1.27 The large scale, sample-based learning achievement studies conducted in 33 districts in seven states in the past three years support the conclusions of extensive

4/ Report of the CAB Committee on Decentralized Management of Education. New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development, 1993.

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observations of rural primary schools. The basic inputs for learning are found in most schools across India: students, textbooks, a blackboard, and teachers. This is, by itself, a notable achievement. However, as results demonstrate, it is not sufficient.

1.28 Students are poorly prepared for school. In low-literacy districts, two-thirds or more of students are first-time learners from illiterate homes. Early childhood education (ECE) reaches about 40 percent of such children through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and other state-run pre-primary education programs. Research in India and elsewhere has demonstrated that high quality ECE improves primary school attendance and learning achievement. But project learning achievement studies failed to find a positive relationship between attendance in ECE as offered in these districts and learning in school. Observations indicate that the potential of ECE is constrained by inappropriate curricula and learning materials, untrained teachers, and inadequate supervision.

1.29 The quality of school inputs is low. Textbooks are overly difficult, with many students unable to read them; their publication quality is low, and state textbook publication systems suffer, in varying ways and to varying extent, from inefficient practices. While there are blackboards, consumable supplies and educational aids are conspicuous by their absence and, when present, by low utilization. Although most teachers are highly educated and have formal pre-service training, they have not been trained for multi-grade teaching in rural schools. Less than 6 percent of teachers had received any in-service training in 1986/87. In some states, weak supervision leads to high rates of teacher absenteeism; in small schools, this results in high effective student- teacher ratios and, too often, children without teachers. Buildings are poorly designed, inadequately maintained, and largely unfurnished. According to a 1986/87 national survey, 44 percent of lower primary schools did not have proper buildings; 66 percent had no furniture for students; 74 percent lacked libraries; and 95 percent lacked toilets. While the situation has improved in intervening years, conditions are still poor in many places. Project baseline studies in three districts in Tamil Nadu, for example, revealed that more than 90 percent of schools lacked toilets, a quarter lacked furniture for students; in four districts of Assam, 80 percent of schools lack safe drinking water and fewer than 10 percent have toilets. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that many students lose interest in education, or leave school because of academic failure.

1.30 The challenge to national, state and district education authorities is thus to improve the quality of basic services: pre-primary education, textbooks, learning materials, teacher competencies, and facilities. Nationally-sponsored research and development work aimed at improved curricula and textbooks began in response to the 1986 Policy. Known as Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL), this program has identified basic competencies in language, mathematics, and social/environmental studies. With trials largely completed, the challenge is to implement MLL standards through improved textbooks and in-service training of teachers. This will be a massive task, requiring substantial investment and greatly strengthened institutional capacity for implementation, for supervision and monitoring, and for evaluation and research to determine the cost-effectiveness of alternative intervention strategies for achieving MLL.

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1.31 Equity. Priority given in the 1986 National Policy on Education to increasing the enrollment of girls in lower primary school has begun to pay off. Female enrollment grew at 3.7 percent annually from 1981 to 1991; male enrollment grew at 2.5 percent annually during the same period. However, the national Gross Enrollment Rate for girls and boys in 1991 still stood at 88 percent and 116 percent respectively. Nationally, average female dropout rates are roughly equivalent to boys. But despite relative overall progress for girls, considerable variation across states on both enrollment and dropout indices remains. In 1991, female GERs in lower primary school ranged from 56 percent in Bihar to 128 percent in Tamil Nadu. Female dropout rates ranged from zero percent in Kerala to 60 percent in Rajasthan and 70 percent in Bihar. Studies of learning achievement, however, show relatively equal average levels of learning for boy and girls. On three tests administered in 21 districts to students in the final year of primary school, boys outscored girls 40 to 23, but the differences are small (Annex 5 - Development Objectives, Indicators & Monitoring). In three districts in Haryana and one in Karnataka girls outscored boys on all tests. Consistent with national policy, states have sought to reduce gender disparities by reviewing curricula and textbooks to eliminate gender bias and by increasing the proportion of female teachers.

1.32 Gross enrollment rates for SC boys are comparable to national averages, though GERs for SC girls lag substantially. SC students also tend to score lower than average on achievement tests, although again differences are small and SC girls outscored the average for all girls on two or more tests in two districts in Maharashtra and one each in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. For the most part, SC students are enrolled in integrated schools and speak the regional language. With the exception of Assam, project states have sought to increase enrollment and retention through a variety of incentive programs, including scholarships for SC girls and attendance allowances. Less attention has been given to educational strategies such as teacher sensitization.

1.33 Enrollment rates for ST boys approach national averages, but those for girls lag substantially. Dropout rates are higher than average for both boys and girls. ST children outscored district averages about 45 percent of the time on learning achievement tests, suggesting that they do not lag behind others on this indicator 5/ Tribal children are found both in integrated schools and in coherent tribal communities, the latter often found in isolated locations with little access to social services.

1.34 As established by the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution, states and local authorities are to provide instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage for all linguistic minorities, including tribal children. Policies seek both to preserve minority languages and to facilitate participation in the dominant society and economy. However, tribal languages are not widely used as the medium of instruction. In Assam, for example, the instruction at primary level is offered in Assamese, Bengali, and Hindi; in areas inhabited by the Bodo tribe, instruction is provided in the Bodo language. Other

5/ It is possible, of course, that because of high dropout rates for all ST students and relatively low enrollment rates for ST girls, the ST students tested in schools are relatively advantaged on such factors as academic potential and home support for learning in comparison with the average of all students.

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tribal languages are offered as second languages when requested by the parents of at least 10 students. In districts with heavy ST population concentration, autonomous District Councils have the authority to choose the medium of instruction, and they often choose the regional language.

1.35 Implementation of the policy also has been constrained by the presence of over 400 tribal languages and dialects, 60 of which are written, inadequate financing, and the lack of a coherent approach to policy implementation at national and state levels. Project studies of ST education indicate that ST parents generally would prefer the use of regional languages as the medium of instruction, but the baseline learning achievement studies indicate that language difficulties are a major constraint on classroom processes not only for ST children, but also in areas with multiple regional languages (Annex 4 - Project Preparation Studies). Textbooks and learning materials have been developed in relatively few tribal languages. Historic lack of access to and completion of primary and secondary school severely limits the potential number of teachers able to provide instruction in tribal languages, and the remote nature of many tribal communities reduces the willingness of teachers to accept or persist in posts. The dominant role of Tribal Welfare Departments in providing schools in tribal areas, with teachers and materials provided by state education departments, has led to division of authority and responsibility in states. Tribal Welfare Departments also provide scholarships and other incentives for ST students.

1.36 Improving equity of access to and completion of primary education for girls, SC and ST students thus remains a significant challenge. The data on learning achievement indicates smaller disparities than have commonly been thought to exist. While the comparisons suggest that a degree of equality in learning has been achieved, it is equality at a very low level of achievement. Rural primary students tend to learn equally little, regardless of gender or caste.

1.37 For girls, the potential of intensified training for teachers, enhanced roles for women in school/community organizations, and a greater role for women's development groups in encouraging enrollment and attendance needs to be realized. Similar strategies for SC students, especially SC girls, need to be developed and tested. For ST students, a substantially increased state commitment to policy implementation, backed by adequate resources and appropriately involving state Tribal Welfare Departments, is needed. National technical and managerial leadership and support for this effort will be important.

C. SUB-SECTOR OBJECTIVES AND PRIORITIES

POLICY

1.38 The Revised National Policy on Education (1992) and the 1992 Programme of Action provide the basic policy framework for central and state investment in primary education development. The objectives for primary education, in order of priority, are

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to (a) reduce dropout, (b) improve learning achievement, and (c) expand access for unserved students. Girls, SC and ST students are to be given priority attention. Decentralization of responsibility for planning and management of primary education development programs to the district level, and strengthening of school/community organizations, are advocated as means of developing locality specific strategies and implementation plans and of increasing ownership of schooling by communities. The policy framework is thus well-aligned with principal sub-sectoral constraints.

POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: THE DISTRICT PRIMARY EDUCATION PROGRAM

1.39 To achieve these policy objectives, the GOI has established the District Primary Education Program (DPEP) as a cabinet-approved, centrally sponsored program of financial and technical assistance to states and districts for primary education reform."' Developed through extensive consultations with states, DPEP would finance primary education development programs in selected districts and the strengthening of both state and national institutional capacity for planning, management and technical support. It is the intention of the GOI to channel the bulk of external assistance to primary education through the DPEP to ensure consistency with policy and equitable allocation of resources.

1.40 DPEP Guidelines were issued in April, 1993. In a major departure from previous vertical schemes focused on specific inputs, such as OBB, DPEP would provide grant financing for integrated sub-projects developed at district and state levels aimed at improving the quality of basic education services. DPEP would thus emphasize improved and expanded non-salary inputs for primary education; institutional development; more and better textbooks and educational materials; improved classroom teaching and facilities; strengthened community/school organizations; and expanded technical and managerial support. Incentives and scholarship programs already in place would continue to be financed by state governments outside of DPEP. (Annex 6 - DPEP Policies, Strategies and Operational Guidelines).

1.41 Key managerial features of the program include: (a) targeting of resources; (b) decentralized planning at the district level with substantial popular participation; (c) appraisal of district and state proposals against DPEP criteria and categories of assistance; (d) flexible implementation arrangements at the state level; (e) incremental implementation and expansion based on performance; (f) intensive technical support and supervision from strengthened national agencies and resource institutions; and (g) substantially increased financing through the budget of the GOI DOE.

1.42 Targeting. DPEP financing would be targeted to districts with female literacy rates below the national average of 39 percent, as well as to districts where Total Literacy Campaigns have generated substantial enrollment increases in primary education.

6/ Policies and enhanced resource allocations for DPEP have been supported by IDA through the Program to Strengthen the Social Safety Net (Credit 2448-IN).

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1.43 Decentralized Planning. Proposals for DPEP financing would be developed first by district planning teams, following DPEP criteria and guidelines, with technical support from state and national agencies. Proposals for institutional development at the state level to provide enhanced support to district projects would then be developed. Parents, teachers, NGOs and education officials would be consulted and involved in the preparation of district and state proposals.

1.44 Appraisal by DPEP. DPEP program staff would appraise both district and state proposals against program criteria and guidelines. Appraisal would focus on conformance with program objectives and priorities, and technical and managerial feasibility. During appraisal, DPEP would assess the capacity of the states to finance their share of the investment program and to sustain the recurrent costs of program investments on non-plan budgets when sub-projects are completed.

1.45 Flexible Implementation Arrangements. States would establish registered societies to receive, disburse and account for funds, and to manage the implementation of sub-programs. These state implementation societies would be closely modeled on precursors established to manage externally-assisted state projects in Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Societies are governed by Councils representing key state and national agencies, NGOs, and educationists, and are directly managed by Executive Committees.

1.46 Incremental Expansion Based on Performance. Participation in DPEP is voluntary on the part of states. Initially, a limited number of districts (3-5) and investments in state institutional capacity would be considered. Assessment studies would be conducted in each program district to establish baseline indicators for enrollment, dropout and learning achievement. 7/ These studies would be replicated every third year to gauge progress against program objectives. Funds would be released through an annual review of district and state progress reports and proposals for the subsequent year. Depending on progress, states would be eligible to propose additional districts for financing over time. Major reviews of performance would be conducted following the completion of the periodic assessment studies. DPEP could drop non-performing districts from the program and, with appropriate appraisal, shift resources to other districts. It is intended to launch the project in approximately 8 states that do not currently have externally assisted basic education projects. These latter states, as well as additional states, could apply for DPEP financing as the program expands.

1.47 Initially, DPEP would focus on building national, state and district institutional capacity, and on reform of lower primary education. Once satisfactory progress is being made at the lower primary level in low-literacy districts, states could apply for financing of sub-projects aimed at upper primary education.

1.48 Supervision and Technical Support. The program would be managed by the DPEP Bureau in the GOI Department of Education, which would be responsible to

2/ The designs methodologies of the baseline studies of learning achievement have been developed from the model used in the UP Basic Education Project (Credit 2509-IN).

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an empowered committee representing key GOI Departments, including Finance and the Planning Commission (DPEP Project Board). The DPEP Bureau would be fully staffed and equipped to provide appraisal for and regular supervision of state and district sub- projects, to manage flow of funds and disbursements, to oversee procurement, and to provide liaison with international donors. It would be supported by substantial technical and professional consultant services. The DPEP Bureau would develop national technical assistance, training and research and evaluation capacity through contracts with national and state resource institutions.

1.49 Increased Financing. The Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission have approved an increased allocation for primary education of US$650 million to the DOE for implementation of DPEP over the balance of the Eighth Plan period. These funds would finance 85 percent of district and state projects through grants, with the balance being provided as additional allocations in state elementary education budgets and, for national components and activities, the budget of the DOE.