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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Unrecognised potential
Nutritionists for schools |
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Unrecognised potential
The proportion of children attending private unrecognised primary schools is the highest in Haryana (18.7 per cent), followed by Punjab (15.5 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (10 per cent) and Bihar (9.2 per cent). Despite their proliferation, private unrecognised schools continue to be blamed for commercialisation of education and poor-quality education. Education planners, however, say that instead of playing the blame game, governments need to encourage these schools to strengthen the elementary education system. Mr Yash Aggarwal of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, in his recent study of unrecognised schools in Haryana, says that the emergence of a dual system calls for a perceptible change in the attitude and policy towards private education. So far, the government has controlled the entry/exist points for this sector and other options remain unexplored, particularly with a view to developing partnership. “The educational statistics published by the Ministry of Human Resources Development do not include complete information on the number of children attending various types of institutions and programmes funded by the government. These include non-formal education centres, alternative schools and other such facilities. “A large number of unrecognised schools have come up in various parts and no data is available on their number and enrolment. Similar concerns prevail for the database on educational financing, institutional infrastructure, mobility and estimation of unit costs. The published statistics do not even recognise these limitations. Therefore, the planning and management of education at the national and state levels does not fully reflect the ground reality,” says Mr Aggarwal. Though the study was restricted to Haryana, its findings are relevant to the whole of the country, since private unrecognised schools have been coming up everywhere. Dr James Tooley, Professor of Education Policy, University of Newcastle, England, who conducted a study of government and private schools in Africa and Hyderabad in India published a working paper, Is Private Education Good for the Poor?. He wrote: “Private education is often assumed to be concerned only with serving the elite or middle classes, not the poor. “Unregistered or unrecognised private schools are thought to be of the lowest quality and, hence, demanding detailed regulation or even closure by the authorities. Our findings suggest that these conclusions are unwarranted. Private unaided schools can play an important, if unsung, role in reaching the poor and satisfying their educational needs.” He found that private schools generally outperformed government schools in mathematics and English and a third subject, in terms of raw and standardised scores. The private unaided school advantage is achieved for considerably less expenditure than what is spent in government schools on teachers, which is likely to make up the majority of recurrent in-school expenditure. The average monthly salary of a teacher in a government school was three to four times higher than the pays in an unrecognised or unregistered private school. Despite this, teacher satisfaction with salaries is not lower in private schools. Besides, government schools are supported by a hugely expensive state bureaucracy, which also needs to be taken into account, if any comparisons are to be made. Tooley, too, noticed that official figures did not take into account the huge enrolment in private unrecognized schools. This means that “education for all” may be much easier to achieve than what is currently believed. Both researchers argue that private unrecognised schools need to be viewed as a strength and deserving government and philanthropic support. “However, private schools could be improved, by creating revolving loan schemes to help infrastructural investment,” says Tooley. The involvement of private sector in elementary education can be achieved in several positive ways. Quality is important for primary education, irrespective of whether a school is private or run by the government. The nature of management of schools, therefore, should not be the criterion for policy planning.
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Nutritionists for schools
The Malaysian government will keep a close eye on what children eat at schools.
Nutritionists would be posted at various schools by the Education and Health Ministries to cultivate good eating habits among youngsters and receive feedbacks on students' health and diet, according to a report in the New Straits Times. However, the government has said it would not follow Britain in banning vending machines selling fizzy drinks, chocolates and potato chips at schools. "It was the idea of the schools division and the Health Ministry is preparing the
proposal," Education Ministry schools division director Salleh Mohd Hussein said adding "we may target schools with an enrolment of over 2,000 students." Hussein said where enrolment was low, such as in states like Sabah or Sarawak, teachers may be roped in to help out. The move comes amidst efforts by the government to curb obesity in youngsters.
Cambridge way adopted
As many as ten experts from Cambridge University would arrive in Mizoram next month to train the teachers on new methods of education. This is a follow-up to the MoU signed between the University and the state government which now wants to adopt the Cambridge method of education in government schools. Announcing this at the silver jubilee celebration function of Students Union in Darlawn village, Education Minister Dr R Lalthangliana said these trainers from London would impart training to a selected 200 teachers.
— UNI
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Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar A seven-day international conference on Reconciliation: Creating Partnerships for Building Peace was held for the first time in Guru Nanak Dev University here. Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (UK) and Goldin Institute for International Partnership and Peace (USA) organised this conference in collaboration with university. The conference concluded on November 7. Dr S. P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor, inaugurated the conference, while Ms Diane Goldin, Founder, Goldin Institute, Chicago (USA) and Mr Travis Rejman, Executive Director of the institute, welcomed the delegates who were from 25 countries and presented certificates of appreciation to Bhai Mohinder Singh, Chairman, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (UK), and the Vice-Chancellor. Dr S. S. Narang, Mr Sukhbir Singh from Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (UK); and Prof B. S. Dhillon, Head of Guru Nanak Studies Department of University; also expressed their views at the conference. Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla The state government’s recent decision, making it mandatory for the university to seek its approval for the upgradation of posts and filling up of vacancies, has led to a lot of resentment, as it is being viewed as an attempt to encroach on the autonomous character of the institution. The issue is likely to be discussed at the Executive Council meeting, likely to be held by the end of the month. The cash-starved government is trying to cut down on expenditure by not allowing filling up of vacancies in the university as well as other government departments. At present, about 50 teaching posts and more than 150 non-teaching posts are lying vacant.
Vijay Shree Award for don
The Chairperson, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dr Vir Bala Aggarwal, has been awarded the ‘Vijay Shree Award’ by the India International Friendship Society, New Delhi. The award will be presented along with a certificate of excellence in the field of mass communication at a conference on ‘Economic Growth and National Integration’ to be held in New Delhi on November 20. A senior researcher and academician, Dr Aggarwal has six books to her credit on varied issues of journalism and mass communication. She has also worked on a translation project of Japan’s Toyota Foundation. She is a member of the International Association of Mass Communication Research, USA, and the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Singapore. —
Contributed by Pawan Kumar and Pratibha Chauhan
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With the number of private unrecognised schools doubling every five years in Punjab and Haryana, the elementary education system in both states is witnessing the emergence of a dual system in which government schools cater to the poor and the private schools offer quality education to those whose parents can afford to spend more on educating their children.