentage of population served by primary school / section within the habitation or within a distance of 1 km. was over 90 per cent in the case of 19 States and five UTs and between 70 and 80 per cent in two States. In the case of upper primary schooling facility, while 85.39 per cent of the rural population in the country had this facility within the habitation or within a distance of 3 km. the coverage, however, ranged between 100 per cent in respect of one Union Territory (Chandigarh) and 42.19 per cent in respect of one State (Arunachal Pradesh). In the case of six States and five UTs, the coverage was 90 per cent.
2.7 The absence of educational facilities within easy reach of children has been a factor hindering the spread of elementary education in rural areas. The main problem is of providing primary schooling facilities to children in habitations which have an average population of less than 300 and upper primary schooling facilities within easy reach of children in habitations which have a population of less than 500. Some alternative strategies need to be evolved for providing educational facilities on a scale and in forms adequate and suitable to ensure that all children of elementary school age in these habitations have access to and are able to benefit from such
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facilities.
2.8 Enrolment: 37.8 per cent children of the 6 - 11 years age- group and 13.0% in the age group 11 - 14 were enrolled in 1951. These increased to 54.3 per cent and 24.3% in 1961, 76.4 per cent and 34.2% in 1971 84.3 per cent and 41.8% in 1981 and 99.6 per cent and 56.9% in 1988-89. Thus the gross enrolment ratio which includes overage & underage children has recorded a significant increase in the past four decades. (Five times in the case of primary education ten times in the case of upper primary education).
2.9 During the period 1986 to 1990, while GER for girls increased from 79.81 to 85.97 at primary stage, the increase at upper primary stage was from 35.65 to 46.13. As is evident from Table No. 2.7 there is considerable disparity in GER among different States and UTs. There were 10 States / UTs where the GER for girls is below the National Average at primary and upper primary stages (see Table 2.8 & 2.9).
Sexwise enrolment by stages / classes is given in Table 2.
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TABLE 2
(in lakhs)
Year Primary Upper Primary Elementary
Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
1951 138 54 192 26 5 31 164 59 223
1961 236 114 350 51 16 67 287 130 417
1971 357 213 570 94 39 133 451 252 703
1981-82 446 281 727 133 66 199 579 347 926
1983-84 493 318 811 165 85 250 658 403 1061
1987-88 552 378 930 192 107 299 744 485 1229
1989-90 578 395 973 203 112 312 781 507 1285
Source: Ministry of Education, Selected Educational Ststistics,
1980. Ministry of Education, A Handbook of Educational and
Allied Statistics, 1981-82.
Ministry of Human Resource Development Selected Educational
Statistics, 1987-88. MHRD Annual Report 1991-92
2.10 Equity: Participation of girls in school-education tends to be much lower than that of boys though it is on the increase. In the case of primary education the proportion of enrolment of girls to the total enrolment increased from 28.02 per cent in 1951 to 40.4 per cent in 1989-90. In the case of upper primary education, the proportion of girls to total enrolment increased from 16.1 per cent in 1951 to 34.9 per cent in 1989-90.
2.11 There has been progress in the coverage of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes also. Data on enrolment of SC/ST for elementary education in table 3 shows that the share of SC in proportion to the total enrolled children improved from 11.4 per cent in 1971 to 15.0 per cent in 1987-88. Similarly the share of ST enrolment in the total enrollment is about 7 per cent.
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TABLE 3
Sex-wise Enrolment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
since 1971 (in millions)
Years
1970-71 1980-81 1987-88
Scheduled Castes
Male 56 88 116
Female 23 44 68
Total 79 132 184
Scheduled Tribes
Male 22 37 56
Female 9 17 31
Total 31 54 87
Grand Total 110 186 271
Source: Ministry of Education, Trends of Educational Development
of SCs and STs in India.
Ministry of Education, Education and Allied Statistics,
1980-81.
Ministry of HRD. Selected Educational Statistics, 1987-88.
2.12 Retention: The proportion of children moving up from the primary to the upper primary level has also been increasing during the last four decades. This interstage transition was 16.28 per cent in 1950-51, 19.15 per cent in 1960-61, 23.34 per Cent in 1970-71, 28.83 in 1982-83 and 32.3 per cent in 1987-88. The drop-out rate during 1987-88 was 46.97 per cent (43.35% for boys and 49.42% for girls) at primary stage. This does not take into account the repeaters and those who enter the system after Class I.
2.13 At the upper primary stage, out of a cohort, of 100 students in Class VI in 1950-51, only 75 could reach class VIII. The retention increased to 77% for the cohort beginning 1957-58
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and 83% for the 1981-82 cohort.
2.14 Although in 1987-88 the drop-out rate, which is the obverse of retention rate, at the primary stage was 46.97 for the country as a whole, it ranged from 71.61 in Manipur to - 3.62 in Kerala. At the elementary stage while drop-out rate at National level was 62.29, it ranged from 79.08 in Bihar to 8.94 in Chandigarh. The drop-out rate among girls was higher than the boys (see table 2.10).
Quantitative Dimensions 2.15 During the first two decades after independence, top priority was given for the expansion of educational facilities within which programmes for bringing about qualitative improvement could not keep pace. While the number of good schools increased, the number of substandard schools also grew under the pressures to meet the increased demand for education.
2.16 Some of the factors which adversely affect quality are: inadequate physical facilities, shortage of well-qualified teachers, heavy and rigid curricula, uninteresting instructional programmes and inattention of the school-system to the life-situations of the majority of children, especially in the rural areas.
2.17 Buildings : In 1986, 71495 (13.51 per cent) primary schools in the country were housed in unsatisfactory structures comprising thatched huts, tents or open space. Of the rest, 3851-20 (73.75 per cent) primary schools had permanent or semi-
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permanent buildings. Among the upper primary schools, 121707 (87.76 per cent) had permanent or semi-permanent buildings and 11280 (8.13 per cent) had only temporary structures / buildings. There has also been shortage of classroom space in primary and upper primary schools. The shortages were more acute in rural areas that those in urban areas. Among the primary schools, in 1986, 200077 (37.8 per cent) had only two instructional rooms. However, there has been improvement in the situation during the past few years. As a result of the effort made for improving the physical facilities in schools, the percentage of primary schools without buildings (i.e. primary schools housed in tents/thatched huts and open space) decreased from 18.75 in 1978 to 13.50 in 1986. During the period 1978-86, the percentage of primary schools with temporary structures / buildings decreased from 21.35 to 13.75 while the percentage of primary schools with permanent /semi- permanent structures / buildings increased from 59.90 to 72.75. During the same period, the percentage of upper primary schools with temporary structures / buildings decreased from 10.53 to 8.13 while the percentage of upper primary schools with permanent / semi- permanent structures / buildings increased from 85.82 to 87.76.
2.18 Teachers: Though the number of primary and upper primary school teachers has registered a substantial increase since 1950-51, there still exist a large number of primary upper primary schools without adequate number of teachers. The number of primary school teachers increased from 537918 in 195051 to 1530145 in 1986-87. During this period, the number of
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teachers in upper primary schools increased from 85496 to 101104 9. In spite of this, in 1986, 148033 (27.47 per cent) primary schools had only one teacher in position and 171389 (32.38 per cent) primary schools had only two teachers. In 1986, 15.18 per cent of the primary schools had three teachers and 8.91 per cent had four teachers while 15.07 per cent of the primary schools had five or more than five teachers. However, the situation with regard to the availability of teachers in primary schools has improved during 1978-86. The percentage of one-teacher schools decreased from 34.75 in 1978 to 27.96 in 1986 and the schools with two teachers increased from 27.27 per cent to 32.38 per cent during this period. The percentage of schools with five or more than five teachers increased from 14.10 in 1978 to 15.07 in 1986.
2.19 As regards the placement of teachers in primary schools, the picture is not satisfactory. The following figures (Fifth All India Education Survey) show this deficiency:
Percentage of Primary Schools with
One teacher 28.91
Two teachers 31.91
Three teachers 15.11
Four teachers 8.88
Five or more than 14.83
five teachers
2.20 However, this teacher-provision needs to be seen against the class-wise distribution of students in primary schools, especially in small villages and habitations. The average number
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of pupils per school and per class within a school as per the Fifth All India Educational Survey was as follows :
Class I II III IV V Total
39.4 28.9 25.9 22.3 19.5 136
2.21 Operation Blackboard : For qualaitative improvement, the centrally sponsored scheme of Operation Blackboard was launched during the Seventh Five Year Plan period. It has brought about significant improvement as regards construction of school-buildings, appointment of a second teacher in single teacher primary schools and provision of teaching-learning material. By the end of 1991-92, 38067 two-room and 16103 one-room schools had been constructed and 70182 new teachers had been appointed in single teacher schools. 55010 Upper Primary Schools were provided science kits and teaching material like maps, charts books etc., 231228 schools were provided radio cum cassette players and 31129 schools were provided TV sets by December, 1991. Additionally, orientation of primary teachers was undertaken.
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PART B : Adult Education
Disparties in Literacy Achievement 2.22 According to 1991 Census, the literacy rate for the population of age-group seven and above works out to 52.11 per cent. Rate of literacy during 1981-91 has increased from 43.6 per cent to 52. 11 per cent. Not only the percentage increase during 1981-91 is higher than that of the earlier decades, the literacy rate of 1991 has crossed 50 per cent mark. The literacy rate in the case of females during 1981-91 increased by 9.6 percentage as compared to 7.5 percentage in case of males. Though the progress rate of literacy in 1981-91 in respect of females was better, yet a huge disparity between male and female literacy rate continued to exist. As against the literacy rate of 63.9 per cent for males, literacy rate for females was 39.4 per cent. Females form 60% of illiterate population though they constitute 48.1% of population. Literacy rate in rural areas which was 36 per cent in 1981 improved to 44.2 per cent in 1991. 86.6 per cent of the illiterates reside in rural areas although the rural population forms only 74.28 per cent of the total population.
2.23 Literacy rate in 1991 was the highest in Kerala (90.6 per cent) followed by Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, and Goa where it was more than 75 per cent. At the lowest end was Bihar with 38.5 per cent literacy rate preceded by Rajasthan, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh where the literacy was below 45 per cent. Andhra Pradesh &
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Orissa are also below national average (52.11%). Kerala, Mizoram, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh have maintained their ranking from first to fourth position between 1981 & 1991.More than half of illiterates are concentrated in the four States of Uttar Pradesh (65.6 million), Bihar (42.8 million), Madhya Pradesh (30.6 million), and Andhra Pradesh (30.2 million). In Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, M.P. and Rajasthan, more than 50 per cent districts have literacy rate below the national average. 19 out of 27 districts of Rajasthan have literacy rate below the national average. 24 districts have literacy rate below 30 per cent, and 80 districts have female literacy rate below 20 per cent. Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh has the lowest general literacy (17.3 per cent), Jalore district in Rajasthan has the lowest female literacy (7.7 per cent) [see table Nos.2.1 & 2.2]