Elementary Education Under Five Year Plans in India N. K. Mohanty nkmohanty@nuepa.org nkmohanty@gmail.com www.schoolofeducators.com

Constitutional Provisions in Elementary Education Article 45 – “The state shall endeavour to provide within a period of 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution free and compulsory primary education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years” Article 46 – “The state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the SCs and STs” www.schoolofeducators.com

Constitutional Provisions in Elementary Education Article 29(2) – “No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the state or receiving aid out of State fund on grounds of religion, race, caste, language or any of them " Article 30(1) enjoins that "all minorities, whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice," www.schoolofeducators.com

Constitutional Provisions in Elementary Education Article 30(2) - “The State shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority whether based on religion or language." Article 350-(A) - “It shall be the endeavor of every state and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instructions in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority group." www.schoolofeducators.com

Constitutional Provisions in Elementary Education The 42nd Amendment to the Constitution of 1976 has put education in the Concurrent List and empowered the Indian Parliament with the authority to legislate on education concurrently with the States. The 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution provided for decentralization of school education and entrusts primary education to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Area committees so that the participatory and interactive management for primary education could be evolved. www.schoolofeducators.com

Constitutional Provisions in Elementary Education The Central Government on 28th July 1997 introduced 83rd constitutional amendment in Rajya Sabha proposing to make elementary education as the fundamental right of the child. The Constitution of India was amended in 2002 to make Elementary Education a justiciable Fundamental Right. www.schoolofeducators.com

National Policy on Education, 1968 “Strenuous efforts should be made for early fulfillment of the Directive Principle under Article 45. Reiterated the resolve that "by 1995, all children will be provided free and compulsory education up to 14 years of age." The Constitution of India was amended in 2002 to make Elementary Education a justiciable Fundamental Right. www.schoolofeducators.com

Constitutional Provisions in Elementary Education The Central Government on 28th July 1997 introduced 83rd constitutional amendment in Rajya Sabha proposing to make elementary education as the fundamental right of the child. The Constitution of India was amended in 2002 to make Elementary Education a justiciable Fundamental Right. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies Ist Plan (1951-56)  To provide educational facilities to at least 60% of all children of the school-going age within the age-group of 6-14. IInd Plan (1956-61) The emphasis was on linking education with economic development. It also advocated for expansion of basic and elementary education. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies IIIrd Plan (1961–66) The main emphasis was on the provision of facilities for universal elementary education for all children in the age-group 6-11 on basic line. There was also a special concentration on the education of girls and to reduce the existing disparities in the level of development in education boys and girls.   Annual Plans (1966–69)- No change in the approach IVth Plan (1969–74) Educational Programme in the IVth plan were related to social and economic objectives of the country. It was a prospective plan based on Manpower needs, social demand and the availability of financial, material and human resources. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies Vth Plan (1974-79)   * Very high priority was given to elementary education and adequate provision was made for additional enrolment. * Provisions for curricular orientation, work experience and strengthen of educational institution for teachers. Annual Plan (1979-80) www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies VIth Plan (1980-85)   Highest priority to programme of UEE to continue as a part of minimum needs programme. To achieve UPE in the next 5 years * The approach to UEE was to cover  i) intensified uses of existing facilities, including the adjustment of schooling hours which would not be more than 3 hours a day according to local conditions, ii) provision of new facilities which would be economically viable and educationally relevant, and iii) promotion of non-formal system of learning. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies * Schemes which were taken up, were   i)  Accepting the principle of average attendance to overcome wastage and stagnation, ii)  Ensuring that a school is available to a child within 1.5 Kms in a town and within 6 Kms in a village, iii)  Laying emphasis upon compulsory enrolment, iv) Bringing about the expansion of part-time informal education, and v)  Eradication of regional imbalances. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies VIIth Plan (1985-90) Highest priority to realising UEE for children in the age-group of 6-14 years by 1990. Emphasis shifted from mere enrolment to retention and attainment of basic elements of learning.   These objectives were to be achieved through formal and non-formal methods focusing sharply on the needs of girls and the children belonging to economically and socially weaker sections.  Annual Plans (1990-92) www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies VIIIth Plan (1992-97) Highest priority to universalisation of free and compulsory education upto the age of 14. Reduction of disparities in access among states and within states, between boys and girls and among different segments of the population and Improving the retention and achievement of children of the relevant age-group. To provide alternative channels for education to children of deprived sections and working children. Reduction of drop-outs particularly among girls and children belonging to SCs, STs and other economically and socially disadvantaged communities. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies Programmes/Schemes A national programme of mid-day meals was started in August, 1995 to promote access, retention and nutritional care of primary schools. Improvement in the quality of schooling and achievement levels of children enrolled in schools was attempted through the introduction of minimum levels of learning (MLL) and enhancement of infrastructure facilities.   Operation Black Board (1987), National Programme of Nutritional Support (1995), District Primary Education Programme (1994), Bihar Education Project (1991), UP Basic Education Project, Mahila Samakhya, Lok Jumbish, Shiksha Karmi www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies IXth Plan (1997-2002)  “We are committed to a total eradication of illiteracy. We will formulate and implement plans to gradually increase the governmental and non-governmental spending on education upto 6% of the GDP; this is to provide education for all. We will implement the constitutional provision of making primary education free and compulsory upto 5th standard. Our aim is to move towards equal access to and opportunity of educational standards upto the school-learning stage. We shall strive to improve the quality of education at all levels – from primary level to our universities.” www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies Strategy i)  the national goal of providing primary education as a universal basic service, ii) the Supreme Court judgement declaring education to be a fundamental right for children upto 14 years of age, iii) the need to operationalise programmes through Panchayat Raj institutions (PRIS) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), iv)   the legal embargo on child-labour, v)    the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, and heightened awareness of human rights violations in respect of women, children and persons from disadvantaged sections of society. www.schoolofeducators.com

Approaches and Strategies Issues in Ninth Plan   I) backlog of un-enrolled children (142 millions out of which 69 million were girls) ii)   dropout rate & wide inter-state disparities (38.95 at primary) iii) 16.6 per cent habitations were not served by primary schools within a distance of one km. iv) lack of physical infrastructures like toilet facilities for girls, drinking water facilities in schools, teaching-learning equipment etc., v) evaluation studies on childrens’ achievement show low levels in language and mathematics. vi) There are also regional disparities vii) Equity concerns like low enrolment of girls, educational requirements of special need groups like SCs/STs, OBCs, minorities, disabled & working children, children from disadvantaged locations like deserts, hilly, coastal and deep forest areas and children from migratory families etc. www.schoolofeducators.com

Elementary Education in the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) Approaches Approaches to achieve the goal of universal elementary education in the years to come have to measure the magnitude and complexity of the task, which has so far remained incomplete. Efforts to pursue this goal are guided by three broad concerns: www.schoolofeducators.com

Elementary Education in the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) The national resolve to provide free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality to all children up to the age of 14 years; The political commitment to make the right to elementary education a Fundamental Right and enforcing it through necessary statutory measures; and Enactment of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment which has set the stage for greater decentralisation and s significantly enhanced role for local bodies, community organisations as well as voluntary agencies in the efforts towards UEE. www.schoolofeducators.com

Targets in Elementary Education in the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) Universal Access (a)   All children (age groups 6-11 and 11-14) should have access to primary schools, upper primary schools or their alternatives within the walking distance of one kilometer and three kilometers respectively. (b) Universal access to early childhood care and education centers for all children of 3-6 years of age; (c)  Need based expansion of upper primary education facilities, particularly for disadvantaged section. There should be one upper primary school for every two primary schools; (d) All schools should have buildings, toilets, drinking water, electrification, playground, black boards and other basic facilities; and (e) Provision of one classroom for every teacher at elementary stage. www.schoolofeducators.com

Universal Enrolment Universal Retention Universal Achievement Enrolment of all children in schools or other alternatives by 2003; and All children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007; and All children complete eight years of schooling by 2010 Universal Retention (a)  Universal retention in primary cycle by 2007 and in upper primary level by 2010; and (b)  Dropout rate to be reduced to less than 10 percent for grades VI-VII by 2007 Universal Achievement Improve all aspects of quality of education (content and process) to ensure reasonable learning outcomes at elementary level, especially in literacy, numeracy and in life skills. www.schoolofeducators.com

Equity Bridge all gender and social gaps in enrolment, retention and learning achievement in primary cycle by 2007. In upper primary it should be reduced to less than 5% by 2007 Special interventions and strategies to include girls, SC/ST children, working children, children with special needs, urban deprived children, children from minority groups, children below poverty line, migrating children and children in hardest to reach groups. www.schoolofeducators.com

Strategies in the Tenth Plan Convergence Institutional Reforms Community Empowerment Institutional Capacity Building Community Based Monitoring Habitation as a Unit of Planning Focus on Education of Girls and Special Groups Focus on Quality and Relevance Sustainable Financing Support to NGOs Public and Private Partnership www.schoolofeducators.com

Strategies in the Tenth Plan Education of Girls and Adolescents Girls SCs and STs Working Children Children from Minority Groups Education of UDCs Children below Poverty Line Education of Hard to Reach Groups Education of Children with Special Needs Need Based Expansion of Upper Primary Education ECCE www.schoolofeducators.com

Some Achievments in the Tenth Plan Enrolment: Primary: Huge increase in Jharkhand. Increases above national average in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. ●Upper Primary: Huge increase in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. www.schoolofeducators.com

Some Achievments in the Tenth Plan Enrolment: GER in primary has increased from 96.3% in 2001-02 to 107.8% in 2004-05 & to 109.4% in 2005-06. GER in upper primary has increased from 60.2% in 2001-02 to 69.9% in 2004-05 & to 71.4% in 2005-06. Out of school children has decreased from 32 million in 2001-02 to 7.1 million in 2005-06. Number of districts having out of school children of more than 50, 000 each has reduced from 48 to 29. www.schoolofeducators.com

Some Achievments in the Tenth Plan Enrolment: Dropout rate at primary has decreased from 39.03% in 2001-02 to 29% in 2004-05 Dropout rate at the elementary level has remained very high at 50.8%. Reduction in gender gap and social category gap. www.schoolofeducators.com

Issues in Elementary Education in the 11th Plan The Constitution of India was amended in 2002 to make Elementary Education a justiciable Fundamental Right. 7.1 million children being out of school and over 50% dropping out at elementary level are matters of serious concern. SSA to be reoriented to meet the challenges of equity, retention and high quality education. www.schoolofeducators.com

Issues in Elementary Education in the 11th Plan States to be pursued to enact their own legislation or amend the existing ones to ensure UEE. SSA would be restructured into a National Mission for Quality Elementary Education to ensure minimum norms and standards for a school (both government and private) that is accessible to all children. It would address access, quality and equity holistically though Systems Approach. www.schoolofeducators.com

Issues in Elementary Education in the 11th Plan The backlog for additional classrooms would be about 6.87 lakh. Opening of about 20,000 new primary schools and up gradation of about 70,000 primary schools are required. Giving good quality education of common standards, pedagogy and syllabi to ensure minimum learning levels. www.schoolofeducators.com

Targets in Elementary Education in the 11th Plan Universal enrolment of 6-14 age group children including hard to reach segment. Substantial improvement in quality and standards with the ultimate objective to achieve standards of KVs under CBSE pattern. All genders, social and regional gaps in enrolments to be eliminated by 2011-12. One year ECCE for all children in the age group of 4-6 years. Dropouts at primary level to be eliminated and dropout rate at Elementary level to be reduced from over 50% to 20% by 2011-12. www.schoolofeducators.com

Targets in Elementary Education in the 11th Plan Universalize MDMS at Elementary level by 2008-09. Universal coverage of ICT at Upper Primary schools by 2011-12. Lay emphasis on full retention in schools with ‘nil’ dropout rate at primary level. Bring significant improvement in learning conditions with emphasis on learning basic skills, verbal and quantitative. www.schoolofeducators.com

Targets in Elementary Education in the 11th Plan All States/UTs to adopt NCERT Quality Monitoring Tools. Strengthen BRCs/CRCs: setting up one CRC for every 10 schools and 5 resource teachers per block. www.schoolofeducators.com

Special Quality Intervention for Disadvantaged Groups in the 11th Plan The XI plan would lay special focus on disadvantaged groups and educationally backward areas. This focus would include not only higher resource allocation but also capacity building for preparation and implementation of strategies based on identified needs, more intensive monitoring and supervision and tracking of progress. Give top priority in ECCE to habitations of marginalized sections. Set up additional 500 KGBVs in Blocks with higher concentration of SC, ST, OBC and Minority population. www.schoolofeducators.com

Special Quality Intervention for Disadvantaged Groups in the 11th Plan Special attention to Districts with high SCs, STs and Minority population, Innovative funds for special Focus Districts to be doubled. Focus on improving the learning levels of SC, ST, minority chi9ldren through remedial coaching in schools and also in habitations through educated youth of NYKS, NSS, SHGs and local NGOs. Special schools for slum children in 35 cities with million plus population. Special intervention for migrating children, Urban deprived and working children. www.schoolofeducators.com

Special Quality Intervention for Disadvantaged Groups in the 11th Plan Creation of capacity within the school for dealing with students lagging in studies. Setting up 1000 hostels in EBBs with resident to PG Teacher as warden to provide supplementary academic support. Sensitize teachers for special care of weaker sections & children with special needs. Intensive social mobilization in dalit, tribal and minority habitations through community support. Provide housing for teachers in tribal and remote habitations. www.schoolofeducators.com

Pre-School Education: in the 11th Plan SSA would have a component of one-year Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE), which can be universalized to cover 2.4 crore children in a phased manner. A large number of primary schools in States like U.P. and Rajasthan already have ECCE. Primary schools within the habitations, ICDS-Anganwadi would be supported. www.schoolofeducators.com

KGBV and DPEP in the 11th Plan These scheme would be subsumed within SSA in the 11th plan. Expansion of 500 KGBVs in District/Blocks with high concentration of SCs, Sts, OBCs and Minorities would be taken up. DPEP would come to an end in November 2008 and would be subsumed under SSA as per the existing procedure. The external commitments would however be met. www.schoolofeducators.com

Teacher Education: Thrust areas in the 11th Plan Establishing organic linkages between CRCs-BRCs-DIETs-SCERTs-NCERT and Universities. Teacher absenteeism: Accountability to be tackled through PRT’s. Need to work towards enhancing quality of an integrated system of teacher education. Linking teacher education with institutions of research and higher education. Countinued professional development of teachers and teacher educators. www.schoolofeducators.com

Teacher Education: Thrust areas in the 11th Plan Linkages with reputed teacher education institutions for possible drawing up of quality faculty resources on contractual basis. PPP models for rejuvenating poor quality DIETs and also setting up of new DIETs/DRCs. At least one training for all teachers once in every two years. Capacity building of para teachers. www.schoolofeducators.com

Teacher Education: Thrust areas in the 11th Plan The teacher Education Scheme would be implemented in partnership with states. The entire recurring expenditure, including salaries and contingencies during the 11th plan period would be met by GOI to the tune of 100% in 2007-08 and thereafter reduced by 10% progressively each year to 90% in 2008-09, 80% in 2009-10, 70% in 2010-11 and 60% in 2011-12 so that gradually the States can take up their committed liabilities and old establishment expenditure. The GOI would bear 100% of new establishment and programme components expenditure. www.schoolofeducators.com

Madarsas/Maktabs in the 11th Plan Additional maddarsas/maktabs would be supported for modernization under AIE component and it should be possible to cover all the 12,000 odd Madarasas during the plan period. www.schoolofeducators.com

Mahila Samakhya: in the 11th Plan The MS programme would be continued as per the existing pattern and expanded in a phased manner to cover all the EBBs and also in arban/suburban slums, as it contributes to educational empowerment of poor women. www.schoolofeducators.com

Mid Day Meal Scheme in the 11th Plan The scheme would be extended to upper primary schools (Govt., Local Body and Govt. Aided Schools, and EGS/AIE Centres) in 3479 EBBs from 1st June, 2007 to cover additional 30 million children and to all upper primary schools from April, 2008 to cover about 18 crore children by 2008-09. The nutritional value of meals for upper primary children would be fixed at 700 caloreis derived from 150 gms of cereals and 20 gms of protein. www.schoolofeducators.com

MDM: Action Points in the 11th Plan MDM to be managed by the local community and PRIs/NGOs. And not contracts driven civie quality and safety to be prime considerations. Sensitize teachers and others involved in nutrition, hygiene, cleanliness and safety norms to rectify observed deficiencies. Involve nutrition experts in planning low cost nutrition menu and for periodic testing of samples of prepared food. Promote locally grown nutritionally rich food items through kitchen gardens in school etc. www.schoolofeducators.com

MDM: Action Points in the 11th Plan Revive School Health Programme: disseminate and replicate best practices adopted by States. Provide drinking facilities in all schools on urgent basis. Status regarding supplies, funds, norms, weekly menu and coverage displayed in schools to ensure transparency. Central assistance to cooking cost based on actual number of beneficiary children and not on enrollment. Promote social audit. Online Monitoring. www.schoolofeducators.com

Thank You Very Much www.schoolofeducators.com