Education and universal literacy are integral to one another and is one of the building blocks in any nation’s economic, social and political development. Education is important for an individual’s personality development as well as the sustained growth of a nation. Elementary and primary education in India is the foundation on which the development of every citizen and the nation as a whole hinges. India has made tremendous progress in terms of growth of educational institutions at different levels, physical access to schooling for children, and diversification of educational programmes. Today, 18 crore children are taught by almost 57 lakh teachers in more than 12 lakh primary and upper primary schools across the length and breadth of the country.
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The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the large scale national program was launched in 2001 with an objective of achieving universal elementary education (UEE) by 2007. The program, which extends to all states and Union Territories to address the above mentioned objective in a time bound manner, has been successful. The Centre and states share funding of the programme in a ratio of 55:45. Reports indicate that the number of out of school children, which was 320 lakh in 2001-02, is down to 75.97 lakh in 2007-08. The first joint review Mission that visited eight sample states in February 2005, found that the SSA program had generated considerable interest, commitment and had put elementary education on the development agenda.
Though progress has been made in the last 60 years to spread the education campaign, India needs to address the growing concerns which have so far kept us from achieving our set goals. This report enlists ten recommendations to improve the efficiency of the primary education system.
The areas studied are quality of education, infrastructure, high degree of dropout rates, socio-economical equations hindering participation and an effective supervision cum tracking mechanism to ensure that progress with the right utilization of funds is being made.
With respect to quality of education, not so encouraging trend in successful continuation from primary to upper primary, Pupil to Teacher ratio (PTR), number of contract based teachers, teacher qualification and their training. A lot more needs to be done to bring a stronger focus towards quality of education imparted at the primary level.
Infrastructure woes continue with schools trying to operate without a proper building, lack of basic amenities such as toilets and drinking water. Though at times schools have buildings, they don’t have sufficient number of classrooms to cater to the numbers enrolling. In some states, schools continue to run with either a single teacher or a single classroom or both. Adding to this, the use of technology and computers in today’s global world we find ourselves lagging further behind.
High student dropout rates are also seen in states/regions with lower socio economic fabric. Given the limited job opportunities, parents question the investment of sending children to school in the first place. We need to enforce a full proof system with checks and balances to abolish child labour as this has also resulted in children dropping out of schools. Though Govt and private initiatives such as the Mid-day meal have been successful to an extent, there is much ground to cover to ensure that primary education becomes a fundamental right for all instead of a privilege for a few.
10 Point Agenda
100% Enrolment in Primary Education :
India’s double digit growth is dependent on ensuring enrolment of children in schools. The need of the hour is to ensure that a critical mass of people moves from class 12 to higher education so that they become creators of knowledge. We need to empower our future generations through a process of learning as only then will we be poised to take our country forward.
Improving Infrastructure (School Buildings) :
What do we need to do to ensure that we have a conductive environment for learning. Do we have school buildings, what condition are they in and how are they maintained?
Civic Amenities (Toilets, Drinking Water, Playground / Park) :
Schools need to be equipped with basic amenities such as toilets, dustbins and drinking water. We often say that Indians have a poor civic sense (Urinating on the road, Spitting, Throwing garbage from cars, balconies) Children have to be taught these basic values from an impressionable age so that they develop a civic sense.
Improving Quality of Education :
There should be a national commitment to ensure that quality education is equally available to all (SC, ST, Minority, Differently abled) and not just a privileged few.
Qualification and Responsibility of Educators :
RTE stipulates that teachers who do not have the right qualifications must acquire these within 5 years maximum. What is the quality of teaching provided, how does it shape our leaders of tomorrow? Is teaching merely one sided and text book driven or does it allow our children to think, question and expand their horizon?
Control, Track and Report Progress on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Controlling and tracking closely the progress on SSA initiative is very important. Identified the key gaps with indication on what should be the focus areas to further improve
Publicise Mid Day Meal
Mid day meal scheme improves nutritional status of children in schools and to encourage poor children to attend schools regularly , This also helps to increase school attendance, eliminate classroom hunger and foster social equity.
Retention, Contain Drop Out Rate
The enrolment of students has increased in most states, the dropout rate continues. As PROBE points out that the effect of poor teaching standards is slowly sapping parental and child motivation over time.
Improving the Female literacy in India
The percentage of female literacy is only 54.16%. sufficient initiatives need to be taken to improve the women’s literacy rate. The initiatives required to be taken are explained below in detail.
Improve Female Teacher Ratio
Lack of female teachers is a potential barrier for girl’s education. Girls are more likely to attend school and have good and higher acadwilemic achievement if they have female teachers.
100% Enrolment in Primary Education
The SSA objective to achieve near 100% enrolment has not been met and as per a 2007-08 DISE report, the enrolment rate (NRE) has been achieved at 95.92%. This implies that 4% i.e. 7.7 million children are still out of reach of primary education. The line of thought would include the reason for out of reach of primary education with respect to adequate number of schools the children to be enrolled.
By plotting the population census against the number of schools, the data below suggests that in certain states and Union Territories, there are fewer number of schools compared to the population that it caters to.
State/UT
Total Schools
Population as on 2006
% School ratio
Primary Only
Upper Primary to Primary ratio
A&NIslands
359
419
1.167130919
199
0.445682451
Andhra Pradesh
100449
80,712
0.80351223
65352
0.349401189
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
1169
0.257092589
3677
0.191334946
Assam
66727
28,665
0.429586224
50655
0.24086202
Bihar
67874
90,752
1.337065739
49868
0.265285676
Chandigarh
176
1,103
6.267045455
28
0.840909091
Chhattisgarh
49708
22,594
0.454534481
32780
0.340548805
D&NHaveli
304
266
0.875
177
0.417763158
Daman&Diu
98
216
2.204081633
51
0.479591837
Delhi
4742
16,021
3.378532265
2454
0.482496837
Goa
1503
1,492
0.992681304
1013
0.326014637
Gujarat
39039
54,979
1.408309639
12775
0.672763134
Haryana
17743
23,314
1.313982979
9503
0.464408499
Himachal Pradesh
17197
6,455
0.375356167
11515
0.330406466
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
10,941
0.526287941
11782
0.433257973
Jharkhand
41944
29,299
0.698526607
28802
0.313322525
Karnataka
56441
56,258
0.996757676
28871
0.48847469
Kerala
12426
33,265
2.677048125
6704
0.460486078
Lakshadweep
37
72
1.945945946
16
0.567567568
Madhya Pradesh
129000
66,390
0.514651163
90092
0.301612403
Maharashtra
87280
104,804
1.200779102
40960
0.530705775
Manipur
4011
2,308
0.575417602
2564
0.360757916
Meghalaya
10572
2,470
0.23363602
7867
0.255864548
Mizoram
2783
946
0.339920949
1512
0.456701401
Nagaland
2523
2,119
0.839873167
1591
0.369401506
Orissa
59435
38,887
0.654277782
34286
0.423134517
Puducherry
703
1,098
1.561877667
306
0.564722617
Punjab
20026
26,059
1.301258364
13409
0.330420453
Rajasthan
103303
62,276
0.602847933
57332
0.445011278
Sikkim
1150
576
0.500869565
804
0.300869565
Tamil Nadu
53307
65,135
1.221884555
34835
0.346521095
Tripura
3901
3,407
0.873365804
2154
0.447833889
Uttar Pradesh
180058
183,282
1.017905342
128111
0.288501483
Uttarakhand
20610
9,219
0.447307132
14665
0.288452208
West Bengal
70010
85,216
1.217197543
58957
0.157877446
All States
1250775
1112184
0.889195899
805667
0.355865763
.The takeaway from the above data is that there is a need to increase the number of Primary Schools in their states for highlighted states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Rajasthan as it is low compared to the population. The upper primary to primary ratio suggests the need to be consistent so as to sustain continuity in upper primary to achieve overall UEE. States such as Bihar, Punjab, UP and West Bengal although relatively healthy on the primary school front, face an uphill task in sustaining the trend.
Improving Infrastructure
Infrastructure woes continue to plague us in achieving the objectives that SSA set out to achieve. Major problems are lack of ‘pucca’ buildings for schools, lack of basic amenities like drinking water, play ground, electricity etc.
More than 95% of students are enrolled in government-aided schools based in rural and urban areas. A baseline survey needs to be conducted across the country to take into account the current situation so that state governments ensure that infrastructure is available to all students in remote areas.
As the Government continues to be largest provider, covering nearly 95% of total primary education, around 40% of schools have buildings of their own. This implies that a majority of schools continue to run in make shift arrangements in buildings which are primarily meant for panchayat meetings, temporary establishments such as tents.
The data below on the number of pucca buildings and number of single classrooms suggests that schools in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar need attention as more than 30% of their school buildings are kuchha or in dire need of repair.
State/UT
All
% Pucca Buildings
Average number of class rooms
Overall single class room
Condition of class rooms – Need Major repair
A&NIslands
359
67
7.9
2.51
11
Andhra Pradesh
100449
50
2.9
24.25
6
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
44
3
29.67
19
Assam
66727
58
2.1
56.67
37
Bihar
67874
61
2.7
5.83
18
Chandigarh
176
98
23.8
0
0.5
Chhattisgarh
49708
79
2.7
4.64
9
D&NHaveli
304
61
3.7
4.28
2
Daman&Diu
98
96
6.2
1.02
0.6
Delhi
4742
74
17.8
0.04
4
Goa
1503
97
2.8
16.17
3
Gujarat
39039
89
5.2
2.76
4
Haryana
17743
98
4.7
2.28
3
Himachal Pradesh
17197
76
3.2
6.17
9
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
82
3.3
9.07
11
Jharkhand
41944
68
2.5
2.63
11
Karnataka
56441
97
4
8.98
5
Kerala
12426
73
11
0.45
5
Lakshadweep
37
56
12.6
0
18
Madhya Pradesh
129000
91
3
3.64
4
Maharashtra
87280
88
4.3
5.52
4
Manipur
4011
45
4.5
1.67
28
Meghalaya
10572
75
2.6
21.25
24
Mizoram
2783
79
3.9
1.22
22
State/UT
All
% Pucca Buildings
Average number of class rooms
Overall single class room
Condition of class rooms – Need Major repair
Nagaland
2523
75
5.5
0.24
18
Orissa
59435
40
3.5
5.23
26
Puducherry
703
77
9
1.85
1
Punjab
20026
97
4.3
2.91
5
Rajasthan
103303
93
3.7
3.69
7
Sikkim
1150
52
7
1.91
15
Tamil Nadu
53307
70
4.7
0
4
Tripura
3901
62
5.7
0.7
12
Uttar Pradesh
180058
96
3.9
0.56
3
Uttarakhand
20610
95
3.1
2.5
9
West Bengal
70010
64
4.2
6.3
22
All States
1250775
75
5.57142857
6.7602857
10.86
Civic Amenities – Toilets, Drinking Water, Playground / Park
Whilst we lack infrastructure, housing, public parks, electricity to manage our growing population the lack of toilets and shortage of drinking water are the key requirements in schools. Overall, 7 lakh toilets for girls are required. The highest requirement is in Bihar with 90,000, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 63,000, and Orissa 54,000. Nearly 3.4 lakh schools require drinking water in the country.
The data below reflects the availability or lack thereof of basic civic amenities in States and UTs in India in 2008.
State/UT
Drinking water
Common Toilet
Girls Toilet
Electricity
Play ground
Book bank
A&NIslands
97.79
84.4
73.82
89.42
54.32
62.67
Andhra Pradesh
87.69
61.27
46.75
36.71
57.78
65.16
Arunachal Pradesh
64.19
21.73
11.9
15.92
24.5
15.2
Assam
65.61
26.33
10.54
7.42
44.05
20.44
Bihar
80.41
48.52
21.62
3.02
29
28.51
Chandigarh
100
38.07
94.89
100
93.75
44.89
Chhattisgarh
86.47
37.63
19.95
19.6
37.53
46.06
D&NHaveli
94.85
32.24
25.33
69.41
25.66
72.04
Daman&Diu
92.41
80.61
61.22
93.88
52.04
78.57
Delhi
99.43
90.45
74.15
98.63
79.29
59.49
Goa
95.51
54.96
45.38
94.74
44.98
21.42
Gujarat
85.03
70.65
65.26
80.46
70.35
40.18
Haryana
96.93
94.09
87.32
95.42
82.82
86.77
Himachal Pradesh
92.21
48.01
38.62
56.84
61.58
41.03
Jammu & Kashmir
70.77
37.81
21.99
19.82
42.21
46.46
Jharkhand
69.85
34.71
20.71
6.51
25.45
41.98
Karnataka
76.65
70.41
47.16
69.32
54.74
79
Kerala
98.05
84.11
78.99
88.72
69.72
84.4
Lakshadweep
100
75.68
62.16
100
24.32
56.76
Madhya Pradesh
90.66
71.62
46.98
20.5
56.24
41.47
Maharashtra
82.99
75.09
60.02
70.76
69.46
86.33
Manipur
73.51
51.28
18.03
20.59
53.5
17.48
Meghalaya
52.94
30.72
10.2
13.21
29.78
19.52
Mizoram
79.9
77.25
23.5
29.43
8.62
5.61
Nagaland
69.8
77.17
37.02
29.85
49.35
21.8
Orissa
86.28
50.86
28.04
18.39
28.27
19.94
Puducherry
98.64
69.99
86.2
96.3
58.46
15.22
Punjab
97.53
88.38
86.09
85.72
67.51
37.55
Rajasthan
85.65
36.09
79.32
26.42
46.09
52.38
Sikkim
76.55
88.7
42.26
39.39
62.78
21.91
Tamil Nadu
100
65.6
62.33
75.55
77.08
43.29
Tripura
76.52
69.11
22.58
11.92
60.86
13.41
Uttar Pradesh
97.14
91.04
82.36
16.86
65.83
51.45
Uttarakhand
85.59
84.45
52.13
28.06
55.43
51.47
West Bengal
93.42
68.95
35.13
21.1
34.53
57.18
All States
85.742
62.51371
47.99857
49.99686
51.368
44.20114
<80
<60
<40
<45
<45
<40
Other amenities in terms of gated security (Boundary Walls), Kitchens, Ramps for differently abled children, Computers and Medical facilities are in short supply in some States and UT’s.
State/UT
Medical check-up
Pre-primary
Boundary walls
Kitchen shed
Ramp to support Disable
Computers
A&NIslands
80.5
32.87
47.63
24.45
8.64
41.23
Andhra Pradesh
56.53
10.14
52.6
31.87
10.82
21.11
Arunachal Pradesh
9.24
58.1
27.07
20.05
2.99
9.15
Assam
5.93
52.97
28.33
39.66
14.71
3.69
Bihar
17.77
12.97
28.08
11.1
20.59
0.58
Chandigarh
89.77
86.93
100
26.5
35.23
76.14
Chhattisgarh
83.17
19.32
41.7
41.99
29.45
8.52
D&NHaveli
57.57
3.62
42.11
37.54
2.96
5.92
Daman&Diu
77.55
23.47
88.78
19.75
12.24
36.73
Delhi
83.99
24.38
98.67
11
65.04
72.8
Goa
76.85
24.22
62.74
4.59
18.23
30.61
Gujarat
92.1
23.6
80.43
42.32
71.55
36.5
Haryana
80.37
52.14
92.8
8.95
54.2
25.29
Himachal Pradesh
65.76
12.52
28.7
4.41
27.69
11.14
Jammu & Kashmir
23.09
78.12
33.58
1.81
11
12.99
Jharkhand
17.54
6.82
23.45
30.19
5.58
5.54
Karnataka
56.92
37.24
55.62
27.29
22.42
11.84
Kerala
71.01
23.75
70.59
48.62
57.95
71.2
Lakshadweep
8.11
0
40.54
51.35
75.68
81.08
Madhya Pradesh
66.82
36.79
46.23
44.39
34.16
12.36
Maharashtra
87.8
29.97
59.59
17.58
62.78
36.49
Manipur
12.84
40.86
33.03
NR
7.38
11.32
Meghalaya
13.5
71.45
17.84
6.64
5.29
6.24
Mizoram
21.63
34.1
30.69
45.02
27.6
13.94
Nagaland
21.6
84.19
75.15
38.78
6.42
19.66
Orissa
19.84
7.2
59.56
20.77
17.85
7.96
Puducherry
72.55
75.96
85.49
27.27
38.98
63.02
Punjab
54.84
18.1
91.2
5.6
40.92
30.61
Rajasthan
78.58
11.44
63.56
32.88
27.17
14.88
Sikkim
80.7
95.91
25.74
NR
6
21.91
Tamil Nadu
88.93
17.97
62.55
86.96
43.7
24.28
Tripura
19.28
3.36
15.77
65.3
46.73
7.9
Uttar Pradesh
34.66
27.06
46.62
48.33
52.5
3.3
Uttarakhand
50.13
22.37
70.91
61.11
29.34
22.64
West Bengal
36.22
9.42
41.44
64.12
53.42
4.99
All States
51.819714
33.409429
53.394
31.763333
29.920286
24.6731429
<40
<25
<40
<25
<25
<15
Improving Quality of Education
The focus on improving quality of education is based on the budget that gets allocated to SSA every year.
The following criteria are recommended for improving the quality of education
Pupil to Teacher Ratio to quantify attention paid to a student
Single Teacher Class Rooms to quantify retention of focus within manageable load
Gender Parity Index (GPI) to quantify spread of education equally among sexes
Availability of Teachers to quantify teacher availability
Female Teacher Ratio to quantify effectiveness in encouraging girl child education
Qualification of Teachers to quantify quality of education imparted
In-service trainings for teachers to quantify system preparedness to enable minimal necessary teaching skills.
Teachers on contract basis to quantify teaching as a profession
Number of instructional days in a year to quantify amount of time spent in school
India has one of the lowest student teacher ratios and teaching is considered a last career resort. In the US, student teacher ratio is 3,200 teachers per million people, in the Caribbean it’s 1,500 in the Arab countries it’s 800 and in India it’s 456 teachers per million people. It is said that the Pupil Student ratio in urban India is as high as 80:1 and in rural India; the ratio is at 47: 1.
The data below provides details in which States and UT’s the PTR is high as well as the need to bring women teachers in mainstream education.
State/UT
All
Average number of Teacher per school
% Female Teachers
PTR
% schools with PTR > 100
A&NIslands
359
10.35
57.34
15
0
Andhra Pradesh
100449
5
44.88
21
0.22
Arunachal Pradesh
4547
3.43
35.93
20
0.62
Assam
66727
4
30.16
24
3.9
Bihar
67874
4.84
36.5
54
11.39
Chandigarh
176
31
81.25
24
0.57
Chhattisgarh
49708
3.12
32.93
28
2.05
D&NHaveli
304
5
55.63
36
0
Daman&Diu
98
7.1
63.17
30
2.04
Delhi
4742
21
67.51
24
0.53
Goa
1503
5.18
76.51
19
0
Gujarat
39039
6
53.4
33
0.32
Haryana
17743
5.97
46.31
28
1.31
State/UT
All
Average number of Teacher per school
% Female Teachers
PTR
% schools with PTR > 100
Himachal Pradesh
17197
4
42.11
17
0.16
Jammu & Kashmir
20789
5.15
43.57
16
0.03
Jharkhand
41944
4
28.32
45
4.66
Karnataka
56441
4.61
53.2
30
1.93
Kerala
12426
13
71.65
22
0.06
Lakshadweep
37
14.92
40.18
20
0
Madhya Pradesh
129000
3
37.27
36
4.38
Maharashtra
87280
6.59
42.76
27
0.32
Manipur
4011
6
42.39
19
0.8
Meghalaya
10572
3.28
51.06
17
0.26
Mizoram
2783
6
42.55
14
0.32
Nagaland
2523
8.07
42.63
19
1.07
Orissa
59435
4
33.15
29
1.42
Puducherry
703
13.51
61.16
18
0.14
Punjab
20026
4
60.87
32
2.91
Rajasthan
103303
4.09
29.26
29
2.34
Sikkim
1150
7
45.08
14
0.17
Tamil Nadu
53307
5.94
73.87
31
0.94
Tripura
3901
8
24.78
22
0.77
Uttar Pradesh
180058
3.58
36.31
5
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