DPEP

Prior to 1990, there were a few large scale foreign funded projects in education. UNICEF and the ILO had funded some non-formal education centres, the Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Programme (APPEP) which was funded by the ODA (now called DFID, UK), the Siksha Karmi with Dutch funding and Lok Jumbish with funding from SIDA, were the only programmes operational. All of these were 'aid' programmes. Since 1990, the government of India began accepting funding for elementary education in the form of loans, with the World Bank being the largest creditor. The European Union is also a large donor. From the point of view of the World Bank, which provides the major component of the funds in the form of a loan, the funding seems to be linked to 'providing a safety net' within the overall policy of structural adjustment. Indeed, the first programme funded by the World Bank in Uttar Pradesh prior to DPEP, was referred to as a safety net programme. In 1993, the MHRD, Gol, conceived the DPEP as an umbrella scheme under which the support from all the different funding agencies would be channelled [MHRD 1993].

The (DPEP) programme consists of a scheme spread over seven years to achieve the following:

- Decentralised and participatory planning and administration at the district level, involving village leadership, NGOs, schools, district and block personnel.
- Specific strategies to increase enrolment and retention of girls, SC and ST students (identified as gender, caste and tribe 'gaps' in primary education).
- Focus on enhancing capacities of teachers by providing workshops for teachers and production of new teaching learning materials to improve student achievement of learning.
- Administrative capacity building at the district and block levels.
- Collection of data and setting up an Education Management and Information System (EMIS) [MHRD 1995]. - Aided Programmes or Guided Policies? DPEP in Karnataka, PADMA M SARANGAPANI, A R VASAVI, Economic & Political Weekly, 09/08/2003, [J.ELDOC.N00.09aug03EPW2.pdf]

DPEP was funded by external assistance. Though flow of money becomes easier the conditionalities attached to the aid can be dangerous...

The second new parameter — that of external assistance to India's basic education projects — is arguably temporary.

But its sheer dimension both in absolute terms and in terms of the proportion of contribution it provides to a project should not go unnoticed. The total estimated outlay on the seven new projects in the basic education sector is Rs 29.26 billion for the eighth plan period. The expect ed flow of external resources for the support of this outlay is Rs 24.51 billion, which is about 84 per cent of the total. The DPEP alone claims Rs 19.50 billion...

Surely such a degree of dependence on foreign aid for providing the basic educational needs of the masses would have been quite unthinkable even a few years back. While one need not be hysterical about the possible danger of such dependence in a vital sector of society, there can be no doubt that there should be only humiliation in store for us if we are unable to use this money in a way that makes the outcomes both desirable and transparent to all.

The DPEP is rightly seen by the international funding agencies as the flagship of India's new education policy. But they have put some of their eggs in other baskets too. The DPEP is,of course, the major response to Jomtien 1990 but at least some of the other six projects are not only more compact but also more directly targetted in terms of the Jomtien call for education for all. One example is Mahila Sama-khya, a project on education for women's equality through organisation of women's collectives. It covers 20 districts and has a total outlay of Rs 513 million, the whole of which is being covered by external assistance. - Learning by degrees from below, Tapas Majumdar, Telegraph, 17/10/1994, [J.ELDOC.N00.17oct94tel1.pdf ]

The World Bank-aided multi-phased District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), which was launched in 1997, currently ensures primary education for nearly 2.7 crore children in the 6-11 age group in 11,000 primary schools across the state. Of the total Rs 904 crore released by the World Bank, Rs 828 crore has been spent.

The World Bank had advised that initially, the programme cover villages where the female literacy rate was below the national average of 39.2 per cent as computed in the 1991 census. At that time, the rural literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh was 19.02 per cent; this increased to 25.3 per cent by 2001.

Of the 11,000 schools run under the project, nearly 7,000 operate from new cost-effective, yet attractive, buildings conceptualised and developed by local people with local materials under Board supervision.

The buildings have red trap bond walls, exposed brick masonry and local stone slab roofing. Because few villages have power, the buildings are designed to stay warm in winter and cool in summer, almost in the pattern of historical monuments. Other interesting features of the buildings are the hexagonal classrooms, which have been determined to be more conducive to group learning than regular squares or rectangles, and blackboards in the shape of animals, fruits and geometrical figures. The schools are also fitted out with slides and swings crafted from used tyres as well as games like Ludo and Snakes and Ladders.

So successful have the innovations proved that the Uttar Pradesh government issued a GO in 1999, suggesting that all primary schools in the state a total of 88,684 follow the model structure and facilities. Even private schools in urban pockets in Lucknow have adopted some of these designs. - A Lesson in Education, Amit Sharma, Indian Express, 07/07/2002, [C.ELDOC.N21.lesson_in_education.html]

The positive impact of DPEP...

Primary Education and Ninth Plan Despite all initiatives taken for achieving universalisation of primary education the backlog has continued in enrollment and dropout rate is still high. Two major initiative has been taken during Eighth Plan are the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and Nutrition Support to Primary Education (Midday Meal Programme) with a view to addressing the problem of equality, access retention and quality at primary state. During the VIII Plan the enrollment of girls and children for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes has shown an increase at the primary stage. The dropout rates have also shown a declining trend.

However, there is still a long way to achieve the goal of universalisation of primary education. The Ninth plan apart from carrying out the directions given by NEP(1992)12 - is committed to making the nation fully literate by 2005 AD; keeping in view the declaration of education as an aspect of Fundamental Right. The Midday Meal Scheme will be implemented in all the states to ensure regular attendance and retention in primary and middle level schools.- Policies and Programmes to Improve School Education in Rural India - A Critical Evaluation, H.D.Dwarakanath, Social Action 01/10/2002, [J.ELDOC.N00.01oct02SOA10.pdf]

In a dilapidated building sporting the board 'Government High School' in Alwaye, a prominent town in Ernakulam District, a few Class One students are trying to learn the tables of seven by counting the seeds of the manjadi plant. A few others are reading aloud an 'adukkalapaattu' and a 'bhakshanapattu' (songs on kitchen vessels and food) from charts clipped to a rope tied across the classroom. No text-books and no scribbling down mean-ingless information. The noise is deafening, the scene pure chaos. 'The kids have never enjoyed learning better," says their teacher, "but an official order to cease this kind of teaching could come any day now." This school is one of the many government-aided schools in Kerala that has undergone a curriculum revisionunder the DPEP (District Primary Education Programme) intro-duced by the Left government in the early nineties....text books were changed. Written content was minimised. Drawing, colouring, group activities, field trips and reading comers in classrooms were the new curricu-lum. Teachers were trained in batches by expert groups. Monitoring agencies comprising of higher-grade teachers and jilla officers toured schools to extend support and tech-nical tips. But it bombed. In just the fourth year of its implementation, the DPEP lost the complete faith of the public and was labelled the greatest fiasco of the Left government. - Off the beaten track, Shwetha E George, Humanscape, [J.ELDOC.N00.01jan02HUS2.pdf]

REALISING THE potential of distance education, 18 states (in-cluding the newly formed), have inspired Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to "re-view its directions and strate-gies" taken under Distance Education Programme (DEP) for Development of Primary Education Personnel (DPEP) Launched in 1997 and funded by the World Bank, DEP was en-gaged in building the capacity among primary education per-sonnel (teaching and non-teach-ing) of education are developed in print and non-print forms. Presently, the programme us-es audio, audio-visual, tele-con-ferencing, print study material etc as means to train the per-sonnel. "However, using distance education as a mode, a scientific and systematic strategy for de-velopment of primary education personnel, particularly teachers teaching primary levels, is yet to emerge in a vast country like India", said Ravi Mohan of IGNOU...- lGNOU to target primary education, Mrinal Bahukhandi, Pioneer, 28/12/2000, [C.ELDOC.N21.28dec00pio1.pdf]

Getting Children Back to School - Case Studies in Primary Education, Ramachandran, Vimala, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd. 01/01/2003, B.N21.R2
- “Nali-Kali: Revitalizing Primary Education through Pedagogic Renewal” Vimala Ramachandran Section 2 pg. 211-248
- “The Model Cluster Development Approach: DPEP, UP” (Gender Sensitive Education) Deepa Das, Ch 10 p.g. 375-407

- Movement Against DPEP Attains Victory in Kerala, Proletarian Era, 15 August 2001, [C.ELDOC.N21.15aug01pre1.pdf]

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1. Different Approaches for Achieving EFA - Indian Experience, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, 01/01/2003, R.N00.41 - pg 36-52 pg 136-142

2.Ministry of Human Resource Development - Annual Report 2003-2004, Government of India, 01/01/2004, N00.30

3.Reaching Out Further: Para Teachers in Primary Education - An In-depth Study of Selected Schemes, Bodh Siksha Samiti, EDCIL/DPEP, 01/01/1999, R.N21.18

4.(DPEP): Progress Overview 1997, Ministry of Human Resource Dev, 01/03/1997, R.N21.1

5. Reaching Out Further: Para Teachers in Primary Education: An Overview, Educational Consultants India Ltd., DPEP, 01/01/1998, R.N21.17

6.District Primary Education Programme Guidelines, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education, 01/05/1995, R.N21.8

7.District Primary Education Programme (DPEP): GOI Appraisal Mission Himachal Pradesh, Edu. Consultants India Ltd., 01/03/1996, R.N21.4

8. District Primary Education Programme (DPEP): National Staff Appraisal Report Orissa, Edu. Consultants India Ltd, 01/03/1996, R.N21.112

9.District Primary Education Programme (DPEP): Progress Overview 1997, Ministry of Human Resource Development, 01/03/1997, R.N21.1

10.District Primary Education Programme: Guidelines, Govt Of India, Centre for Micro-Planning & Research, 01/11/1994, R.N21.2

11. Synthesis reports on student’s Achievement in DPEP Districts, Dr. SKS Gautam, Learning conference 2004, MHRD and Azim Premji foundation- DPEP- R.N21.24

12. Learning achievement at the end of primary cycle in DPEP states, ABL Srivastava, Learning conference 2004, MHRD and Azim Premji foundation- DPEP- R.N21.24

13. District Primary Education Programme, Rao, Digumarti Bhaskara, 1998, B.N21.R60

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1.Getting Children Back to School - Case Studies in Primary Education, Ramachandran, Vimala, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd. 01/01/2003, B.N21.R2

- “Nali-Kali: Revitalizing Primary Education through Pedagogic Renewal” Vimala Ramachandran Section 2 pg. 211-248

- “The Model Cluster Development Approach: DPEP, UP” (Gender Sensitive Education) Deepa Das, Ch 10 p.g. 375-407

2.School Effectiveness and Learner's Achievement at the Primary Stage (A Baseline Beneficiary Study in 43 DPEP Districts), Saxena, R R & Singh, Satvir, Vikas Publishing House Pvt.Ltd, 01/01/1996, B.N21.S3

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