Education Policy as one focus area

Progressing from the initial meetings, it was suggested by Dr. Parameswara Rao and seconded by Prof. Somaraju that we might have to meet for a longer period than 1 hour to have prolonged discussions. So, a half-day workshop was agreed upon. Planning for the workshop, we identified 3 focus areas on education:

• Policy Framework
• Systems (Public, Municipal and Private Schools) and Infrastructure
• Practices and Operations

So, three briefs on the above topics were prepared for distribution at the workshop. Each of these briefs will be posted here one after the other.

First, the policy framework note.

Brief Note on Education Policy of India
(Only some points relevant to primary education are being listed here)

• Constitutional Provisions
  
  
  
  • Provision of free & compulsory education to all children upto the age of 14 years.
  
  
  • Education is the concurrent responsibility of the Union and the States.
  
  
  
  
• National Policies on Education – 3 comprehensive statements in 1968, 1986 and 1992



• millions of young children in lower income groups, especially rural & girl children, comprising nearly 40% of first grade entrants never complete primary school.



• “88% of children are not going to college” – Kapil Sibal, Union HRD Minister.



• Middle & upper class children in private schools, are subjected to extreme competitive pressures from a very early age to acquire basic language skills and memorize vast amounts of information in order to qualify for admission into the best schools.



• Supreme Court order (Apr 04) directed schools that had received government land at subsidized rates to admit 25% students from the economically weak.



• Right to Education Bill, introduced in Lok Sabha on 31 July 2009, also stipulates that 25% of seats should be reserved for poor students in all schools across the country.



• Discrimination - classes are held for all students except those admitted under the quota from morning till noon and 'free' students are taught after that.



• When asked how many MPs will send their children to any Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) school, one MP categorically replied “never”. Then why spend on SSA? (Note: SSA and mid-day meal scheme spending has fallen in the current budget.)



• Poor “…children who study with those from the middle-class do better than those who study by themselves.”



• Spending on Education is 0.76% of GDP (2009-2010) compared to 0.70% (08-09) – while 6% of GDP is recommended.



• 2009-2010 Budget contains a scheme for setting up 6000 Model Schools at the Block level as a benchmark of Excellence.