Government Schemes and Programmes

The 1986 National Policy on Education (NPE) stated as its goal that universal primary education, i.e., up to class V, shall be achieved by 1990 and universalisation of Elementary Education by 1995. Neither the target of the year 1990 nor that of 1995 was realized. Almost 7 years later, the Ministry of Human Resource Development released a document in 1993 on the Education for All (EFA) which strikes a pessimistic note that EFA by 2000 AD seems to be a 'daunting task'. These varying declarations emanating from the Central Government's Ministry of HRD are most confusing! A radical re-construction of the educational system has been too often emphasised. Accordingly, the NPE (1986) viewed policy formulation in the wider socio-political context. The Committee for Review of NPE - 1986 elaborated this and viewed education in the overall context of social, economic, regional and gender-based disparities. Similar views were expressed by the Yashpal Committee (1993), which felt education could not be altered without altering a lot of things in our social set-up. In the context of the proposal to make free and compulsory education a Fundamental Right up to the age of 14 years, a committee of State Education Ministers was constituted by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development in 1996. This committee wanted the State Governments to start primary schools within a distance of 1 to 1.5 km., from rural habitations provided that there is a population of 250 in the area. Similarly middle schools shall be established within a distance of 3 km., from rural habitations with a population of 500 in the area. However, in the case of starting schools in hilly desert, tribal and inaccessible areas these norms may be relaxed. Other recommendations of the Committee included free supply of textbooks, essential stationery and school uniforms to all children in primary schools. The Committee also recommended incentives like cash awards and scholarships, provision of teachers' training, quality textbooks, Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL) and continuance of Mid-day Meals Scheme. Further, minimum infrastructure and teachers as envisaged under Operation Blackboard should be provided in all primary and middle schools. Other recommendations of the committee were the promotion of special schemes for the education of girls, SCs and STs and may should be supported by the Central Financial Assistance. The Union and State Governments should earmark 50 per cent of the education budget to elementary education . 

An expert Committee in the Planning Commission has recently recommended a hike in education expenditure. In fact three decades before, the Kothari Commission had suggested an increase in the expenditure on education to six per cent of the GDP. The failure to achieve this target may be attributed to lack of a firm political commitment to the social sector in general and education in particular. The expert committee has urged that India should reach the six per cent mark by 2007 while the states were required to target spending six per cent of their SDP. Noted laurate Amartya Sen has quite often suggested a cut by five per cent a year of the military expenditure of India over the next five years could release about $ twenty two billion, which would easily exceed four times the required amount to achieve the goal of universal primary education within the next five years . But no Government is prepared to slash down military expenditure. The restructuring of allocation priorities within educational budget is an  oft-repeated idea. There has been a persistent demand to allocate over seventy per cent of education budget in favour of primary education. However, with political power vested in the upper-caste, upper-class coterie, would there be political will to attempt this drastic demand? -- School Education in Tamil Nadu -Problems and Prospects, M.K. Subramanian, 01/10/2002, Social Action, /eldoc/n00_/01oct02SOA2.pdf

‘Operation Blackboard’ started under the NPE aimed to provide minimum educational infrastructure and teachers to maintain the standard student-teacher ratio. The deadline was set clearly - that by 1990 every child would be given 5 years primary education, and by 1995 every child would get 7 years elementary education. However, the Government by passed the deadline and started the National Literacy Mission (NLM) in 1998, primarily for adult education. The purpose of the NLM failed when it was seen that children in the age group of 9-14 years thronged the Adult Education Centres, whereas such centres were meant only for persons in the age group of 14-35  years. As a result, in 1992, while reviewing the NPE, the Government decided in the Programme of Planning (POP) that children from 9 years could go to Adult Education Centres for education. By doing that the Government proved the failure of both the NPE and the NLM and the lack of farsightedness in policymaking.- Campaign For The Right To Education, National Centre for Advocacy Studies, 01/07/2002, /eldoc/n00_/campaign_right_education.pdf

The charwaha vidyalaya scheme was launched by Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav in December, 1991, with much fanfare. The project was even appreciated by UNICEF and was quickly adopted by Central schemes like TRYSEM, Indira Awas Yojana, IRDP-RLGEP and ICDS.
It aimed to impart basic education to children of poor peasants who supplemented their parents' meagre income by cattle-herding, "Earn while you learn" was the attraction. The concept envisaged that children bring their herd and learn while the animals grazed in the fields attach-ed to the schools.- Laloo Yadav's dream flounders, Abhijit Sinha, The Pioneer, 22/01/95,  /eldoc/n00_/22jan95pio1.pdf

Primary Education and the Five year Plans 

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, /eldoc/n00_/01oct02SOA10.pdf

The first and more important of the two new parameters is possibly going to change the character of the Indian Constitution itself in a very significant way by adding another layer of democratic government to the functioning of the polity. The new third level of constitutional authority in the shape of the panchayati raj bodies is virtually created by the Constitution (73rd Amendment) and Constitution (74th Amendment) Acts of 1992. These now enable Article 243 of the Constitution to provide  for bodies like the district planning committees and the metropolitan planning committees to deal with, besides certain other subjects, the planning and administration of education. Education thus becomes now a concurrent subject at three levels of democratically elected government— the Centre, the state and the districts.
... one must have a completely reliable system of democratically installing the panchayati raj apparatus, and then keeping its governmental compon ents in place all the time, just as it happens at the Central or state levels. The recent postponement of the panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, for example, may raise reasonable fears that the third tier of democracy introduces a new level of uncertainty at the district level. Decentralised planning ' and its implementation cannot obviously thrive on such fears.

Funding

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 andhas 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, /eldoc/n00_/17oct94tel1.pdf

Mahatma Phule Education Guarantee Scheme

About two million children in the state, who were deprived of formal education can now be assured of getting primary education as part of a new scheme devised by the Maharashtra government, last week. The revised scheme was sanctioned and brought out on May 15 under the Mahatma Phule Education Guarantee Scheme by the state primary education department, under policy guidelines of the National Elementary Educational Policy, 1994 which aims to bring education to the door step of a child.  Welcoming the scheme, Mr Vivek Pandit, social worker, Samarthan said, "The uniqueness of this scheme is that any child can get the same education as in an ordinary formal school from a trained volunteer who should have atleast passed the higher sec ondary This simplifies the whole process of primary education." According to the scheme, all those children not registered in formal schools can avail the benefit of door to door education, either at the place of work or residence and also at a time suitable for a group of children in a remote hilly region. This would help remove various hurdles like commuting to school etc. Under the scheme, an informal education centre, can be opened after seeking permission from the local advisory committee under the chairmanship of the district collector or municipal com-missioner, at any place without the need to have a school building.- State to educate 2 mn children, JOHN MANJALI, Asian Age, 28/05/2001, /eldoc/n21_/28may01aa1.pdf

Each time attention is drawn to the pathetic state of affairs in primary education, most State Governments resort to the time-worn tactic of launching a new scheme. Maharashtra launched the Ma-hatma Phule guarantee scheme which is supposed to provide education centres where there are no schools. This was designed to cover areas where enough children a minimum of 10 in tribal areas and 16 in others could not be enrolled to justify setting up a school. But there is no data to indicate whether the scheme has made any difference. - Waiting to learn, Kalpana Sharma, The Hindu, /eldoc/n21_/14sep01h1.pdf

WHAT does the government do when it is forced to make arrangements for the education of 66 lakh poor children? Simple. It picks up an ongoing scheme and rechristens it to present it as a new one.
Latest in the series is the much publicised Mahatma Phule Education Guarantee Scheme. The scheme is based on a report of a task force on education appointed by the government itself. It was launched by the Democratic Front Government in October with much fanfare. However, according to the members of the panel which had drafted the origi-nal report, it is a mere eyewash. "The scheme under implementation is nowhere near the re-port we had submited to the government. They have merely clubbed two programmes being funded by the UNICEF and the World Bank and rechristened it as Mahatma Phule Education Guarantee Scheme," alleges Vivek Pandit, a member of task force. The new scheme is in no way an alternative to the 'Mukta Shala Yojna', he remarks.- State revives old education scheme for poor children, Indian Express, 14/11/2000, /eldoc/n21_/14nov00ie1.pdf

EGS reduces costs of delivering primary education by re-examining critical basic inputs required. These have been identified as local resident teachers, training these teachers, teaching-learning material, a certain amount for contingencies and academic supervi-sion. The annual cost of operating an EGS school works out to just Rs 8,500. The EGS model is based on decentralised management. History reveals that centralised models of delivery delayed the spread of primary education even where resources were identified. In Madhya Pradesh, a Lok Sampark Abhiyan or a door-to-door survey was undertaken jointly by panchayat leaders, teachers and literacy activists in 19,978 panchayats in 1996 for a detailed identification of children who were not going to school, and to follow it up with an enrollment drive. This led to the development of decentralised panchayat level plans of primary education and for the first time created an alternative peoples information system on primary education.- A school for EVERY KILOMETER, Pioneer, 22/11/2000, /eldoc/n21_/22nov00pio1.pdf

Madhya Pradesh is the first State in the country where guarantee of education has been giv-en to the children on the demand of community. So far 26,417 schools have been opened under the Education Guarantee Scheme which is under implementation from first of January 1997. Following creation of Chhattisgarh State the State of MP has 20,877 Education Guarantee Schools while Chhattisgarh State has 5540 such schools. The Government 's role is limited to providing school education facilities. The community appoints "Guruji" i.e. teachers. The Education Guarantee Scheme has won Commonwealth's Golden Award for this radical initiative and the Government of India has taken up the scheme as a national scheme. The State Government is making concrete efforts for universalisation of middle school education.- MP Gets Primary Schools At Every 3 Km, Majupuria, Sanjeev, Pioneer, 02/01/2001,  /eldoc/n21_/02jan01st1.pdf

At present, there are only 21,108 middle schools, while formal primary schools number about 87,000 and EGS schools, 27,000. Most middle schools are situated in the bigger villages and towns, which are usually be-tween five and 10 km from remote areas, whereas the Central government stipu-lates there has to be a middle school within a three kilometre radius. However, what's heartening is that ever since the EGS introduced schools inthe innermost habitations, community demand for middle schools has in-creased. "There is already a plan under-way to estimate the demand for middle schools in all the districts. We will up-grade some EGS schools, and construction of new ones will begin by March," informs Amita Sharma of the state's Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission. In Betul district, which has about 346 middle schools, there is a demand for 273 more. And it's all happened in under a year. In Rajgarh too, people have demanded 142 new middle schools: obviously, they don't think the existing 359 will suffice, when their children clear the Class 5 board examination.- Rural children want middle schools to continue their schooling, ANUPREETA DAS, Indian Express

District Primary Education Programme (DPEP)

The 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, /eldoc/n00_/09aug03EPW2.pdf

Janshala

Universalisation of elementary education (UEE) or Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan -- so essential for the development of our country -- is a difficult goal to achieve. Though economic and social factors are the chief obstacles in achieving this laudable goal, factors like the geographical location of a village and presence of a disability also hinder implementation of UEE projects. Janashala aims to achieve UEE by addressing these issues. The Janashala programme has four facets, joyful learning (Nali-Kali), community participation, school sanitation and inclusive education.
Nali-Kali, is an innovative method that lets a child learn at his own pace. It has produced excellent results with children in the lower primary classes. Under the Janashala programme selected teachers undergo a 12-day training in the implementation of the Nali-Kali method. Even without textbooks and homework, traditionally considered a must for school education, children have blossomed into confident learners. Teachers too have begun to enjoy this new method. - Adding joy to learning, Bharathi Prabhu, Deccan Herald, 30/03/2003, /eldoc/n21_/30mar03dh6.htm

The new government at the centre needs to review the SSA programme and associated programmes like the National Programme for Girls Education at the Elementary Level (NPEGEL). Thorough reviews of working guidelines are necessary to ensure that there is scope to deal with region and context specific issues – in particular to acknowledge diversity and tailor the programme to meet the varying needs of such a vast and complex country. It may be recalled that the SSA programme and also the new NPEGEL programmes were introduced with little debate or participation of stakeholders. They remain topdown programmes introduced with little consultation with the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE), state governments or the larger elementary education committee.- Is Schooling for the Poor on the Government Agenda?, Vimala Ramachandran, Economic and Political Weekly, 24/07/04, /eldoc/n21_/240704EPW3349.html