Issues and Concerns in Elementary Education

Preface

Issues and concerns in elementary education planning and democratic policy implementation in the world encompass a range of quality related issues and dilemmas that are common in many countries, within the emerging global education system The elementary education continue to be shaped by the different issues and concerns. Contemporary developments present new challenges alongside persistent problems inherited from the apartheid era. Critical issues in elementary education are reviewed in global context. These are followed by policies that create the potential for democratic equity such as policies for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan etc. I am just mentioning below one part of document of SSA:-

“All efforts have to be made to ensure that expenditure on elementary education is a public domain subject. The School Display Board has to show all investments being made in the school. Teacher Attendance should be publicly displayed. For improving the quality of school-level data regarding Enrolment, Attendance, Retention. Drop out, etc., besides the mandatory maintenance of Village Education Registers, Retention Registers, and Pupil Progress Cards, any information sent to Cluster/ Block/ District level, has to be displayed on the School Display Board for public scrutiny. The seeds of a community based monitoring system can only be sown by acceptance of a Right to Information at the school level. Similar efforts at transparency should be made right up to the national level. Copies of all sanction orders for pre-project project activities would be pasted on the website of the Department of Elementary Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development. Organization of a large number of school based activities, cultural jathas, sports and festivals, have been suggested as preparatory activities under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Mobilization of the community can come about more effectively through a series of school-based activities that opens up the school as a social institution to the community. The objective of all these efforts is to ensure community partnership in the management of the school.

Opening of Bank Accounts of Village Education Committee/ School Management Committee/Gram Panchayat Education Committee/School Level Committee in urban areas will also be monitored as a preparatory activity so that effective decentralization can be brought about. The financial norms clearly state that a number of interventions have to be carried out by the VEC (or its equivalent). The preparatory activities must also ensure that the formation of the VECS (or equivalent bodies in urban areas) is process-based. Process- based implies selection through activities and participation rather than by official orders of nomination. Some States have accepted a system of election for School Management Committees and the same will be continued. There may be a need to reconstitute such Committees in many places where it had been done routinely in the past. Involvement of the teachers, representatives of women and other weaker sections, active community leaders, parents of children studying in that school/ EGS, parents of out of school children from poor habitations, has to be ensured in a process based approach. The organization of school based activities and microplanning are ways of identifying active community leaders willing to give time for the educational reconstruction in a habitation. The planning team has to have a role in the process-based constitution of VECs. Involvement of NGOs will strengthen this community-based approach for organizing the preparatory activities.

In order to ensure an effective preparatory phase, up to rupees fifty lakhs has been provided for such activities, based on the actual requirement in a particular district. Besides provision for training and orientation of community leaders and Education Department functionaries, the preparatory phase provides for the following: Office equipment as per need, Cultural activities for mobilization for SSA,

Computer hardware and software for effective MIS at the district level,

School-based activities up to Rs. 1000 to a school,

Household surveys and preparation of habitation plans up to Rs. 3 per household,

A set of base line studies, etc.

The preparatory phase is need-based and there is a lot of variation in the demand from districts. Districts that are already implementing DPEP/LJP would require limited resources for the preparatory activities. All districts are expected to prepare District Elementary Education Plans before the end of the IX Plan. During the preparatory phase, States will also make an assessment of manpower needs at the state level. A State component plan will also have to be prepared, highlighting these needs. Assessment of manpower needs would require serious efforts at restructuring of education administration, wherever it has not been attempted so far. State level Resource Groups are expected to facilitate programme implementation.”

There are thousands of crores of rupees are being spent in SSA for improvement of elementary education. I have myself gone into the field (around 180 Government Schools) in three districts of Punjab for data collection purpose of my Ph.D. research work. Inspite of large funding and finances, I am very sad to say that still the condition of government schools is very poor. I am not talking anything about private schools as almost all the private schools have good infrastructure, good teachers and other facilities. Poor students can not study in the private schools because of poor SES (Socio Economic Status). The government should put administrative checks on the implementation of SSA.

There is a significance of Qualitative as well as Quantitative papers both. It is wrong to say that quantitative or empirical research papers are more important than qualitative or theoretical research papers. Although I received 68 papers from different educationists, research scholars and teachers, I selected only 29 for final inclusion in this book on the basis of quality of content, authenticity, research theme covered, scope, significance and its necessity. I have rejected some quantitative papers also because I found some false and wrong manipulation in the papers. The contributors whose papers are rejected, have been intimated. Although the last paper by Venkatesha in this book is related to secondary education, it has been included because of well defined objectives and methodology adopted which may be helpful for elementary education researchers also.

An array of critical issues for the coming decades of the 21st century, with illustrations from different research papers and research articles in this book provide insight into the persistent problems and new challenges. I am really thankful to the selected contributors for their tiring and tremendous efforts in presenting their opinions, ideas and research work in a scholarly way. All the contributors deserve my appreciation and thanks for their scholarly contribution. I am thankful to publisher also in bringing out this book with greater significance, accuracy, perfection and relevance.

Mohit Puri