The model 3 includes FACILOP, material available under the OB scheme, as an additional variables to model 2. Thus, the analysis of this model gives the estimated effect of OB scheme and FACILOP.
It is observed from Table 3 that the effect of FACILOP is positive in Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh although the effect of OB scheme in Haryana and Karnataka is not significant. It is interesting to note that on modeling FACILOP, the effect of OB scheme becomes insignificant in Madhya Pradesh whereas it was highly significant before. It indicates that FACILOP, which is one of the major components of OB scheme, is responsible for enhancing pupils achievement.
Effect of Incentive Schemes A number of incentive schemes are in force to enrol and retain children in schools. These schemes may not have direct impact on performance of pupils but are likely to have indirect impact. There are five schemes whose impacts are studied in this paper. The estimated effects of these schemes are presented in Table 5.
Mid-Day Meals: Supply of mid-day meals to students in schools has
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TABLE 5
Effect of Incentive Schemes on Pupils Achievement
State Mdmeal Uniform Txtbook Srattend Scholar
MATHEMATICS
Assam Coeff. N.A. 006 .000 .034 .025
SE 004 .003 .031 .121
Haryana Coeff. N.A. .001 .001 .003 -.002
SE .005 .003 .004 .003
Karnataka Coef..000 -.001 .006 -.000 .001
SE .002 .003 .004 .004 .010
Kerala Coeff..001 .030 .003 .008 .000
SE .001 .022 .003 .004 .003
Madhya Coeff..001 .001 .003 .006 .000
Pradesh SE .001 .001 .001 .001 .004
Maha-
rashtra Coeff..004 .002 .004 .005 .018
SE .004 .003 .003 .006 .024
Orissa Coeff.-.002 .004 -.001 -.071 -.010
SE .010 .005 .002 .170 .010
Tamil
Nadu Coeff.-.004 .002 -.003 -.005 .002
SE .004 .004 .006 .007 .004
LANGUAGE
Assam Coeff. N.A. -.005 .000 .051 -.022
SE .003 .003 .026 .101
Haryana Coeff. N.A. .002 -.002 .001 .001
SE .004 .003 .003 .003
Karnat
aka Coeff.-.001 .002 -.006 .002 -.002
SE .002 .003 .003 .004 .009
Kerala Coeff.-.001 -.024 .002 .008 -.000
SE .001 .022 .003 .004 .003
Madhya Coeff .002 .001 .003 -.005 .004
Pradesh SE .001 .001 .001 .001 .004
Mahar
ashtra Coeff.-.001 .001 -.001 .006 .006
SE .003 .003 .002 .006 .023
Orissa Coeff. .007 .002 -.002 .104 -.008
SE .009 .004 .002 .137 .009
Tamil
Nadu Coeff.-.002 .000 -.002 -.002 -.003
SE .004 .004 .006 .007 .004
N.A. - Incentive scheme is not available.
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significant positive effect on language achievement in the schools, of Madhya Pradesh. Increase in beneficiaries by 1 per cent results into increase of 0.002 units in the performance of pupils on language achievement. In other states, the scheme has not shown any impact on pupils language and mathematics achievement.
Free Uniforms: Supply of free uniforms to students in schools has not indicated any effect on achievement in any of the eight states.
Free Textbooks: Supply of free textbooks to students has a positive and significant effect on both mathematics and language achievement of pupils in the schools of Madhya Pradesh. Increase in number of beneficiaries in a school by 1 per cent would enhance the school mean achievement by 0.003 units in both the subjects.
Attendance Scholarship: Provision of scholarship for regular attendance in schools has a positive and significant effect on both mathematics and language achievement in Kerala. The mean achievement of schools in Kerala would increase by 0.008 units in both the subjects with 1 per cent increase in the number of beneficiaries. No impact of this scheme is visible in the remaining states.
The above discussion indicates that supply of free textbooks has a positive and significant impact on both mathematics and language achievement in Madhya Pradesh whereas provision of mid-day meals in schools has such effect on language achievement only. In Kerala, attendance, scholarship tends to increase the school mean achievement.
Summary of Findings This paper deals with the problem of estimating effects of the OB and incentive schemes on pupils achievement in mathematics and language. The input-process-output model has been used to analyse the data. It may be noted that the school level predictors describing school policies and practices are weak because the study was designed with several purposes in mind. Variables depicting the efficacy of OB and Incentive schemes are not measured in sufficient detail, and the distribution of some variables is such that one cannot achieve powerful estimates of the effects. For example, in most states the majority of schools receive some sort of incentive schemes. Thus this is not a sufficient sample of "non-scheme" schools to yield an accurate estimate of the effects of incentive schemes, The findings of the study may be viewed in this background.
The major findings of the study are as follows:
1. The OB scheme has shown a positive and statistically significant impact on mathematics and language achievement in the states of Assam, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. after controlling for the effects of pupil background variables. 2. The effect size of the OB scheme on mathematics and language achievement is found to be positive but not statistically significant in the states of
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Karnataka, Orissa and Tamil Nadu,
3. in Haryana and Maharashtra, the mean performance is relatively low in OB schools as compared to non-OB schools.
4. The effect size of the OB scheme becomes insignificant, after controlling for the effects of contextual variables, in Assam on mathematics achievement, in Kerala on language achievement, and on mathematics and language achievement in Maharashtra.
5. The meta-analysis carried out on the results of all the eight states has shown a positive and significant impact of the OB scheme on the average achievement in both mathematics and language. It implies that, by and large, OB scheme has a positive impact on learner's achievement.
6. The items supplied under the OB scheme have contributed significantly towards improving the pupils achievement in the states of Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
7. Supply of free textbooks has positive and significant impact on both mathematics and language achievement in Madhya Pradesh whereas provision of mid-day meals in schools has such effect on language achievement only. Scholarship for regular attendance has a positive and significant impact on language achievement in Kerala.
Implications 1. The OB scheme has shown a positive and statistically significant impact on pupils achievement in some of the states. Further, the magnitude of impact varies from state to state, In view of the results, the OB scheme needs to be strengthened and expanded.
2. Further, it seems that the material supplied to the schools have not been frequently used by the teachers. In order to make use of the material effectively. specific teacher training programmes may be planned for the purpose.
3. The incentive schemes basically enhance enrolment and retention of the children in schools. These schemes have shown weak indications for their associations with achievement in most of the states. The strengthening of these schemes may perhaps help in improving the student achievement.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Authors gratefully record the contribution of Prof. J.D. Willms. UBC. Canada for introducing the HLM Methodology and providing the necessary guidance in preparation of this paper The technical support in data analysis provided by Mohd. Arif Sadiq. Programmer. is highly appreciated We are also thankful to NCERT and NIEPA faculty members for making the BAS data available.
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