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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Literate,
but uneducated Campus
Notes
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Literate, but uneducated
THE past few decades have seen a rapid transformation of the Indian educational landscape. There are positive indications that not only enrolment in schools has improved to 90 per cent but also the literacy rate has improved to 65 per cent. The literacy gap between males and females in the 10-14 years age group has also reduced considerably in the recent years — 92 per cent for males and 88 per cent for females. Another positive development is that we have a primary school within a kilometer or two of practically every helmet across the country. With the implementation of the Right to Education Act, the dream of free and compulsory education to all children between 6 to 14 years of age as enshrined in the Constitution is also becoming a reality. The countrywide launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to address the educational needs of children in the age group of 6-14 years is propelling an education revolution. The infrastructure development under the SSA has been impressive so far, which includes construction of 1,70,320 school buildings, construction of 7,13,179 additional classrooms, 1,72,361 drinking water facilities, construction of 2,18,075 toilets, supply of free textbooks to 6.64 crore children and opening of 1,86,965 new schools. However, as we move beyond enrolment of children in schools, the public discourse gets overwhelmed with concern about the deteriorating quality of education in government schools, failure of retention of children in schools and striking inequalities of education between different social groups, rural and urban India, rich and the poor. The ultimate aim of any educational system to impart education to all students regardless of their social and economic background thus is under scanner. With the literacy rate of 65 per cent, India lags behind not just industrialised countries but also several much poorer economies, like Vietnam (90 per cent), Zambia (80 per cent) and Tanzania (77 per cent). Today, the challenges faced by primary education, especially in rural India, are many. The foremost that glares is the inadequate infrastructure. In spite of massive efforts of the magnitude of SSA which the Centre in partnership with states has together spent Rs 3,69,578 crore between 2000-01 to 2008-09, the District Information System of Education reveals that 29 per cent of elementary schools do not have pucca buildings in 2009-10, over 40 per cent schools did not have boundary walls, and only 59 per cent had a separate toilet for girls. Correlated with infrastructure, the biggest challenge that has emerged is how to retain the children in schools between the six to 14 years age group. The national programme of midday meals in schools has helped to a larger extent to increase the attendance, but not the retention. The quality of education which we impart to our children is pathetic. The Annual Status of Education Report (2009-10) brought out by an NGO, Pratham, has revealed that half of the students of Class V cannot read Class II texts. In case of basic mathematical skills, which are generally on the decline all over the world because of over dependence on calculators and computers, not more than 70 per cent of Class II students could recognise numbers. Not only are there social class differences in arithmetic skills but regional diversity is also striking. While Kerala leads the nation in reading and writing skills, it lags behind many states, including Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi and the North-East, in mathematical skills. In an era of increasing technical sophistication, this is worring. Historically, the government has played a dominant role in the provision of educational services, through the government or local bodies-run schools as well as through privately-managed but publicly funded schools called government–aided schools. According to current estimates, 78 per cent of all schools are government schools, but due to poor quality of public education, 27 per cent of children are educated in private schools. Private school students have high reading and arithmetic skills that offer superior results than those of government schools, according to a survey . The argument of some that private schools fail to provide education to the poorest families does not hold true because even the poorest often prefer to send their children to private schools, despite the fact that government schools provide free education. The faith in private schools is borne out of the fact that private schools are reported to cover the entire curricular and offer extra-curricular activities, such as science fairs, general knowledge, music and drama. This phenomenon is further strengthened due to the fact that pupil-teacher ratios are much better in private schools (1:31 to 1:37 for government schools) and more teachers in private schools are females. Though reports point out higher percentage (54.91) of untrained teachers (parateachers) in private schools as compared to government schools, and only 2.32 per cent teachers in unaided schools receive in-service training compared to 43.44 per cent in government schools. However, the training provides no benefit to children, as absenteeism of teachers in government schools is so rampant that it matters little whether they are trained or not. One study found that 25 per cent of the public sector teachers were absent during the survey. Absence rates ranged from 15 per cent in Maharashtra to 71 per cent in Bihar. Another study found that only half of the teachers were teaching during unannounced visits to a nationally representative sample of government primary schools in India. It is surprising that in more than 80 per cent of rural schools, there is just one teacher. This sometimes means that students belonging to different standards are forced not just to sit together but also learn the same thing irrespective of whether they are too old or too young. One wonders how 25 per cent of teaching positions nationwide are vacant when the SSA has committed sufficient funds for recruitment of teachers. It seems that quality education is at a low priority. This is obvious from the fact that out of Rs 4,000 crore allocated for teachers’ training in the 11th Plan, only 36 per cent funds have so far been spent. Achieving 100 per cent literacy, providing school buildings with toilets and fans, should not be the ultimate objective of the education policy. Certainly, opening of primary schools without proper planning where teachers fail to teach and children fail to learn are of no use. Perhaps we have been emphasising too much on infrastructure development and too less to create lively environment that build lasting relationships between the teacher and the pupil. Perhaps we are forbidding creativity and imagination and following the do dooni chaar model in our education system that helps the children to differentiate letters, read sentences but fail to teach the meaning. The bigger goal of universalisation of education may not be achievable in the truest sense unless deeper problems are addressed in an institutional manner. We need teachers who are qualified and trained but also affectionate who understand social and cultural ethos of the rural India and the economic barriers that prevent them to send or retain their children in schools. We need texts that involve children completely to explore, interpret and relate real-life situations. We also need classrooms to be made interactive and encourage the students to ask questions. It is only possible if we attract high-quality teachers without the political interference. Nevertheless, the entire blame for deteriorating quality of education cannot be passed on to the teachers alone. The alienation of local community from the schools in fact is equally responsible for the situation. There is need to make the community responsible for monitoring the quality of education, performance of teachers and students who need extra help. Voluntary Village Education Committees can keep a watch on the unscrupulous teachers and the malpractices they adopt during examination directly reporting to the district education authorities. Unless accountability is restored in the teaching system, no improvements can be expected in the education system.
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Campus
Notes CHAUDHRY Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University has signed a non-exclusive license agreement with Punjab India (PI) Industries Ltd., Udaipur, Rajasthan, for production and marketing of maize hybrids. Vice-Chancellor K. S. Khokhar, Director of Research R. P. Narwal and PI Industries Agri Business Head R. D. Kapoor signed the agreement. According to Khokhar, PI Industries had expressed its willingness to produce and sell the seeds of different maize varieties developed by HAU which were high yielding, nutritious, early maturing and disease free. The VC said PI Industries had obtained four maize hybrids namely HQPM-I, HQPM-5, HM-4 and HM-10 for production and marketing of maize hybrid seeds. He said in lieu of this, the PI Industries would pay the university Rs1.75 lakh annually besides the royalty on sale of seeds. He disclosed that the tenure of the non-exclusive license was for five years initially. After that the license could be extended. Fellowship for alumnus Macha Udaya Kumar, a student of the Department of Nematology has been awarded Junior Fellowship by the ASPEE Foundation. This prestigious fellowship is awarded every year to only one student in the fields of plant pathology and nematology on the basis of academic performance and personal interviews. Udaya Kumar is working under the supervision of a senior scientist, Dr R. K.
Walia, on the biological control of plant parasitic nematodes using a parasitic bacterium pasteuria
penetrans. Sucheta Khokhar, Dean, College of Agriculture, said the students of the Department of Nematology had achieved this success for the second consecutive year. It may be recalled that HAU had recently been awarded a patent for developing a technique for mass multiplication of this bacterial parasite of plant parasitic nematodes.
Research management course A three-week refresher course on research management concluded on the university campus recently. As many as 15 scientists from different institutions across the country participated in the course organised by the Academy of Agricultural Research and Education Management
(AAREM) of the university. Saroj Jeet Singh, Dean, College of Home Science, gave away certificates to the participants. Addressing the participants, she said since research played an important role in the development of society, research projects should be conceived and executed seriously. She also underlined the importance of using the appropriate research methodologies to arrive at concrete conclusions. Dr R. K.
Kashyap, Director, Human Resource Management, said the participants were apprised of concepts of agricultural research projects. They were also given insight into project management techniques in the changing farming system, he added.
Guru
Jambheshwar University of
Science and
Technology, Hisar A seminar on "Many Facets of Media" was organised by the Faculty of Media Studies of the university recently. Sanjay Wadwalkar of Punjab University, Chandigarh, spoke on "Recent Trends in Advertising". He said television advertising had created child consumers. This category of consumers was emotionally rich but rationally poor and, therefore, advertisers stood to gain from this. Dr Sarojini Nandal of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, said political journalism was very essential in the current political scenario. She said in this era of liberalization, India was facing many political problems which were challenging democracy. She criticised the media for commercialising the profession. — Contributed by Raman Mohan
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THE
past few decades have seen a rapid transformation of the Indian
educational landscape. There are positive indications that not only
enrolment in schools has improved to 90 per cent but also the literacy
rate has improved to 65 per cent. The literacy gap between males and
females in the 10-14 years age group has also reduced considerably in
the recent years — 92 per cent for males and 88 per cent for
females.