Three education commissions and four policies could not give primary education an 'A' grade
After independence, many commissions were formed to improve the education system of India, national education policies were introduced, many reports were prepared, but questions are still being raised on the education of the country. Despite so many commissions and reports, one-fourth of the children in the age group of 14 to 18 studying in government schools cannot read a book of class 2, more than half of the children are such who are unable to solve the questions of class 3-4. This problem is more serious because about 55% of the children study in government schools. There is a problem of quality of education in schools, because meritorious students do not want to become teachers. The 'Right to Education' law was also made to make education available to all children. However, due to lack of resources and lack of supervision, this right remained confined to paper only.
It is not that everything is bleak. In the year 2000, 86% children used to go to primary school and by the time they reached class 5, only 47% children were left. Now enrollment has reached close to 100 percent at primary (1-5) and upper primary (6-8) level. But as we move to higher classes, enrollment starts decreasing. Enrollment at the secondary level is 79.5 and at the higher secondary level it is 57.5. The transition rate from secondary to higher secondary is also less than that from primary to secondary classes. However, the dropout rate has improved and it has come down to only 12.6% at the secondary level.
Experts say that we will first have to strengthen the foundational stage. About 80-90% of the human brain develops by the age of six. Therefore, we will have to pay attention to children at the pre-primary level so that their path of learning becomes easier in the future. For this, they give the example of countries like Japan and Vietnam. Another important suggestion of theirs is to improve the quality of education in such a way that children up to class three can do general studies and start solving basic mathematics. The good thing is that these things have been emphasized in the National Education Policy 2020, and its positive results have also started showing.
School education after independence
The Central Advisory Board of Education suggested in 1948 that a commission should be formed to reconsider secondary education, because its students have only two options. Either they get higher education or look for a job. They do not have the ability to do something according to their interest.
Then the government constituted the Secondary Education Commission on 23 September 1952 under the chairmanship of Dr. A.L. Swamy Mudaliar, Vice Chancellor of Madras University. It is also known as Mudaliar Commission. The main objective of the commission was to give such suggestions which would help in improving the objectives of secondary education, teaching system, organization, relationship between primary and university education and the structure of secondary education useful for the entire country. The commission submitted its report to the government on 29 August 1953. Describing secondary education as dull and narrow, it said that it does not pay attention to character building, nor does it fully develop the personality of the students.
Due to the incomplete implementation of the recommendations of the Secondary Education Commission, many deficiencies remained in the education sector. To overcome them, the government constituted a commission in 1964 under the chairmanship of Prof. Daulat Singh Kothari, the then chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) . Its objective was to study the problems and suggest measures to improve the education system. The commission emphasized that education should be given the highest priority in any national development plan. Education should be made a means of social, economic and cultural changes which are necessary to achieve national goals.
The commission had a total of 12 task forces including school education, higher education, technical education, agricultural education. Apart from these, seven working groups were also formed on subjects like women's education, primary education, school curriculum. The commission submitted its report to the then Education Minister M.C. Chhagla on 29 June 1966. It gave a total of 23 recommendations for improving the Indian education system.
National Policy on Education, 1986
Before independence, in 1917-19, the Sadler Commission had proposed a 10+2+3 education system. After that, in 1952-53, the Mudaliar Commission proposed an 8-year primary, 3-year high school and 3-year graduation system. In 1960, the Planning Commission talked about 12 years of school education and 3 years of graduation. In 1962, the Central Education Advisory Council also reiterated this resolution and the Kothari Commission also recommended the same. In the National Education Policy of 1986, it was also said to implement it in the entire country.
The government announced the National Education Policy in 1986. It was tabled in the Parliament for consideration and approval on 20 April 1986. The main objectives of this policy were- the curriculum of education at the secondary level should be employment oriented, students should be made aware of scientific and technological developments so that they can use them in the future, government and non-government efforts should be encouraged to remove illiteracy, the need for adult education, formal education and open schools should be emphasized.
After the announcement of the National Education Policy in 1986, its action plan was published in the same year and its implementation began from the next year. But when the National Front government was formed in 1989, a committee was formed in May 1990 under the chairmanship of Prof. Ramamurthy to review it. Its objective was to review the old education policies, promote industrialization and suggest new measures to promote development in rural areas.
Ramamurthy Committee said in its report that the pace of provision of Early Child Care and Education (ECCE) under National Education Policy 1986 is very slow. It recommended expanding the Anganwadi system. It said that by 1990-91, 50% of primary schools were to be provided the benefit of Black Board Scheme, but till now only 30% schools have got its benefit. 10+2+3 system could not be implemented in the whole country. To raise the level of higher education, control on admission was talked about, but that was not done. Evaluation of teachers also remained a formality. Due to all this, the level of higher education has fallen. The most worrying thing is that the dominance of English in higher education still remains. The committee suggested strict control on colleges and universities and following the selection system for admission to improve the level of higher education.
Janardan Reddy Committee was formed in 1992 to study the report of Ramamurthy Committee. Reddy Committee recommended to form similar committees in all parts of the country so that people of scheduled castes and tribes can get maximum benefit of education. The committee emphasized on the development of common school system so that people of backward classes can get all the necessary facilities. The committee also made suggestions regarding free and universal education of children, adult education, secondary education, university education, teacher training and financial provisions. It also recommended the formation of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Right to Education Act
In the second term of the UPA government, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) was passed in 2009 to make primary education compulsory for all children. This law came into force from April 1, 2010. Under this, compulsory and free basic education was legally guaranteed to all children between 6 and 14 years of age.
The Right to Education Act provides for free education in all government schools. 25% of the seats in private schools are reserved for free for children from poor economic families. Apart from this, the Act prescribes norms and standards related to student teacher ratio (PTR), building and infrastructure, school-working day, teacher-working hours. The Act provides for the appointment of trained teachers. The Act also provides for prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-educational work other than census, elections and disaster relief.
The then government tried to ensure the right to education through law. But due to lack of resources to implement the law effectively, all the parts of this law were never implemented properly. The provision of giving admission to poor children on 25 percent seats in private schools was considered impractical and it proved to be so. Private schools started demanding fees in the name of expenses like forms, uniforms. In such a situation, poor families started avoiding sending their children to private schools.
However, despite these shortcomings, most of the provisions applicable in schools across the country have been determined by this law. In such a situation, this law will be counted as a major step taken in school education after independence.
Frequent questions on education system
The question is why despite so many efforts, questions are raised again and again about the education system. Renowned educationist and former director of NCERT, Prof. J.S. Rajput says, "We have divided our education into two parts. First, good education is available in private schools for those who can pay money. Whereas, for those who are not able to pay, good education has become a distant dream." He says, we gave education to children in schools but did not teach them morality. We lagged behind in teaching them decency and a sense of duty towards the nation. Until primary education does not improve, our Parliament will not improve.
He says, I think Japan is the best example of nation building through education. After the Second World War, Japan was completely devastated. They decided to rebuild their country with the help of primary schools. They respected teachers and trusted them. They told them to go to school on time. Teach children to work hard, not waste time and love their country. In just a few decades, Japan became one of the top countries in the world. Children never forget the things taught in primary schools.
School education is not just dependent on the school. It depends on many other things. Rajput gives an example of this, “I live in Greater Noida. We call the nearby children to our home and teach them. One day an 11-year-old girl came. When asked, she told us that she does not go to school. When asked the reason, her mother said that we husband and wife are daily wage labourers. The school is two and a half kilometres away. We have to cross two crossings. There is no public transport. How will the child go to school? After this, I talked to the Greater Noida Authority and the administration that if a bus is started which connects all the schools. Everyone liked this idea very much, but the bus has not started till date. Whereas if such a bus is started, then the enrolment in schools can double.”
There are also questions on the level of teachers
According to the latest report (2021-22) of the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) , the student teacher ratio (PTR) has fallen below 30. It is 26.17 at the primary level, 19.45 at the upper primary (6-8) level and 17.60 at the secondary (9-10) level. However, it is 27.08 at the higher secondary level. If we look at the data of the year 2018-19 and the year 2020-21 , the average seems to be better, but when Jagran Prime spoke to the principal of a government school in Bhopal, which has the status of 'School of Excellence', he told that he has more than 1900 students and about 60 teachers. That is, the student-teacher ratio is more than 30 in the prestigious school of the state capital itself.
The problem of quality of teachers is also there in private schools. Alka Sharma (name changed), a senior teacher who is part of the management of a reputed school in Noida, said, "I have been taking job interviews for 10 years. The teachers who come for the interview have qualification certificates but their understanding of the subject is weak. Here, even now, those people are becoming teachers who do not get work elsewhere. Till the time such people come into the teaching profession, the quality will not improve."
She says, students who are consistently doing well in studies do not want to join this profession. They feel that they will not get a good package. Those who are joining this profession are average or even below average. When there are no quality teachers, how will they be able to provide quality education? It is difficult to find 5 good teachers among 50 teachers, but we need good teachers for every class.
Prof. Rajput explains the reason for this, “We never trusted our teachers. We never respected them. Bureaucrats convinced the government that the country has a huge population and many people need jobs. Therefore, we can hire teachers even at low salaries. Shiksha Mitras and teachers on contract were hired. Such arrangements could be made temporarily in some remote schools where no teacher wanted to go, but in cities where teachers were easily available, temporary teachers were appointed. This caused a lot of damage to education.”
The National Education Policy 2020 calls for reestablishing teachers at every level as the most respected members of society as they shape our next generation. It states that the most talented people must be encouraged to join the teaching profession, ensuring their livelihood, respect, dignity and autonomy.
National Education Policy 2020
The National Education Policy 2020 changes the existing 10+2 structure of school education to 5+3+3+4. It will cover children from 3 to 18 years of age. The 10+2 structure does not include children aged 3-6 years as the first grade begins at the age of 6. The 5+3+3+4 structure of the new policy lays the foundation for early childhood care and education (ECCE) from the age of 3. The policy states, “About 85% of a person’s brain development takes place before the age of 6. This highlights how important appropriate care in the early years is for healthy brain development.”
Rukmini Banerjee, CEO of Pratham Education Foundation, which prepares the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), says, "The policy has given special attention to children in the foundation stage from three to eight years. In my opinion, it is very important to focus on students of this age to facilitate the further learning journey of children." Traditionally, children between 3 and 6 years go to Anganwadi or Women and Child Development Centers. But apart from studies, Anganwadi also provides nutrition, vaccination, etc. Due to this, pre-primary education was not given much importance in Anganwadi in many states. Anganwadi education is also being strengthened after the new policy.
Banerjee believes that the age limit for admission in class 1 should be strictly enforced. She says, private schools have LKG-UKG classes, but in government schools, studies started from class 1 itself. In the new education policy, provision has been made for 'Bal Vatika' for children aged 5 to 6 years. It will take some time to connect it with the school education system, resources will also be needed. But the child will go to class 1 only when he is 6 years old and some arrangement will be made for him before that - this is a very important step.
Pratham Foundation is working with governments in several states. According to Banerjee, different states are implementing the pre-primary level in different ways. Punjab and Himachal Pradesh took steps in this direction in 2017 itself. There, the state governments saw that a large number of people were taking their children to private schools where LKG-UKG was available. Both the states have started pre-primary classes in their schools from 2017. This has also increased enrollment in their schools. In Haryana too, pre-primary education is being strengthened in Anganwadi for the last several years. In Andhra Pradesh, two years of Anganwadi and first and second classes are being combined to give a holistic form. All these changes have happened due to the National Education Policy 2020.
“The new education policy states that if the students of class 3 do not have the knowledge of reading and writing simple sentences and basic mathematics, then the rest of the policies are meaningless. The state governments have also understood this and they are adopting some strategy to progress in this direction. It may take a few years for the results of all this to be visible, but everyone has taken steps in that direction. The concept of 'Nipun Bharat' is a positive step in my opinion.”
Lack of infrastructure, good teachers, funding
Banerjee says, “We have been making impact reports since 2005. We have seen that the inputs have improved every time. Infrastructure like toilets, boundary walls, mid-day meals, all these are improving year after year, no matter who is in power. Although the question may arise that how much more infrastructure or facilities should be there, but there is continuous improvement in it. However, the question arises that why is the learning level of children not improving. I think earlier children used to reach school without a strong foundation. The new education policy talks about strengthening the foundation. We will see its effect in the coming years.”
The total public expenditure on education was set to be 6% of GDP in 1968, but even after six decades we are far from that target. According to the Economic Survey 2023-24 , the expenditure is still below 3% of GDP. On the question of funding, Banerjee says, “How much should be spent and how much is being spent is a different matter. But I will definitely say that more efforts are being made for the foundational stage than before. Teachers of first and second classes are being given a lot of training. Reading and math materials like 'Jaadu Box' are appearing in schools on a large scale. State governments are serious about this and good results are also coming from it.”
What can we learn from Vietnam's schooling
Vietnam is in the news not only because it is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, but it is also famous worldwide for its excellent education status. For the first time in 2012, the attention of the whole world was drawn to Vietnam when the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a test conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), were released.
In this test, Vietnamese students were ranked 16th in math and 18th in reading out of 63 countries. This was a better performance than both the US and the UK. It was much higher than any other developing country. In 2015, Vietnam's performance was a little weaker. Still, compared to 68 countries, its children were ranked 21st in math and 31st in reading. This was also a better performance than the US in both subjects and the UK in math.
Vietnamese children's strong academic performance is due to their better schools, according to a report by the Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE), a global program (now defunct) to improve the quality of education around the world. Nearly all (95%) of primary school teachers in Vietnam have a university degree, compared with 79% in India. Vietnamese teachers have an average of 11 years of teaching experience, compared with 7 years in India.
Teacher absenteeism in primary schools is the lowest in Vietnam. Almost all Vietnamese primary schools (96%) have electricity. In India, such schools are 86%. 74% of primary schools in Vietnam have libraries, while only 21% of schools in India have libraries.
A study published in 2022 by the American organization Center for Global Development stated that the quality of education has declined in 56 out of 87 developing countries since 1960. However, Vietnam is one of the countries where schools have improved.
According to Rice's report, the biggest reason for Vietnam's good education is the qualifications of its teachers. It is not that these teachers are the most qualified, but rather they are more effective in teaching. Vietnamese teachers do their job well because they have good management. They receive constant training and are given the freedom to make the classes more engaging.
All states are mandated to spend at least 20% of their budget on education. This ensures that there is no shortage of funding. Teachers posted in remote areas are paid higher salaries to make education accessible. Most importantly, teachers are evaluated based on the performance of their students. Those whose students perform well are awarded the prestigious "Teacher Excellence" titles. Dailymintz
.jpg)
0 Comments