Paramita Sarkar, WBEN and Right to Education Bill 2008
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 63
Palash Biswas
Education in India: Primary Education Primary education for profit likely to be allowed in India ..... Making Primary Education Work for India's Rural Poor: A Case for Effective Decentralization ...
prayatna.typepad.com/education/primary_education/ - 73k - Cached - Similar pages
It is a situation of the cruelest irony for even as the death toll from starvation mounts and hundreds waste away without food to eat, India's granaries
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... India has new nightmare: Epidemic, starvation
... Get the replica of your favourite edition of Times of India Feel at home.
...timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/973671.cms - 41k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this I met a young girl from Cooch Bihar, north Bengal today in Bharat Sabha, Indian Association Hall in a Seminar on Right to Education Bill 2008, organised by 2008. I am an outsider in the field of education and was enlightened by the discourse between Teachers Associations, Mass Organisations, NGOs and individual concerned.
I had to address the seminar and I had just five minutes to voice my concern.
Prof. Mrinmoy Bhattacharya from Ramakrishna Mission, well known for heading All India Principals` Association, presided over the seminar who was very tough in moderation and created space for all participants sharing their opinions and experiences.
ABTA (All Bengal Teachers Association), ACT, Nikhil Bangiya Prathamik Sikkhak Samiti, WBEN (West Bengal Education Network),Lok Kalyan Parishad, Bharat Sabha(Indian association), Bithari Disha, PRIZM, G-NESEP, All India council of Mass Education, Kajla Jana Klyan Samiti and some other prominent organisations active on grass root level were represented by district level delegates in the Seminar.
With an eye on the general elections likely to take place within a year, the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) plans to speedily clear the Right to Education Bill, which calls for reserving seats for the poor in private schools and enforces quality standards in government schools.According to officials familiar with the development who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Union cabinet plans to take up the Bill, pending clearance since 2005, on Friday. A copy of the latest draft, prepared in February, was reviewed by Mint.Apart from guaranteeing education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years, the Bill promises that 25% of seats would be reserved for the poor in private schools. The schools will be compensated with grants by the Union or state governments.
The Bill makes an exceptions for schools such as Kendriya Vidyalayas, which are exempted from providing free education to the poor.
Nevertheless, the government might take on all the financial burden of the ambitious Rs.12.5 billion a year proposal to provide compulsory education to children all over the country after the states expressed their reluctance to bankroll the scheme.The scheme had been riddled with problems from the start as states rejected the central government's proposal to share one-fourth of the funds for the purpose. Now, however, the union government is considering taking on 90 percent or maybe all the costs involved.
WENBN Convener Swapan Panda circulated the copies of the Draft Education Bill 2008, which is very lengthy, with Leaflet by WEBN as the organisation was behind the event.
WEBN demands:
In accordance to CRC, all children belonging to 0 to 18 years age group should have fundamental right to education whereas the Bill limits it to 06 t0 14 years age group only.
Common School System recommended by Kothari Commission and CABE committee, should be implemented. The draft Bill provides vital space for privatisation and private schools.
The Bill should create a time Frame within which all children under the age of eighteen may be included in the scheme of schooling. It is not mentioned at all.
Syllabus should be based on Rural resources while teachers, students, guardians and local resource groups and individuals should have a say.
WBEN demands that seven to ten percent of GDP should be allocated in budget for education.
Private schools and Conventional schools should be treated equal and it should be ensured with a Constitutional amendment.
WBEN further demands that Privatisation of Education should be stopped with constitutional amendment.
Multi Level schooling should be stopped immediately.
Children Utility schooling should be introduced.
Syllabus should be standardised to achieve Life and job relevance.
Subhash Chandra Manjhi from Bankura shared his experience while running a NGO school in rural Bankura and placed details of Local hegemony interference. Delegates from Murshidabad, 24 Prganas and elsewhere spoke on the miserable conditions of Rural schools. Everyone complained that recruitment of Primary teachers is quite standstill. While the ABTA delegates from Urban areas complained that the government and government aided schools are being closed down.
Dilip Pal from Basirhat discussed child labour and bonded labour while some ABTA delegates quoted starvation and infant mortality rates. Some also discussed the underclass slum children. SC, ST and Minority angles were also discussed.
Writer Sandeep Bandopaddhyaya discussed a little bit Economy and funding. While some ABTA delegates, specially Nakuleshwar Bhattacharya discussed Sarv Shiksha and the inability of the state to use the Fund.
Vetarn teachers were quite nostalgic to remember teachers` demands before 1977 and the Politics involved in education afterwards. Some complained of too much political interference in day to day schooling affairs. Golam Morshed talkede on Rural schooling in Murshidabad. Samrat kumar Sarkar from south 24 Parganas echoed. Nilotpal Mandal from Malda discussed Malda scenerio.
Rajesh discussed a little bit Globalisation. Somdev Bhattacharya , Satyabrata Chowdhary , general secretary of Bharat Sabha, Rajesh Das , Sujit Naryan Goswami, Pradeep Ranjan and some other speakers spoke against discrimination against Primary teachers and government schools! Some of them also spoke on mother language. children should be educated in mother language, they insisted. Some of them also demanded to create a comprehensive national education map.
I was to speak minutes before the Presidential speech and had been warned again and again of the time frame.
I picked up the spirit of the Bill and discussed RTI, Rural Employment and Citizenship amendment Acts and the result as we all know. I spoke how spirit was violently used in Partition to Nuke deal chronology. Then I also quoted Strategic Realliance, globalisation, open market, Industrialisation, Indo Pak conflicts and so on.
I insisted that without linking higher education and job opportunity, universal education is not going to help us anyway. Retail chain needs rural market. this Bill may ultimately create some consumers in unconventional sectors but it won`t help the children belonging to indigenous communities and indigenous production system in either life or livelihood. I was stopped by the chair abruptly. While the presidential speech was academically enriched and consumed vital time.
Parmita Sarkar is young , energetic and was putting details of practical experiences. She was linking education to production system and livelihood, purchasing power and affordability.
So. she attracted me most and I talked to her to know her mind on education bill.a few delegates were annoyed as they felt that it was a diversion. They also quoted their mass movement experience. but we continued.
Parmita Sarkar is a general Caste Hindu girl who is working among mostly the Scheduled caste people in Cooch Bihar.
G-NESep stands for Godhulibazaar- North East society for Empowerment of the People as told by Parmita.
Parmita is studying M.A. first year in Sociology from IGNU. She has graduated in Computer Science!
G-NESEP runs self help groups, above Twelve hundred of them in Cooch Bihar. Most of these self help group belongs to SC BPL women! Fund is mobilised by Micro finance with the help of SBI.
G-NESEP works against Human Trafficking.
Parmita is also a Project Manager in SRH ( Sexual and reproductive health.)
Parmita told me what she could not speak due to time crunch!
`Cooch Bihar District People mostly depend on farming. Most of the people belong to SC and ST. They are really, really very very poor. Fifty percent of the Rural Population is unemployed.'
Now, what she tells despite inturruptions from other delegates is similar to the experience of rural social activists all over India. Slum workers also may found the echoe of their heart in her assertions.
`Instead of sending school, they would like to compel the children to get employment as child labour. They have no option but to try hard to make the children earning members of the family in hardship. Most of them have no virtual livelihood.'
Parmita suggests,` It is quite unpractical to impose all responsibility on the helpless people to educate the children. Rather, the government should take an initiative so that their children ay not drop out due to economic compulsion!'
Paramita sounds quite pragmatic while she argues,` I don`t think in present day Indian nation, it is impossible to delete all the non Government educational institutions! But the government may regularise them very well.'
Parmita demands,` The Government should ensure that the poor indigenous lot of children may get quality education from government schools! So that the gap between private and government schooling might be covered!'
Thank you Parmita!Hope to meet and talk to you and your kind very often whatsoever might the academic ideologues say!
According to WBEN, Union Government has once again circulated a BILL titled right to education bill 2008. This is the fourth such Bill produced by GOI.The first Bill was prepared in 2003when the NDA Govt. was in power. It had serious short comings and on reciept of numerous critiques from academiecs, state governments and politicians, the Bill was shelved. It may be said that the CABE was not convened even once by the then Union Minister of Education Prof. MM Joshi.Thsi is significant because normally CABE plays a leading role in studying and recommending policy matters in the field of education.
After NDA, UPA took over the reins.Second draft was brought out in 2005.Apart from other short comings, the Bill was never prepared for consideration in Parliament. it was citrculated in public and then recommended to all state governments for adoption with or without any modification appropriate dates.The Idea was that UNION Government wanted to disown responsibility involved. Expectedly this move was criticised by all and sundry.The Uinon came with a third version in 2006 making some improvement and again the Bill was sent to the states!
The present Right to education Bill 2008 has been brought while the UPA government cunts the last days in Power. The Union Human resource minister Arjun Singh has publicly declared that the bill will be moved in the Parliament during current Monsoon session. In the context of the left`s withdrawal of support and the loose knot alon with highly controversial Nuke deal and strategic realliance in US lead, it is quite unclear whether the Bill will be placed in the Parliament!
Teachers and non-government organisations in Bhuvneshwar announced on Thursday, intensification of their campaign to demand enactment of the Right to Education in the next session of the Parliament.A five member delegation led by Communist Party of India (CPI) MP D. Raja Wednesday met Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum in this regard, said Mohanty, who was also one of the delegation members.
Concerned over the inordinate delay in getting the plan off the ground, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced last fortnight that the central government would be coming up with the Right to Education Bill 'very soon'. His announcement came a day after HRD Minister Arjun Singh met him seeking help to paper the differences, particularly after the states made it clear that they could not afford the money involved.
Over the last two years, Arjun Singh had been writing to state chief ministers hoping that they would come on board. But the response was uniform - fund the scheme. This, notwithstanding the central government's willingness to shell out 75 percent of the cost for implementing the scheme.
According to HRD ministry officials, the states had a problem with a particular clause in the bill that makes it mandatory for schools to pay the fees and other expenses of students from Classes 1 to 8. This, officials said, was because under the draft bill all out-of-school children between the ages of six and 14 (including disabled children) would have to be in school and state governments would have to pay for their education.
Plans to make free and compulsory education a right of every child are likely to be delayed further with the government referring a bill in this regard to a Group of Ministers (GoM).Asked why the bill has been referred to the GoM when it was already delayed, Scienceand Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said there was discussion about the extent to which the state governments should contribute towards this. He claimed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated that the bill was a priority for his government and should be implemented before the term of the UPA government ends.To a question as to who would head the GoM, Sibal said it might be headed by the HRD Minister and would have the Finance Minister, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission besides himself as members. Ministry sources said the bill stipulates duties and responsibilities of appropriate government, local authority and parents for providing free and compulsory education.The financial requirement for implementing the measure for seven years from 2008-09 to 2014-15 is estimated to be Rs 2.28 lakh crore.
The central government has earmarked a whopping Rs.850 billion ($21 billion) towards education in the Eleventh Plan, which ends in 2012.
This is five times the allocation for the education sector in the Tenth Plan. A ministry official said once the bill is cleared, the funds would be raised from the budget allocated for the Eleventh Plan.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had earlier stated that the central government could not afford the funds needed for the Right to Education Bill and there was no need for it. He was of the view that the government could widen the scope of its existing flagship programmes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the midday meal scheme to meet the target for free and compulsory education for all.
The bill aimed at making free and compulsory education a right of every child was expected to be introduced in Parliament's Monsoon Session. The Union Cabinet referred the Right to Education Bill to the group of ministers. The bill, once approved by the GoM, was expected to be taken up during the monsoon session of parliament. Once approved by parliament, the bill will pave the way for free and compulsory education to children between six and 14 years of age.
The implementation of the Right to Education Bill, 2008, will cost the government an additional Rs 48,000 crore over four years. The draft bill is currently being circulated in the government and the Cabinet is likely to take up the matter for consideration soon. Having effected a drastic reduction from the initial annual bill of Rs 53,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore, HRD ministry is hopeful that RTE will pass the scrutiny of the finance ministry and the Planning Commission.
The cost of operationalising the Right to Education (RTE), which works out to around Rs 12,000 crore a year, will be borne by both the Centre and states. The government has several fund-sharing options before it. One option would be to go in for a 90:10 sharing pattern, in which the Centre contributes 90% of the funds and the states the remaining 10%.
The Bill also prescribes minimum standards that government schools would have to enforce, using the yardstick of teacher-student ratio, availability of teaching material and books for students.
What is still unclear is how the programme would be funded and whether the Centre would subsidize it. According to R. Govinda, of the National University of Eductional Planning and Administration, state governments will have to follow the Centre on the education law.
"They have no choice as this is a central legislation," said Govinda, who was involved in drafting the Bill.
The other would be to replicate the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan model of fund sharing, where the Centre's contribution reduces over a period of time, as the states begin to shoulder greater share of the fiscal burden. In the sliding scale model, for the initial years when the investments required are higher, the Centre will need to provide the larger share. Decision on the funding pattern need not be taken right away, and can be deferred till Parliament passes the bill.
The proposed Act seeks to provide right to children in the age group of six to 14 years to get free education till completion of elementary education in a neighborhood school. It stipulates duties and responsibilities of appropriate government, local authority and parents for providing free and compulsory education.
Private schools across the country will be required to do its part to ensure all children between 6 and 14 receive free and compulsory education. The Right to Education Bill, 2008, makes it mandatory for private unaided schools to set aside 25% of their annual intake at the entry level (class one) for disadvantaged children in the neighbourhood. With this, the HRD ministry has given its own spin on the much-vaunted publicprivate partnership mantra of the UPA government.
This step is in keeping with the Kothari Commission's recommendation to introduce a common school system, as well as the Supreme Court judgement against commercialisation of private schools. The suggestion to draw private schools into the net was first suggested by the NDA in its draft Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill. The idea was refined by CABE subcommittee on the Free and Compulsory Education for Children Bill. This was improved in the subsequent August 2005 version of the Right to Education Bill.
As against earlier versions of proposed legislation, the 25% seats will be only at the entry level, Class I. This, it is believed, will help the cause of social inclusion. It would help students from disadvantaged sections to be a sizeable number in a class and not be scattered through various grades, as would have been the case if schools had to take in 25% of its total annual intake. Senior officials are of the view that introducing students from disadvantaged sections at the entry level will help assimilation as children at that age are more flexible and less mindful of differences.
This would also ensure that these disadvantaged kids are integrated with paying students and school management cannot take cover of `afternoon schools for the disadvantaged' to work around the provision.
The bill, mooted in 2006, also specifies the responsibility of teachers and schools besides containing provisions for protection of child rights and redressals of their grievances are also part of the bill. The financial requirement for implementing bill for seven years from 2008-09 to 2014-15 is estimated to be $540 million.
A pension scheme for Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is also likely to come up before the cabinet. The Navodaya Vidyalayas have out-performed other schools recently.
However, a large number of teachers have resigned from these schools in view of non-applicability of pension scheme to the organisation. The new pension scheme would cost an additional Rs four crore annually.
Private unaided schools, that is schools that don't receive funds from the government, will not lose out financially. The government will foot the bill for the disadvantaged students on the basis of what it sets aside per child in government-run schools. The government spends roughly Rs 1,700 per child as against an average of Rs 1,100 by a private school.
However, if the school has received concessions, such as cheaper land, in lieu of a promise to provide for disadvantaged children, then there will be no payment involved, as is the case in many of Delhi's private schools.
TIME TO BRIDGE THE DIVIDE
Private Unaided schools will not lose out financially. The government will foot the bill for the disadvantaged students on the basis of what it sets aside per child in government-run schools.
If The school has received concessions, such as cheaper land, in lieu of a promise to provide for disadvantaged children, then there will be no payment involved, as is the case in many of Delhi's private schools.
The Other category of schools -- private aided, that is schools that receive substantial grants, more than 51%, from the government -- would have to provide for children from the neighbourhood, to the limit of the concession if need be to full capacity.
The other category of schools -- private aided, that is schools that receive substantial grants, more than 51%, from the government -- would have to provide for children from the neighbourhood, to the limit of the concession if need be to full capacity. These aided school system has a strong presence in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, this sector accounts for 60% of elementary schools and 20% in Tamil Nadu.
Awareness - Awareness
Author:Simone Singh
Insurance Agent
Don't kill Right to Education Bill
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/Simone/R5kiUlwg12411804In August 2005, a bill was drafted with a sense of hope. This was the bill that would change the face of education in India. The draft brimmed with new ideas, the most radical being a clause that made it compulsory for private schools to have reservations so that rich and poor rubbed shoulders in the schoolroom and learnt about the way the other India lived.
The ministers and bureaucrats were unimpressed by this Gandhian vision, authored by the Government of India's Central Advisory Board for Education. More than unimpressed, they were unwilling. Reservations is a prickly political chestnut at the best of times and this ambitious clause was something they certainly did not want on their heads.
Three years have passed. The bill has been bounced around like an unwanted ball from department to department, it has been buried and resurrected and sent to limbo land. The cabinet has not bother- ed to read or discuss it. It was not introduced in the budget session. Right now, it is stuck somewhere in the bewildering maze that is the bureaucracy.
After the 2002 86th constitutional amendment made education a fundamental right for children under fourteen, the NDA government drafted a bill on the right to education. The bill never reached parliament. When the UPA government was elected, the issue was brought up again and a new bill was drafted in 2005. While the NDA bill had been drafted by government officers alone, the UPA bill involved a much wider range of professionals including university teachers, NGOs and government servants. The signs were good but educationists have long learnt not to always trust the signs.
So what is the Right to Education bill all about? Broadly speaking, it aims at setting minimum standards for both public and private schools so that the quality of education improves throughout the country and current inequities are levelled. While most will have no quarrel with this aim, many may have serious reservations about the method. A controversial clause makes it compulsory for all private schools to reserve 25% of their seats for poor children from the neighbourhood. This includes elite ICSE and IB schools, too. So even a school like a DPS in Delhi would be subject to this clause as would a Cathedral or a Dhirubhai Ambani in Mumbai and a St Xavier's and a La Martiniere in Kolkata. The bill has been fiercely opposed by the private school lobby which feels that opening its doors to the dhobi's son and the driver's daughter will dilute its brand value and lower standards. There is also the problematic issues of the high fees that some schools charge and the culture of elitism they espouse.
On another front, the bill aims at plugging some of the loopholes in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan. For instance, it wants to outlaw non-formal education and do away with the contract system of recruiting teachers which has proved disastrous.
"All non-formal schools across the country will as per the bill have three years to upgrade themselves to formal schools, which provide the minimum standards prescribed by the bill," says Vinod Raina, one of the architects of the bill. A physics teacher at Delhi University, Raina was one of the founders of the Eklavya Program, set up in Madhya Pradesh in 1972 to bring quality education to disadvantaged children.
As for the contract system, the government currently allows schools to appoint teachers on a contract basis and pay them a paltry sum of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 a month. Very often these teachers are simply not qualified to teach. The bill wants that this be abolished and that all teachers, both in private and government schools, be appointed on a permanent basis and given a full salary as long as they are qualified. Recognising the fact that there is a huge shortage of trained teachers across the country, the bill provides for a five-year period for the government to create a talent pool by launching wide-scale teacher-training programs.
One of the reasons given for the delay is that the costs to implement this bill will be staggering. The current estimates stand at Rs 1,51,000 crore. "It's sad that we do not believe that the right to education is as important as the right to life," says Nilesh Nimkar, Unicef advisor in Maharashtra and director of Quest, an organisation that works for the education of adivasi children. "Without education it's virtually impossible to lead a life of dignity. It's important for the government, within reasonable limits, to spend on education." India spends around 3.7% (under 4%) of its GDP on education. This is meagre given that most countries that put a premium on education spend at least 6% of the GDP, if not more, on education.
After the bill was drafted in August 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent it to a High Level Group (HLG) which included the finance minister and the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. The HLG decided there was no need to pass any central legislation on education. So the bill was converted into a model bill and sent to all the states.
State governments were told to pass their own legislation, with a note from the central government asking them to put education on top of their list of priorities, second only to law and order. The states promptly sent the model bill back and asked the Centre to heed its own advice.
The bill was virtually buried for two years. In between, a mid-census correction reduced the child population by six million so budgets were halved from Rs 3,21,000 crore to Rs 1,51,000 crore. Finally, a team of educationists, two of whom were involved in the drafting of the bill, wrote a letter to the prime minister raising the issue of central legislation on education.
The PM met them in August 2007. Subsequently, the PM chaired a meeting of the HLG in February 2008 and directed that central legislation be introduced in the budget session. A new draft of the bill was created by the end of February 2008. However, there are still many hurdles. The bill required the approval of the Planning Commission as well as several ministries such as the ministries for woman and child development, finance and law.
Not surprisingly, the budget session came and went with the bill still bouncing between departments. The good news is that it has been cleared by the finance ministry and the Planning Commission. Right now it is with the law ministry. The monsoon session is upon us. Will the UPA government deliver on its promise and pass a landmark bill or will it be banished to a dark corner of the deep freeze?
21 December, 2005 - Published 15:45 GMT
Education bill backs India's poor
The Indian government has introduced a bill in parliament to force private universities admit fixed numbers of students from traditionally disadvantaged low castes and tribes. The government wants to amend the constitution which already obliges state-supported colleges reserve places for the country's poorest communities. This report from Mark Dummett:
Listen to the story
The congress-led government wants to extend affirmative action for the lowest members of India's hierarchical caste system to private universities. It wants the many independent business, technical and medical colleges to reserve places for students from the traditionally discriminated against and impoverished tribal communities and low castes, also known as Dalits or Untouchables. Government colleges already admit more than a fifth of their students from these groups.
To change the law, the government needs to amend India's constitution, where protection of the so-called scheduled castes and tribes is enshrined. It needs a two-thirds majority to do so, but the main opposition BJP Party, says it won't support the bill unless colleges run by religious minorities like the Muslims, are also included. Some private colleges are also opposed, saying they fear a drop in standards if the law is changed.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament.
HRD ministry, responsible for the bill, has been told that the concept of private unaided schools giving 25 per cent reservation to poor children could result in litigation, which would need to be prepared for.
The RTE Bill stipulates that at the entry level (class I), schools should set aside 25 per cent seats for poor children in the vicinity, the idea being that letting an underprivileged child join a private school at the entry level would help in social inclusion.
The Bill also says that private aided schools (51 per cent funded by government) would have to give reservation to underprivileged children to the extent of the concession they get from the government.
The law ministry believes that since right to education is a fundamental right under Article 21A, any infringement could immediately result in court cases.
The Constitution gives the right to a citizen to directly seek redressal from high courts under Article 226 and the SC under Article 32 (1). Sources feel that since private schools are going to find a way out of this obligation, an aggrieved citizen would be left with no choice but go to courts.
Even if the Bill says the government would foot the bill of disadvantaged children, sources feel, social barriers are such that private schools would like to keep away from the obligation. According to current estimates, the government spends Rs 1,700 per child per year. "Right to Education is one of the most important fundamental right. We hope it does not remain just a law on paper," a law ministry official said.
The law ministry has also asked HRD whether 25 per cent reservation for poor children would be applicable to Kendriya Vidyalayas, Sainik Schools and Navodaya Vidyalayas. "We know how tough it is to get admission in Kendriya Vidyalayas. They are meant primarily for children of government employees,'' one official said.
Should the education Bill be scrapped?
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Partha J Shah, President, Centre for Civil Society
The only positive aspect of the Right to Education Bill 2005 is the formation of School Management Committees for state and aided schools. Three-fourth of the members will be parents, which will give them genuine power in the committees. The rest of the Bill is a catastrophe.
Unrecognised private schools will be smothered. Between 1991 and 2001, India's literacy rate increased by about 13 percentage points -- from 52 to 65 per cent. This is the highest increase in any 10-year period. This was achieved despite an actual decrease in government educational expenditure in the early 1990s due to the IMF's (Internation Monetary Fund's) structural adjustment programme. Unrecognised private schools for the poor, charging Rs 25 to 200 per month, had come to the rescue. And the Bill assumes that it is helping the poor by outlawing this sector.
The Bill mandates automatic promotion for students and focuses only on the inputs into the education system -- the outlays. No standards are set for learning outcomes. A case of guaranteeing graduation but not education.
The Bill seeks to expand access by two means: by greatly increasing the number of state schools and by the minimum 25 per cent reservation of seats in all private schools. Now, if the government wants to open more schools, certainly no new law is necessary. So, after all the rhetoric, the Bill expects the private sector to discharge the constitutional obligation of the state! Though the success of the Bill depends heavily on capacity addition in the private sector, it does nothing to remove the license-quota raj in opening new schools.
The Bill creates a National Commission for Elementary Education, State Regulatory Authorities, and several "competent authorities", "local authorities", and "empowered authorities" on the top of the existing educracy. The system will be bureaucrushed.
Unlike for private schools, the process of attaining recognition for state schools is not prescribed. It assumes that state schools would automatically meet the standards. Is the government ignorant of the abysmal infrastructure in state schools?
All state teachers will be assigned to a school and will never be transferred again. A teacher will spend her entire working life in one school. If this is what the ministry of human resource development offers as a good HR policy, it's time to close it down.
Only parents and teachers suffer penalty for dereliction of their duties. There is no penalty on the government for failing to meet its obligations.
The outcome of the Bill will be to restrict the school choice of parents and of teachers and to expand the layers and powers of the education bureaucracy. This is not the Bill that would serve the cause of education.
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R Govinda, Professor, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration
The enactment of a law making Right to Education a Fundamental Right has become necessary since the goal of Universal Elementary Education has remained elusive despite being a Directive Principle for more than five decades. The majority of those excluded from the ambit of schooling are children of the poor; and the nature and quality of school provision has accentuated inequities in the society.
By getting the participation of private schools in the process of implementing an equitable system of elementary education, the Bill attempts to reduce the widening social divide between the education of the rich and the poor by ensuring that they sit together and learn in the same classroom.
The purpose is not to seek a cross-subsidy from the rich for the education of their poorer kin. Requiring that all elementary schools satisfy certain basic norms in terms of infrastructure, learning facilities and the academic calendar will take care of the problems posed by the mushrooming of sub-standard schools, both in the government and private sectors.
Removing the "transfer of teachers" power takes care of a system, which has resulted in serious malpractice, nepotism, political interference and corruption in the administration of school education.
The Bill requires that every teacher be appointed to a specific school where there is a vacancy, which is normal practice the world over. A teacher can move to another school or to a higher position through open advertisements and competition among those eligible.
This move, coupled with the proposal to empower the School Management Committees to manage the local school, should free schools from bureaucratic control and develop a greater sense of local level accountability and ownership.
Parents would have a significant stake and voice in school functioning as they constitute 75 per cent of members of the Management Committee.
The Bill also proposes the establishment of a National Commission for Elementary Education, as an independent professional body with overarching authority to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Act.
The NCEE, to be established through processes similar to the NHRC, is envisaged to act as an ombudsman, with the scope to independently assess the situation and instruct the government or any other authority for effective implementation of the provisions.
NCEE's role is critical for the implementation of the Right to Education in a proactive manner, thus protecting the interests of the child.
India's decision in the early 1990s to open its markets and fully participate in the global economy is widely credited for the nation's spectacular rate of economic growth over the past decade or so, says Professor Fazal Rizvi. But Rizvi says many within and outside India believe this rate of growth is not sustainable unless India overhauls its crumbling system of higher education.
In an address to a Unesco Centre for Comparative Education Research forum at the University of Nottingham last month, Rizvi said the rise of India as an emerging economic power was widely attributed to India's decision to open its economy in early 1990s, deregulate and privatise the key economic sectors, engage with global processes, actors and agencies, and better utilise its enormous pool of knowledge workers.
Rizvi is a professor in the department of educational policy at the University of Illinois and has written widely on theories of globalisation, education and cultural policy. He is currently researching higher education in India.
He said there had been widespread recognition of the role of higher education in sustaining high levels of economic growth and broader distribution of national wealth. Yet there were many indicators of a decline in the higher education system and these included:
* An inability of the system to meet the growing demand.
* Considerable evidence of poor teaching, especially in state universities.
* Ineffective quality control.
* Poor graduate outcomes with unemployment for most graduates from colleges.
* Declining research performance and productivity.
* Low status of Indian universities in international ranking.
* Widespread corruption in appointments of faculty and selection of students.
* Poor governance with cumbersome bureaucratic impediments to reform.
Many of these problems were caused by the structure of higher education in India and its colonial beginning in the mid-19th century, with a strong emphasis on disciplinary learning and examinations, Rizvi said.
Then there was the wide variety of types of institutions, with universities and affiliated colleges responsible for providing curriculum and overseeing academic standards, unitary universities without affiliated colleges and universities with constitutive and affiliated colleges.
A key factor, of course, is the sheer size of the Indian system, now the third largest in the world, after China and the US. India has nearly 18,000 institutions (348 universities and 17,625 colleges), that include a small elite sector of IITs, IIMs and IISs, 20 central universities, and the rest state universities, a large number of research centres and laboratories, and more than 10 million students (but less than 8 % of the age cohort).
As well, there are 26 private universities, 5,750 aided private colleges, 7,650 unaided private colleges and around 150 foreign institutions. Most private and foreign universities and colleges focus on business studies, engineering and IT.
The Indian government established a National Knowledge Commission in 2006 and it has released a set of recommendations for reforming higher education. These include:
* Creating many more universities - another 1,500 to attain a gross enrolment ratio of 15% by 2015.
* Changing the regulation of higher education by establishing an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education.
* Increased public spending and diversifying sources of financing universities.
* Establishing 50 'national universities'.
As part of the reforms, existing universities would be reshaped, undergraduate colleges reshaped, improvements required to enhance quality, and would adopt a policy of inclusion that would ensure access for all deserving students along with a process of affirmative action.
Rizvi said among the issues that remained to be resolved were policy coordination between the different authorities responsible for higher education, the declining authority of the UGC, the complexities of Indian federalism, political and legal inertia, and the "politicisation of policy communication and implementation".
He said the government had promised some increase in public funding which would be sufficient for the knowledge commission's targets but that alternative funding sources were reluctant to invest in higher education and research. There were also problems with the allocation and distribution of funds.
Privatisation was occurring at a rapid rate without a coherent policy framework, Rizvi said. A Private Education Bill was still languishing in Parliament, yet the quality of private institutions was "uneven at best".
For the system as a whole there was no coherent quality assurance mechanism and India faced a decline in the role of professional associations in quality assurance, while the peer review systems by faculty and students was almost non-existent.
On the matter of access and equity, Rizvi told the forum that strong policy dictates for affirmative action were often ignored, a narrow conception of access existed and the educational outcomes for some minorities were deteriorating.
UPA: EDUCATION FOR ALL
The Lost Chapter
No funds, says Centre. The Right to Education Bill goes cold.
Anuradha Raman
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080908&fname=Education+(F)&sid=1
One would have thought there would be no opposition to a Bill which will operationalise the fundamental right of a child to education. Far from it, the Right to Education (RTE) Bill has been getting tossed around for the last three years. Last fortnight, the Union cabinet met in the absence of an ailing human resources development minister, Arjun Singh, and referred it once again to a Group of Ministers (GoM) which will once again go through the bill with a fine-tooth comb. This exercise essentially means another delay. Very clearly, the Manmohan Singh government, so focused on the N-deal and caught up with domestic concerns like the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio, is showing no urgency vis-a-vis the RTE bill. As one minister who attended last fortnight's cabinet meeting put it, "We were very busy with the J&K situation and so we just didn't get the time to discuss the education bill." It's certainly not a priority with this government.
Further, Outlook has learnt from sources that the prime minister has his reservations about the bill. A group of educationists who met Manmohan Singh last year were told that funding the RTE would be a huge problem. One of them told Outlook that "the PM clearly pointed out the inability of the Centre to fund the RTE and (said) that some of the states were rich enough to implement it".
Inked out: HRD minister Arjun Singh
This is a view echoed by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia too (see interview). This, despite the commission approving the bill last year. (It is learnt the majority view—in support of the bill—had prevailed then despite Montek's objections.) But his latest objection is that the bill's prime mover, the Union HRD ministry, has not weighed the financial implications of the state guaranteeing education to children in the age group 6-14.
Of course, there are financial costs involved. Estimates drawn up by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) has it that an additional Rs 77,223 crore will be required in the 12th plan for the RTE to take off (about Rs 7,000 crore per annum or 0.15 percent of the GDP). Already, the 11th Plan allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is projected at Rs 70,000-80,000 crore. The RTE is targeted at the 20 crore kids in the 6-14 age group.
But looking beyond all this are a group of concerned academics and lawyers who say precious time is being wasted debating the financial implications. Says educationist Anita Rampal: "A central legislation is essential to lay down uniform norms for quality and standards of elementary education. This should be irrespective of a state's economic capacity and also to ensure conformity with constitutional values."
Noted educationist Anil Sadgopal says systematic attempts have been made to dilute the provisions of the bill ever since it was put to debate. He goes so far as to suggest that the bill is reflective of the neo-liberal policies of the state, as evident in the committee set up under Kapil Sibal when the minister requested that private schools be kept out of the bill's ambit. "What is the meaning of equitable education then?" asks Sadgopal.
According to him, the high-level group constituted by the PM concluded at its meeting that the Centre lacked funds and that the RTE should primarily be a state responsibility. Says Sadgopal: "It's not lack of resources but a government framework leaning towards neo-liberal policies like private-public partnership in model schools, stratifying the education system which keeps large chunks of children out etc that is responsible for the mess our education system is in."
It was in 1993 that the SC gave the historic Unnikrishnan judgement which gave all children up to 14 years the fundamental right to education.The court said the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution should be read along with the directive in Article 45 to provide free and compulsory education to children of 0-14 years.
Successive governments tried their best to obfuscate issues till the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act in 2002. This limited the state's responsibility to looking after children in the 6-14 age group. While the bill piloted by the nda government had glaring loopholes, it was assumed that when the upa took charge, education would be given its due. This would have meant every child below 14 was assured education in state-run schools. Not just that, private schools would ensure that 25 per cent of the seats were reserved for children from the weaker sections.
But not much has been done. While several private schools are not for reservation at all, even government schools are guilty. Delhi-based advocate and social activist Ashok Aggarwal gets at least half a dozen cases a day from children denied admission to government schools. He is hopeful the RTE will empower parents to fight the legal battles.
So what now? Science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, who presided over the previous GoM, will be taking another "hard look" at the bill. According to him, "We have to see what are the parameters that will be looked into by the courts, if it is challenged in the future." But isn't that exactly what the first GoM had deliberated upon?
Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):
Bernarda Zamora
Sonia Radhika Bhalotra
Abstract
This paper uses two large repeated cross-sections, one for the early 1990's, and one for the late 1990's, to describe growth in school enrolment and completion rates for boys and girls in India, and to explore the extent to which enrolment and completion rates have grown over time. It decomposes this growth into components due to change in the characteristics that determine schooling, and another associated with changes in the responsiveness of schooling to given characteristics. Our results caution against the common practice of using current data to make future projections on the assumption that the model parameters are stable. The analysis nevertheless performs illustrative simulations relevant to the question of whether India will be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of realising universal primary education by the year 2015. The simulations suggest that India will achieve universal attendance, but that primary school completion rates will not exhibit much progress.
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Keywords: Millennium Development Goals primary schooling attendance completion rates gender India decomposition
Find related papers by JEL classification:
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
O12 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
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NEP-CWA-2008-02-16 (Central & Western Asia)
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Alderman,Harold & Hoddinott, John & Kinsey, Bill, 2003. "Long-term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," FCND briefs 168, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
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Alderman,Harold & Hoddinott, John & Kinsey, Bill, 2003. "Long-term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," FCND discussion papers 168, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2004. "Long Term Consequences Of Early Childhood Malnutrition," HiCN Working Papers 09, Households in Conflict Network. [Downloadable!]
Harold Alderman & John Hoddinott & Bill Kinsey, 2006. "Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 450-474, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2002. "The Political Economy Of Government Responsiveness: Theory And Evidence From India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(4), pages 1415-1451, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2000. "The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India," STICERD - Development Economics Papers 28, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Besley, Timothy J. & Burgess, Robin, 2001. "The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India," CEPR Discussion Papers 2721, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Banerjee, Abhijit V., 2004. "Educational policy and the economics of the family," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 3-32, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1986. "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages S1-39, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Gary S. Becker & Nigel Tomes, . "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," University of Chicago - Population Research Center 84-10, Chicago - Population Research Center.
Arnaud Chevalier, 2004. "Parental Education and Childs Education: A Natural Experiment," CEE Discussion Papers 0040, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Arnaud Chevalier, 2004. "Parental Education And Child's Education: A Natural Experiment," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2004 42, Royal Economic Society. [Downloadable!]
Chevalier, Arnaud, 2004. "Parental Education and Child's Education: A Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 1153, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Yun, Myeong-Su, 2004. "Decomposing differences in the first moment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 275-280, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Yun, Myeong-Su, 2003. "Decomposing Differences in the First Moment," IZA Discussion Papers 877, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2001. "The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the U. S," Working Papers 272, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing.. [Downloadable!]
Jacoby, Hanan G & Skoufias, Emmanuel, 1997. "Risk, Financial Markets, and Human Capital in a Developing Country," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 64(3), pages 311-35, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Why Are There Returns to Schooling?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 153-58, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Right to Education Bill 2005: I
Right to Education Bill 2005: II
Volume 23 - Issue 15 :: Jul. 29-Aug. 11, 2006
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU
Education for few
The new education bill proposed by the UPA will exclude disadvantaged groups from quality schooling and pass the burden to cash-strapped State governments.
In all the often heated debates about the strategy of development for India, there is one issue on which there seems to be consensus among all - the need to provide universal and good quality education at school-level to all our children. There is good reason for this consensus, which emerges from some very different initial positions with respect to other matters of society and economics. At one level, education is a fundamental human right, without which capabilities for a decent life and effective participation in society are less likely to be developed. Therefore, all our citizens deserve equitable access to a public school education system of reasonable quality.
There is the equally important point about the nature of the society we wish to have. The primary purpose of education is to build a truly humane society - democratic and egalitarian, tolerant of diversity and yet with some shared human values - and to allow all citizens to unleash their full potential and live with dignity.
This implies that school education up to a certain level (ideally 10 or 12 years) must be accessible to all, and that differences in the quality of provision should not be such that they create social inequalities or monopolisation by any group.
But even those who are less likely to adopt a rights-based approach to development or accept the importance of universal education for a good society, still recognise the critical significance of investing in education. This is because they know that for sustained growth and all-round economic progress, an educated labour force is absolutely essential. And as economic tasks become more complex, interdependent and require different kinds of literacy and numeracy, the importance of higher levels of education also grows. All the current talk of creating a "knowledge society" is based on the realisation that education must be a major focus of public intervention.
Therefore, until quite recently it was the case that even those who otherwise debunked public expenditure in general, accepted the need for public spending on and provision of basic education. Additionally, in recent times, some of the recognition of the need for more investment in education is also because of the buzz about the "demographic dividend".
This is the fact that our relatively young population can become a huge asset when most of the rest of the world's population is aging, and this difference in demographic structure can create a large positive potential for faster growth. (Of course, this in turn presupposes that productive work can be found for all of those of working age.)
Yet it is precisely in the sphere of ensuring equitable access to quality education for our people that the development project in India has been conspicuously lacking thus far. Even today, the official gross enrolment ratios for children aged between six and 14 is around 80 per cent, and effective enrolment is much less. Currently, only 56 per cent of children aged between five and nine are attending school, according to Census data.
More tellingly, dropout rates are very high; less than half of the children who join Class I actually complete Class VIII, and much less than 10 per cent pass the higher secondary examination. The situation is even worse because of social and economic divisions, which reduce access. For example, more than 80 per cent of Scheduled Caste girls and 90 per cent of Scheduled Tribe girls who join Class I do not complete Class X.
This is largely because of huge under provision and poor quality provision in the government school system, such that those who cannot afford to attend private schools are either unable or unwilling to attend school, and are often deprived of access altogether.
Some of this is because of the very large infrastructure gaps in the public education system in the country. There are still large numbers of villages and urban settlements without government schools in the approachable vicinity.
There is also substantial overcrowding in existing schools. According to the National Sample Survey, more than 30 per cent of primary schools do not have any proper buildings, and another 20 per cent function out of only one room, which clearly affects both the quality and effectiveness of teaching in such schools. The average number of instructional classrooms across all schools is only two.
The inadequacy of other basic infrastructure (separate toilets for girls and boys, clean drinking water supply, electrical fittings and fans and so on) not to mention advanced teaching aids, including computers, is also well-established not only for many primary schools but also for a substantial proportion of secondary schools and institutions of higher learning.
Then of course there is the shortage of teachers, which forces many students at different levels to be taught by one teacher. According to a study by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, even now, up to 13 per cent of all elementary schools are single-teacher schools. Nearly 10 per cent of schools do not have even one blackboard. More than half do not have a book bank, not to mention a library. Only 7 per cent of schools have computers.
Part of the reason for this abysmal state of affairs is that there was no compulsion upon either Central or State governments to provide universal education. The faith expressed in Article 45 of the Constitution, making a commitment of the state to provide free and compulsory education to children up to 14 years of age, did not translate into any justiciable right. Most critically, successive versions of draft legislation have failed to make it a justiciable right or to ensure the financial resources for the government to provide universal schooling.
It is against this background that the Right to Education Bill, 2005, was formulated. This Bill has had a tortuous history. The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act, passed in 2002, inserted Article 21A in Part III (Fundamental Rights) which declared that "the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age 6-14 years in such manner as the state may by law determine." This set the stage for the Right to Education Bill. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government provided flawed draft Bills which effectively legitimised different "streams" of education, with low quality provision for underprivileged sections, and heavy reliance on privatisation.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in turn provided a more acceptable Bill, which still had a number of problems and also diluted the right to education in several ways. However, it also had certain strengths, such as some move towards a common schooling system by which all schools, including private schools, would have to take 25 per cent of students from among underprivileged children in the vicinity. This reflected the recommendations of the Education Commission in the 1960s that bringing different social classes and groups together would promote an egalitarian and integrated society.
However, this draft Bill gathered dust, apparently in the Prime Minister's Office, for more than 10 months, and was not introduced in successive sessions of Parliament. It has now come to light that the Central government has decided to shelve this altogether, and instead has formulated a model Bill which has been sent to all State governments for them to enact.
Further, according to the letter sent by the Secretary for School Education to the State governments, only States which adopt the model bill in toto will continue to receive 75 per cent funding for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan - all others will have the Central allocation cut to 50 per cent!
Quite apart from the undemocratic nature of this offer, this reneges on the commitment made in the Constitutional Amendment, since the Central government is now taking no financial responsibility for ensuring the right to education. It is ridiculous to expect cash-strapped State governments to be able to provide the resources for this. Only the Central government can and must provide the relatively large financial outlays that are required to meet this absolutely essential public commitment.
The model Bill that has been proposed is even more appalling - it removes any mention of common schooling, places no requirements upon private schools, and does not actually recognise the right to education. It says that any parents/guardians who choose to admit their children to a non-free quota in a school (for whatever reason, for however short a time) shall not have any claim on the State for free education for their children.
It allows for "alternative" non-formal education for children for reasons of disability, or disadvantage, or nature of occupation of parents, thereby creating the possibilities for all sorts of exclusion by class and social group. In sum, it is a Bill of exclusion rather than inclusion, a complete denial of rights.
So here we have an extraordinary situation - a Central government that has publicly committed to ensuring the right to education, working surreptitiously and bypassing Parliament in order to push State-level legislation which completely undermines the notion of that right.
The irony is that this is in all probability driven by the same people who have been opposing caste-based quotas in higher education, on the grounds that it is first necessary to ensure access to quality school education to disadvantaged groups. Unfortunately, while increasing and univeralising access to quality education are critical for the health of our society and its future, we still have to contend with elites and an establishment who are determined to prevent it.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Report of the seminar titled 'Right to Education-Actions Now' conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Shiksha India
The seminar titled 'Right to Education-Actions Now' was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Shiksha India, Aspen Institute and Institute of Quality, on 19th December, 2007 in Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi, India. The main sponsors of the seminar were: Ambuja Cement, Bajaj Group of Companies, Bharti, GMMCO, Haldia, Thermax, Sona, SRF, Organosys and Patton.
The centre of attraction of this seminar was Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, who called for accountability in delivery of elementary education and public healthcare services, effective use of resources and co-operation with unions in these sectors. Prof. Sen underlined the importance of expansion of inclusive growth. He suggested deployment of more economic resources in education and better organisation of public services. Prof. Sen said that resources generated from economic growth should be used for public services and public goods in general, rather than being absorbed only in private consumption. He also highlighted the issue of diversity. He said that India should ensure efficiency and accountability in delivery of public services through organisational reforms. Despite economic reforms, the slowness of progress on school education has been taking much longer to remedy. He observed that there has been some reduction in the proportion of poverty-stricken people. But the process could have been much faster if growth achievements are combined with ways and means of more widespread sharing of economic opportunities. Prof. Sen said that India has been catching up with China in life expectancy and infant mortality, but there is still a long way to go. Prof. Sen expressed concern at the shocking incidence of absenteeism and neglect on the part of many teachers, who come from elite background and who care less for students from disadvantaged sections of the society. He pointed out the poor state of school inspection system in India. To tackle these problems, he suggested positive collaboration with other social groups and particularly the unions of primary school teachers and health care workers. He said that an educated population can make even better use of democracy. He talked on the importance of democracy. He asked for the need for female literacy as it can have positive impact on their economic and social status. He said that education can have powerful effects on quality of life of even the poorest of the poor. Prof. Amartya Sen mentioned that the nature of education is extremely relative. He also praised the $100 computers-for-kids initiative by MIT Media Lab. He said that peer learning is essential. He said that the quality of food provided in the mid-day meal scheme (MDM) is poor in certain states of India. He said that there is need for looking at education for producing skilled labour force, which can be tapped by the IT, ITeS and other services sector. He said that poor people should be provided coupons, which can be helpful in accessing education. He said that education is something more than literacy. He mentioned that in Bangladesh, there is a law which says that the wife of every husband should read and write.
Rakesh said that public-private partnership for constructing school buildings is need of the day. He said that there is need for concentrating on the 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan'. Vijay Bhakara talked on the accountability of the education sector. He said that there is need for measuring the quality of education. He mentioned about one census assessment report on quality of education. He said that the competency level of the children needs to be assessed, which has happened in Karnataka, India. He also mentioned about the School Adoption Scheme, which is running in Karnataka. Kalyan Banerji said that the quality of textbook is very poor in India. There is thus the need for good quality content, so that it enhances the quality of the children-the future of India. S Bhattacharya said that there is need for better implementation of already existing educational schemes. Governmental schemes cannot be substituted by other initiatives. Teachers' commitment and empowerment is extremely essential. India produces less number of engineers. There is a need to check why more and more students are taking commerce and management related subjects, instead of science/ technology. There is also the need to see why the system of Aanganwadi has collapsed in most states of India. He also mentioned that the pre-nursery school education system has collapsed. Drop-out is happening due to socio-economic reasons, he added. Students coming from rural background have hidden talents. Teachers must have the potential to tap the talent present in school children. There is also need to assess why there exists much focus only on English. He said that there is need to look at how to ensure accountability in educational schemes. S Bhattacharya said that the unhealthy competition in education need to be reduced. One of the biggest problem in Rajasthan is the transfer policy for teachers since every teacher want to be transfered to his/her native place.
However, Rajasthan has performed well in implementing the mid-day meal scheme successfully. During the 11th Five Year Plan, more allocation of financial resources with have been made on education, he added. He asked for passing of the Right to Education Bill by the Parliament of India. Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Shiksha India, talked on the importance of e-Learning tools to impart education at primary and secondary levels. He asked for the need of inputs from all sections of the population in order to make concrete progress in the field of education. He said that CII has been making positive efforts to promote education.
Gautam Thapar, Vice-Chairman, The Aspen Institute India, said, "In the context of globalisation, education assumes greater meaning. Greatness of a nation should not be measured by its ranking in global economic order, but by its ability to provide quality education. If we don't address the issue of education, our demographic dividend may turn into demographic disaster." He added that the Aspen Institute India is ready to contribute to the promotion of education. The day-long session was attended by 200 participants from Indian industry, NGOs, principals of various schools across the county, teachers and students. The session included an interactive session with Prof. Sen during which he dwelt on an array of issues. The participants discussed future course of action to improve elementary education in India. Madhav talked on the need for educational initiative in rural India. He said that there is need for employing the rural unemployed in educational sector. In this respect, the educational initiative of the the NGO Pratham, was mentioned by him. But there is need for scalability of the Pratham initiative, he said. Anil Bordia, talked about the need for working with the Anganwadi workers. He mentioned about the Lok Jumbish. There is need for contribution by the citizens, he said. Education should not be made absolutely free, he added.
During the conference it was mentioned that the National Sample Survey is one of the the best surveys conducted by the Government of India, which provides a different picture than the statistics provided by the Department of Education. Motivation of teacher is extremely important for having a good quality education system. There is the need for developing a transparent and accountable institutions in the area of education. The focus of the discussion was on the mid day meal scheme and the purposes it serves.
During the post lunch session, group discussions (comprising more than 15 groups) were held, which revolved around several topics. Suggestions were provided by various groups on various topics, which include: ensuring better school adoption system, bridging gaps in education in rural India, developing teacher skills, team learning, etc.
* The article have been jointly written by Narinder Bhatia, Anaam Sharma and Shambhu Ghatak
August 12, 2008
Special educational tribunals mooted to curb malpractices by educational institutions
According to a report in The Hindu Business Line, Monday, August 11, 2008, p3 print edition ( I couldn't find this report online),
The Law Ministry is taking a close look at a suggestion to set up special tribunals with jurisdication on various educational malpractices, including overcharging of fees and non-payment of students' dues by institutions. Ministry officials said they are in touch with the Human Resources Ministry, as it is concerned with policies related to educational institutions. The government's stand on the issue would largely depend "on the HRD ministry's views", said an official. The Law Minister, Mr. H.R. Bhardwaj, is believed to be keen on using the tribunals for handling litigation related to specific kind of cases in already overburdened courts. The proposed tribunals on educational malpractices would save students and their parents the trouble of approaching over-burdened courts for justice.
Presumably "overcharging of fees" refers to the so called donations that are forcibly demanded and collected?
While the idea of regulating educational institutions is certainly welcome and long overdue, we need to look into the pros and cons of establishing a new tribunal just to look into malpractices by educational institutions. If the existing regulatory bodies for schools, colleges and other types of educational institutions are given more teeth and enforcing powers, they may well be able to handle this themselves, rather than creating a new tribunal.
If the Law Ministry is considering such a proposal, I wish they think about putting it out in the public domain and calling for comments and suggestions from the public. An important regulatory issue like this needs to be debated.
Education in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years, dating back to ancient seats of learning like Nalanda. In modern times, Indian educational institutions such as the (IITs, IISc, IIMs, NITs,AIIMS, ISI, BITS and ISB) are well known worldwide. India, being a developing nation, struggles with challenges in its primary education and strives to reach 100% literacy. Universal Compulsory Primary Education, with its challenges of keeping poor children in school and maintaining quality of education in rural areas, has been difficult to achieve (Kerala is an Indian state to reach this goal so far). All levels of education in India, from primary to higher education, are overseen by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School Education and Literacy), and heavily subsidized by the Indian government, though there is a move to make higher education partially self-financing. The Indian Government is considering to allow 100% foreign direct investment in Higher Education.[1]
[edit] Structure
Indian Education System comprises stages called Nursery,Primary,
Secondary,Higher Secondary,Graduation & Post Graduation. Some students go in different stream after Secondary for 3 Years Technical education called Polytechnics There are broadly four stages of school education in India, namely primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary (or high school). Overall, schooling lasts 12 years, following the "10+2 pattern". However, there are considerable differences between the various states in terms of the organizational patterns within these first 10 years of schooling. The government is committed to ensuring universal elementary education (primary and upper primary) education for all children aged 6-14 years of age. Primary school includes children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through five. Upper Primary and Secondary school pupils aged eleven through fifteen are organized into classes six through ten, and higher secondary school students ages sixteen through seventeen are enrolled in classes eleven through twelve. In some places there is a concept called Middle/Upper Primary schools for classes between six to eight. In such cases classes nine to twelve are classified under high school category. Higher Education in India provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes technical schools (such as the Indian Institutes of Technologyand Indian Institutes of Informaton Technology,Design & Manufacturing), colleges, and universities.
In India, the main types of schools are those controlled by:
Overall, according to the latest Government Survey undertaken by NUEPA (DISE, 2005-6), there are 1,124,033 schools.
[edit] Pre-primary Education
Pre-primary education in India is not a fundamental right, with a very low percentage of children receiving preschool educational facilities. The largest source of provision is the so called Integrated Child Development Services (or ICDS) and anganwadis. However, the preschool component in the same remains weak.
In the absence of significant government provisions, the private sector (reaching to the relatively richer section of society) has opened schools. Provisions in these kindergartens are divided into two stages - lower kindergarten (LKG) and upper kindergarten (UKG). Typically, an LKG class would comprise children 3 to 4 years of age, and the UKG class would comprise children 4 to 5 years of age. After finishing upper kindergarten, a child enters Class 1 (or, Standard 1) of primary school. Often kindergarten is an integral part of regular schools,though there is a marked trend towards exclusive prep schools. A special Toddler/Nursery group at the age of 2–2½ is also part of the pre-primary education. It is run as part of the kindergarten. However, creches and other early care facilities for the underprivileged sections of society are extremely limited in number. There are some organized players with standardized curricula coming of age which cover a very small share of the urban population. Overall, the % enrollment of pre-primary classes to total enrollment (primary) is 11.22% (DISE, 2005-06). The popular preschool in India is EuroKids which is spread across the length and breadth of the country. The curriculum is more child centric and age appropriate.there should not be any difference in the education system (www.eurokidsindia.com)
[edit] Elementary Education
During the eighth five-year plan, the target of "universalizing" elementary education was divided into three broad parameters: Universal Access, Universal Retention and Universal Achievement i.e., making education accessible to children, making sure that they continue education and finally, achieving goals. As a result of education programs, by the end of 2000, 94% of India's rural population had primary schools within one km and 84% had upper primary schools within 3 km. Special efforts were made to enroll SC/ST and girls. The enrollment in primary and upper-primary schools has gone up considerably since the first five-year plan. So has the number of primary and upper-primary schools. In 1950-51, only 3.1 million students had enrolled for primary education. In 1997-98, this figure was 39.5 million. The number of primary and upper-primary schools was 0.223 million in 1950-51. This figure was 0.775 million in 1996-97.
In 2002/2003, an estimated 82% of children in the age group of 6-14 were enrolled in school. The Government of India aims to increase this to 100% by the end of the decade. To achieve this the Government launched Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
The strategies adopted by the Government to check drop-out rate are:
[edit] Non-graduation market
This is a chart of non-graduation market of India as per Census 2001.
| Educational level | Holders |
| Total | 502,994,684 |
| Unclassified | 97,756 |
| Non-technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree | 386,146 |
| Technical diploma or certificate not equal to degree | 3,666,680 |
| Higher Secondary, Intermediate, Pre-university or Senior Secondary | 37,816,215 |
| Matriculation or Secondary | 79,229,21 |
While availability of primary and upper primary schools has been to a considerable extent been created, access to higher education remains a major issue in rural areas (especially for girls). Government high schools are usually taught in the regional language, however urban and suburban schools usually teach in English. These institutions are heavily subsidised. Study materials (such as textbooks, notebooks and stationary) are sometime but not always subsidised. Government schools follow the state curriculum.
There are also a number of private schools providing secondary education. These schools usually either follow the State or national curriculum. Some top schools provide international qualifications and offer an alternative international qualification, such as the IB program or A Levels.
[edit] Higher Education
Higher education in India has evolved in distinct and divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and funded by the state governments. Most universities are administered by the States, however, there are 18 important universities called Central Universities, which are maintained by the Union Government. The increased funding of the central universities give them an advantage over state competitors.
The state of Indian higher education is indeed grim. There are no Indian universities among top 300 in the world as per the first global league table Academic Ranking of World Universities produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Indian Institutes of Technology were placed 50th in the world and 2nd in the field of Engineering (next only to MIT) by Times Higher World University Rankings There are several thousands colleges in India, Which provides technical education. The Indian Technical Education are very strong these days. They are producing millions of engineers every year. But, these statistics are problematic because car mechanics and radio repairmen also get classified as engineers.
International league tables produced in 2006 by the London-based Times Higher Education Supplement(THES) confirmed Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)'s place among the world's top 200 universities [2]. Likewise, THES 2006 ranked JNU's School of Social Sciences[3] at the 57th position among the world's top 100 institutes for social sciences.
The National Law School of India University is highly regarded, with some of its students being awarded Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences is consistently rated the top medical school in the country[citation needed]. Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the top management institutes in India.[citation needed]
The private sector is strong in Indian higher education. This has been partly as a result of the decision by the Government to divert spending to the goal of universalisation of elementary education. Within a decade different state assemblies has passed bills for private universities, and some of these universities are performing very well these universities includes Gyanvihar university, Amity university, Rai university and many more.
[edit] Accreditation
Accreditation for universities in India is required by law unless it was created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, the government notes "these fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award 'degree' which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes"[4]. University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,
"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act carlo bon tempo, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree."[4]
Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission[5]:
[edit] Graduation market
This is a chart of [6] of India as per Census 2001.
| Degree | Holders |
| Total | 37,670,147 |
| Post-graduate degree other than technical degree | 6,949,707 |
| Graduate degree other than technical degree | 25,666,044 |
| Engineering and technology | 2,588,405 |
| Teaching | 1,547,671 |
| Medicine | 768,964**** |
| Agriculture and dairying | 100,126 |
| Veterinary | 99,999 |
| Other | 22,588 |
[edit] History
For information about education in India in past centuries, see History of education in India
[edit] Recent developments
NPE 1986 and revised PoA 1992 envisioned that free and compulsory education should be provided for all children up to 14 years of age before the commencement of 21st century. Government of India made a commitment that by 2000, 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be spent on education, out of which half would be spent on the Primary education.
The 86th Amendment of the Indian constitution makes education a fundamental right for all children aged 6-14 years. The access to preschool education for children under 6 years of age was excluded from the provisions, and the supporting legislation has not yet been passed.
In November 1998, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced setting up of Vidya Vahini Network to link up universities, UGC and CSIR.
The Indian Education System is generally marks-based. However, some experiments have been made to do away with the marks-based system which has led to cases of depression and suicides among students. In 2005, the Kerala government introduced a grades-based system in the hope that it will help students to move away from the cut-throat competition and rote-learning and will be able to focus on creative aspects and personality development as well. iDiscoveri education started by Alumni of Harvard, XLRI is a pioneer in this field. This organization has already developed 5 model schools.
[edit] Outdoor Education in India
Outdoor education is relatively new to schools in rural areas of India, though it is quite well established in urban areas. These trips are conducted to enhance personal growth through experiential learning and increase awareness about various subjects like the environment, ecology, wildlife, history, archaeology, geography and adventure sports.
[edit] Expenditure on Education in India
The Government expenditure on Education has greatly increased since the First five-year plan. The Government of India has highly subsidized higher education. Nearly 97% of the Central Government expenditure on elementary education goes towards the payment of teachers' salaries.
Data based on "Educational Planning and Administration in India : Retrospect and Prospect", Journal for Education Planning and Administration, Vol. VII, Number 2, NHIEPA. New Delhi by Dr. R. V. Vaidayantha Ayyar.
Note:
- Expenditure is in millions of Rupees
- Expenditure for Ninth-year plan excludes Rs. 45267.40 million for Mid-Day Meals
[edit] Initiatives
[edit] Non-Formal Education
In 1979-80, the Government of India, Department of Education launched a program of Non-Formal Education (NFE) for children of 6-14 years age group, who cannot join regular schools. These children include school drop-outs, working children, children from areas without easy access to schools etc. The initial focus of the scheme was on ten educationally backward states. Later, it was extended to urban slums as well as hilly, tribal and desert areas in other states. The program is now functional in 25 states/UTs. 100% assistance is given to voluntary organizations for running NFE centers.
[edit] Bal Bhavans
Bal Bhavans centers, which are operational all over India, aim to enhance creative and sports skills of children in the age group 5-16 years. There are various State and District Bal Bhavans, which conduct programs in fine-arts, aeromodeling, computer-education, sports, martial arts, performing arts etc. They are also equipped with libraries with books for children. New Delhi alone has 52 Bal Bhavan centers. The National Bal Bhavan is an autonomous institution under the Department of Education. It provides general guidance, training facility and transfer of information to State and District Bal Bhavans situated all over India.
[edit] Distance education
India has a large number of Distance education programmes in Undergraduate and Post-Graduate levels. The trend was started originally by private institutions that offered distance education at certificate and diploma level. By 1985 many of the larger Universities recognized the need and potential of distance education in a poor and populous country like India and launched degree level programs through distance education. The trend caught up, and today many prestigious Indian Universities offer distance programs. Indira Gandhi National Open University, one of the largest in student enrollment, has only distance programs with numerous local centers that offer supplementary contact classes.
[edit] Education for special sections of society
Under Non-Formal Education programme, about 40% of the centers in states and 10% of the centers in UTs are exclusively for girls. As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centers were catering to about 7.42 million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for girls.
In engineering, medical and other colleges, 30% of the seats have been reserved for women.
[edit] SC/STs and OBCs
The Government has reserved seats for SC/STs in all areas of education. Special scholarships and other incentives are provided for SC/ST candidates. Many State Governments have completely waived fees for SC/ST students. The IITs have a special coaching program for the SC/ST candidates who fail in the entrance exams marginally. Seats have been reserved for candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes as well in some states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The struggle for reserving seats for students from OBC categories in elite institutions like IITs, IIMs and AIIMS and Central Universities is still going on. The Supreme Court of India is obstructing this reservation for the reason that there has been no caste-wise census since 1931 and the population share of OBCs cannot be based on 1931 census. The Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities introduced the SC/ST tuition-fee reimbursement scheme in 2003-2004. The scheme applies to SC and ST students of Delhi who are enrolled in recognized unaided private schools and who have an annual family income of less than Rs. 1 lakh. It provides a 100% reimbursement of the tuition fees, sports fee, science fee, lab fee, admission fee and the co-curricular fee if the student's family income falls below Rs. 48, 000 per annum and a reimbursement of 75% if the family income is greater than Rs. 48, 000 per annum but less than Rs. 1 lakh. The subsidy provided by the scheme covers between 85% and 90% of the beneficiary's total running expenses in studying in a private school.
[edit] Post Graduate Classes at Correctional Homes
The Government of West Bengal has started the Post Graduate teaching facilities for the convicts at the Correctional Homes in West Bengal.
[edit] Contemporary education issues
Modern education in India is often criticized for being based on rote learning. Emphasis is laid on passing examinations with high percentage. Very few institutes give importance to developing personality and creativity among students. Recently, the country has seen a rise in instances of student suicides due to low marks and failures, especially in metropolitan cities, even though such cases are very rare. The boards are recently trying to improve quality of education by increasing percentage of practical and project marks.
Many people also criticize the caste, language and religion-based reservations in education system. Many allege that very few of the weaker castes get the benefit of reservations and that forged caste certificates abound. Educational institutions also can seek religious minority (non-Hindu) or linguistic minority status. In such institutions, 50% of the seats are reserved for students belonging to a particular religion or having particular mother-tongue(s). For example, many colleges run by the Jesuits and Salesians have 50% seats reserved for Roman Catholics. In case of languages, an institution can declare itself linguistic minority only in states in which the language is not official language. For example, an engineering college can declare itself as linguistic-minority (Hindi) institution in the state of Maharashtra (where official state language is Marathi), but not in Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh (where the official state language is Hindi). These reservations are said to be a cause of heartbreak among many. Many students with poor marks manage to get admissions, while meritorious students are left out. Critics say that such reservations may eventually create rifts in the society.
Ragging is a major problem in colleges, many students die due to ragging every year. Some state governments have made ragging a criminal offense.
Expenditure on education is also an issue which comes under the scanner. According to the Kothari commission led by Dr Vijay Kothari in 1966, expenditure on education has to be minimum 6% of the GDP. Whereas in 2004 expenditure on education stood at 3.52% of the GDP and in the eleventh plan it is estimated to be around 4%. The "sarva shikshan abhyan" has to receive sufficient funds from the central government to impart quality education.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Marie Lall, The Challenges for India's Education System, Chatham House: London, 2005 (ASP BP 05/03)
- Meenakshi Jain et al. (2003) History in the New NCERT Textbooks Fallacies in the IHC Report, National Council of Educational Research and Training, ISBN 81-7450-227-0
- Rosser, Yvette. Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (2003) University of Texas at Austin. PDF link
[edit] External links
Primary education for profit likely to be allowed in
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