WordPress.com



Education in IndiaLiteracy Rates: According to the 2011 census, "every person above the age of 7 years who can read and write with understanding in any language is said to be literate"National Literacy Rate (2011 census): 74.07%?(in comparison, China and most ASEAN nations have literacy levels of 90%+)Males: 81%; Females: 65%Youth literacy rate (15-24 years): 81.1% (84.4% among males; 74.4% among females)?Enrolment Rates: As of 2011, enrolment rates are 58% for pre-primary, 93% for primary, 69% for secondary, and 25% for tertiary education Despite the high overall enrolment rate for primary education, among rural children of age 10, half could not read at a basic level, over 60% were unable to do division, and half dropped out by the age 14The?National Council of Educational Research and Training?(NCERT) is the apex body for curriculum related matters for school education in IndiaPrimary Education (Class 1-8)Article 21A of the constitution declares free and compulsory education between the ages of 6 and 14 years to be a fundamental right; Article 45 declares it as a Directive Principle of State Policy.As per the ASER 2014 survey, 96.7% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in schools. Visit to a government school on any random day in September, October or November showed that about 71% of enrolled children are attending school on that day.While quantitatively India is inching closer to universal education, the quality of its education has been questioned particularly in its government run school system: ASER survey shows that only about 50% of the schools comply with pupil-teacher ratio normsOnly 48% of children in Standard V and 75% in Standard VIII can study a Standard II level textIn 2009, two states in India,?Tamil Nadu?and?Himachal Pradesh, participated in the international?PISA?exams, which are administered once every three years to 15 year olds. Both states ranked at the bottom of the table, beating out only?Kyrgyzstan?in score, and falling 200 points (two standard deviations) below the average for?OECD countries. Since then, India has not participated in this exercise. Private school enrolment has been rising year on year, and was about 30% in 2014.?With more than 50% children enrolling in private schools in urban areas, the balance has already tilted towards private schooling in cities; even in rural areas, nearly 20% of the children in 2004-5 were enrolled in private schools.70-80% of all recognized schools at the elementary stage are government run (or supported), making it the largest provider of education in the country. However, due to a shortage of resources and lack of political will, this system suffers from massive gaps including high pupil to teacher ratios, shortage of infrastructure and poor levels of teacher training. Given the low quality of learning outcomes, motto now needs to be ‘every child in school, and learning well’.There have been several efforts to enhance quality made by the government. The District Education Revitalization Programme (DERP) was launched in 1994 with an aim to universalize primary education.?85% of the DERP was funded by the central government and the remaining 15 % was funded by the states.?Under DERP, 1,60,000 new schools were opened, including 84,000 alternative education schools delivering alternative education to approximately 3.5 million children, This primary education scheme has also shown a high Gross Enrolment Ratio of 93–95% for the last three years in some states.?Significant improvement in staffing and enrolment of girls has also been made as a part of this scheme.?The current scheme for universalization of Education for All is the?Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which is one of the largest education initiatives in the world. Enrolment has been enhanced, but the levels of quality remain low.Problems:1. Teacher-related:Chronic shortage of regular teachers; resulting gap is sometimes met by hiring contract teachers Considerable absenteeism (25%+ on a daily basis)Combined with only around 75% student attendance on a given day as shown by surveys, the combined probability of a student and the teacher being present together is only 50%!Shocking lack of teaching even by teachers who show upPresent system of teacher payments in government schools cannot be said to have any built-in system of financial incentives at allTeacher payments are determined by the Pay Commissions, which have perverse incentives for continuously increasing government employee salariesIt is a well established fact that regular inspections make a difference to teaching standardsA better system of pupil evaluation and school evaluation will be a great help in enabling parents and others to hold the system accountable 2. Management and Administration related:Biggest problem is lack of accountability in the delivery of school education An oft-cited reason for lack of motivation of public school teachers is low salaries; however, ratio of teacher salary to per-capita GDP in India is over 3; in China and most OECD countries, it is between one and twoHence, contrary to popular belief, public school teachers in India are massively overpaid!Faced with these cost escalations, many states have stopped hiring regular teachers, and have resorted to hiring contract teachers, who can be paid a fraction of the sum; this impact quality in a big wayEvaluation gap: Under the RTE 2010, ‘automatic promotion’ from one class to the next is guaranteed, irrespective of whether a child learn or not, and board exams are prohibited till 8th standardInstead, a system of ‘continuous and comprehensive evaluation’ is recommended, without any clear details; in effect, many states have adopted a ‘no evaluation’ approach3. Problems with the Right to Education Act:Provisions of the RTE Act of 2010:Student-teacher ratio of 30 at primary and 35 at secondary levelAll-weather buildings, one classroom per teacher, kitchens, gender separated toilets, libraries, sports equipment etc. should be availableNo pre-admission screening of children or parentsNo exams till 8th standardPrivate schools will have to take 25% of their students in Grade 01 from the weaker sections, and provide free compulsory education till 8th standard; government will reimburse at the rate of per-child expenditure in public schoolsState governments can set T&Cs of service and salary of teachersProblems, according to Panagariya:Will create a large-scale inspector raj where inspectors will falsely certify that the school meets prescribed norms in exchange for bribesImplementation of the provisions might lead to wholesale interference in the admission process by influential politicians and bureaucratsFocus is on input-based measures such as toilets, kitchens etc. rather than learning-level outcomesFalls well short of providing effective measures to force the teachers to perform their dutiesDoes away with examinations till 8th standard4. Private schooling as an alternativeInconclusive results for better educational attainments in private schoolsIn the absence of competition, especially in rural areas, private schools can become extractive money-making machines Middle and Secondary EducationCovers students aged 14-18 years. The two halves of secondary education are each an important stage for which a pass certificate is needed, and thus are affiliated by central boards of education under HDR ministry, before one can pursue higher education, including college or professional courses. Upon successful completion of Higher Secondary, one can apply to higher education under UGC control such as Engineering, Medical, and Business Administration.A significant new feature has been the extension of SSA to secondary education in the form of the?Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.Another notable special programme, the?Kendriya Vidyalaya?project, was started for the employees of the central government of India, who are distributed throughout the country. The government started the?Kendriya Vidyalaya?project in 1965 to provide uniform education in institutions following the same syllabus at the same pace regardless of the location to which the employee's family has been transferred.Higher EducationPanagariya’s opinion:In world university rankings, no Indian institutes figure in the list of top 200. The enrolment ratio is only about 22% for higher education, and is increasing only at a snail’s pace. The central problem with higher education is an antiquated administrative structure, where a virtual monopoly has been granted to the UGC. It determines curriculums at various levels, degrees to be awarded, and also (indirectly) faculty salaries. Without UGC’s approval, no new universities can be set up/ current private institutions cannot be granted university status (without UGC saying so).Private colleges are allowed to exist, but they must affiliate themselves to a public university in order to award degrees. Entry of private universities is difficult, and even when they do enter, they must remain unitary, and cannot affiliate colleges to award degrees/ open satellite campuses without UGC approval. A similar story unfolds in case of medical education, with Medical Council of India (MCI) playing the role of UGC.There exists, thus, a de-facto license-permit raj in higher education sector. This must be done away with, and private sector entry encouraged. From the NewsChoice based Credit System (CBCS)CBCS links two key concepts in the dynamics of higher education—choice and assessment. The cafeteria approach, a feature of the now abandoned FYUP, is being reincarnated. Courses are to be sliced and diced into categories like foundation, core and elective and a student can opt for courses of her choice from a bouquet of courses.Infrastructure—both physical and human—even in a well-funded institution like the University of Delhi, is woefully inadequate. Cramped classrooms, shortage of faculty, inadequate library and laboratory facilities etc. will make the scheme unworkable in its spirit.Planners of this scheme also seem to be conflating choice with uniformity. The scheme envisages a uniform curriculum, provided on the UGC website, for all universities. The arrogance evident in this riding rough shod over all concepts of academic autonomy is astonishing. Standardising curriculum, such that an undergraduate course is taught in the same way at a small state university with scarce resources and infrastructure as the Delhi University will have disastrous consequences. The differentials in the infrastructure and institutional culture will make any such attempt farcical.The CBCS proposes to overhaul higher education system in the country in one stroke. The university grants commission (UGC), which is a unique example in the world of a regulator and a funding agency rolled into one, proposed that every university (central, state, private, deemed-to-be etc.) move to this system immediately. Of course, given that the UGC funds most of these universities, the proposal should be read as a diktat.UGC and AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) tussle:AICTE is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, under?Department of Higher Education,?Ministry of Human Resource DevelopmentResponsible for proper planning and coordinated development of the?technical education?and?management education system in?India The AICTE?accredits?postgraduate and graduate programs under specific categories at Indian institutions as per its charterMain difference between UGC and AICTE is that the latter deals only with technical educationUGC is the apex body that approves universities in the country. UGC provide funds for affiliated universities and colleges. The UGC also conducts exams, known as NET, for appointing teachers in?collegesThe AICTE is only a statutory body, which deals with coordinated development and proper planning of the technical education system in the country. All the Engineering, MBA and Pharmacy colleges are affiliated with the All India Council for Technical EducationUGC’s prime function is to look into the financial needs of universities. It then allocates and disburses grants to these universities. Other academic functions come only after these functions On the other hand, the AICTE act gives priority to undertaking surveys in various fields of technical education at all levels. Fund allocation and disbursement comes second to thisIn its 25 April 2013 judgment the Honorable Supreme Court said "as per provisions of the AICTE Act and?University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, the council has no authority which empowers it to issue or enforce any sanctions on colleges affiliated with the universities as its role is to provide guidance and recommendations”This means that AICTE is now merely an advisory body; UGC does all the regulatory work, and all technical institutes will need to align themselves with a universityGovernment SchemesMahila Samkhya ProgrammeRashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA): Aims to improve enrolment at secondary stage, and universal retention by 2020Is a CSS; the funding from the central ministry is provided through state governments, which establish separate implementing agenciesNational Mean-cum-merit Scholarship Scheme: CSS; gives scholarships to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class 8th levelRashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan?(RUSA): Is a CSS;?aims at providing strategic funding to higher educational institutions throughout the country. Aim was to set up one model degree college in each of the identified 374 districts in India with GER less than the national average as per 2001 census ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download