COURSE METHODOLOGY
The methodology of the
programme was designed to suit the objectives of strengthening skill of the
participants in using indicators in planning elementary education. The
programme methodology included lectures, demonstration, practical exercises and
group discussions. During the practical
sessions, the participants learnt construction and use of indicators by taking
real life data.
RESOURCE PERSONS
Members of the NIEPA faculty, as well as, experts from
other organizations were invited to interact with the participants. The list of
resource persons is presented below:
NIEPA, New Delhi
|
Prof. B. P. Khandelwal, Director |
|
Prof. M. M.
Mukhopadhyay, Joint Director |
|
Dr. R. Govinda, Senior Fellow and Head, School and Non-Formal Education
Unit |
|
Dr. Y. P. Aggarwal, Senior Fellow and Head, O. R. S. M Unit |
|
Dr. S. M. I. A. Zaidi, Fellow,
Sub-National Systems Unit |
|
Dr. Y. Josephine, Associate Fellow, Educational Administration Unit
|
|
Dr. K. K. Biswal, Associate Fellow, Educational Planning Unit |
|
Dr. N. K. Mohanty, RTA, Educational Planning Unit |
Mr. A. C. Mohanty, Project Assistant,
Sub-National Systems Unit |
Dr. Arun C. Mehta, Fellow, Sub-National
Systems Unit |
Others
Prof. Shri Prakash
Birla Institute of
Management Technology
Sector IV, Pushpa
Vihar
New
Delhi – 110017
PARTICIPANTS
About 54 officers from sixteen States & Union
Territories participated in the programme. A list of participants is presented
in Annexure II.
READING MATERIAL
A set of selected articles was provided to the
participants. These papers were related to the themes that were discussed
during the programme. The detailed list is enclosed in Annexure III. In addition,
a suggested list of related articles was also provided to the participants.
PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT
The Sub-National
Systems Unit of the institute conducted the present programme. A team
consisting of Prof. B. P. Khandelwal, Head Sub-national Systems Unit and
Director, NIEPA, Dr. Arun C. Mehta, Fellow, Sub-national Systems Unit and Mr.
A. C. Mohanty, Project Assistant, Sub-national Systems Unit looked after the
day-to-day management of the programme. Dr. Mehta was the Programme Coordinator. Ms. Anjali Arora provided the secretarial
assistance before the commencement of the programme and Mr. Ram Babu during the
conduct of the programme
CLOSING SESSION
The Programme was concluded on Friday, February 22, 2002.
PART
II: THEMATIC REPORT
In this part, first a brief introduction of information
system is presented which is followed by a description on 'Education for All',
'Educational Development in India', 'Data Requirements for Educational
Planning' and a 'Core List of Basic Indicators of Educational Development'.
Needless to mention that the list presented is only suggestive one and other
indicators depending upon the situation at disaggregated levels may be added to
make it more meaningful and local-specific. In a separate section, possible
alternative indicators, such as, attendance, completion and graduation rates
have also been presented.
THE INFORMATION SYSTEM
At the national level, there are
three main agencies that collect statistics on education on regular basis. They
are: (a) Planning, Monitoring and Statistics Division, Department of Education,
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on annual basis for all sectors
of school education (b) University Grants Commission (UGC) on higher education
and (c) National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on school
education through occasional surveys.
All the three agencies referred above generate data with State and Union
Territory, as a basic unit of consolidation. Only in case of MHRD selected
district level information was also collected on quinquennial basis for a short
period. The UGC compiles data according to university area, whereas NCERT
collects data at the district level through its All India Educational Survey
but releases only state‑wise information. Besides statistics on
institutions, teachers and enrolment, NCERT also collects and disseminates
information on ancillary and other facilities in schools, such as, availability
of playgrounds, blackboards, school buildings, toilets and drinking water which
is otherwise not available from any other source.
Besides population statistics, the
Office of the Registrar General of India provides information on many items
through its Census of India publications. Levels of educational attainment of population,
educational‑occupational classification pattern of the work force, age‑education
classification of children in the age‑group 5‑14 years and
information on child workers according to age and sex are some of the useful
items on which information is disseminated.
Apart from the agencies referred
above, National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), International Institute for
Population Sciences (IIPS) and National Council of Applied Economic Research
(NCAER) also collects and disseminates statistics on education on sample basis.
Through its survey on `Participation in Education', NSSO provided state‑wise
information on dropouts and never enrolled children and causes of their not
been attending schools and reasons of dropouts. Recently, it has conducted a
survey on `Attending an Educational Institution in India: Its Level, Nature and
Cost’ (52nd Round). However, the period of conducting such surveys
is not regular, the latest been conducted in 1995‑96 and the previous two
in the years 1978-79 and 1986-87. Of late, IIPS through its `National Family
Health Survey' and NCAER as a part of its `Periodic Market Information Surveys'
also disseminated information on some of the educational variables, such as,
literacy rate, attendance rate and non‑enrolment and dropout ratio.
The apex educational and research
institutions, such as, National Institute of Educational Planning and
Administration (NIEPA), Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and
Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR) also collects data on educational
variables occasionally through research studies and sample surveys. However,
the Department of Education, MHRD remains the main data-collecting agency apart
from the NCERT. Also, under the District Primary Education Programme, significant
efforts are made to develop computerized Educational Management Information
System with block and district as its basic unit of data collection,
dissemination and analysis. In an about 143 of the total 593 districts, data
for the year 2001 are now made available under the DPEP information system
through the DISE. This is perhaps the most significant and sincere effort in
the recent past towards developing a computerized information system under the
education sector.
EDUCATION FOR ALL
In 1990, the term
Education for All (EFA) was coined in the Jomtien Conference to
emphasis the commitment made to universalize education. The major objective of EFA is to ensure that
every person has access to minimum educational facility. In a way, EFA is not very different from the
concept of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE). The major objective
of UEE is to bring all children of 6-14 age–group within the fold of
education. EFA, on the other hand,
targets all children, youth, and adults for educational attachment. Here
education refers to all formal and non-formal modes of learning and adult
education. Thus, EFA has a broader connotation as compared to that of UEE. The
Jomtien Conference considered primary education as part of the basic needs of the
child. By looking at primary education from a “basic needs” perspective, the
Conference helped Governments to integrate various developmental programmes
with educational programmes. Also, in Jomtien conference, stress was laid on an
integrative development of primary education. Integration in educational
activities is considered necessary at the grassroots level to achieve EFA. All
the above features make EFA different from UEE.
More specifically the main objectives
of Educational for All in India are
as follows:
·
Expansion
of early childhood care and development activities
·
Universalisation
of Elementary Education with the following programme components:
1.
Access
to elementary education for all up to 14 years of age;
2.
Universal
formal or non-formal stage through formal or non-formal education programmes;
and
3.
Universal
achievement at least of minimum level of learning.
·
Drastic
reduction in literacy rate especially in the age-group 15-15 years and to bring
literacy level in this age-group to at least 80 per cent; and
·
Provision
of opportunities to upgrade education, creation of necessary structures and
improving the content and process of education to relate it better to
environment and working conditions.
To review the progress of EFA,
the Fourth Global Meeting of the International Consultative Forum on EFA was
held in April 2000 in Senegal. The convenors of this forum were UNDP, UNESCO,
UNFPA, UNICEF and World Bank. Certain indicators usually judge the progress of
EFA in India. Literacy rates, access to primary education, participation in
primary education, retention rates and quality of primary education are some of
the basic indicators that were used to monitor the progress of EFA. In this
regard, a number of activities were initiated in the country. The first National Workshop on EFA: The Year
2000 Assessment was held at New Delhi in May 1999 and the Second one in January
2000. The 18-core indicators and
studies on 'Learning Conditions' and 'Learners Achievements' prepared for EFA
assessment were critically discussed and reviewed in these workshops. In
addition, a set of 23 studies covering different aspects of education was also
presented and discussed so as the 'Country Report on EFA Assessment'. Dakar was
followed by a number of activities at the international level and in India; a
number of regional conferences on EFA were also planned a53nd organized. The
major goals of Dakar Framework is presented below:
·
expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood
care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged
children;
·
ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly
girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic
minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education
of good quality;
·
ensuring that the learning needs of all young
people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and
life skills programmes;
·
achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of
adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and
continuing education for all adults;
·
eliminating gender disparities in primary and
secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by
2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement
in basic education of good quality; and
·
improving all aspects of the quality of
education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable
learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and
essential life skills.
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
Universal Literacy
Over a period of time, a significant
progress is made in the field of literacy and continuing education programmes
but the goal of universal literacy continues to remain elusive and still a
distant dream.
The literacy rate in India,
according to 2001 census, is around 65.4 per cent. For males the figure is 75.9 per cent, and for females, it is
54.2 per cent. In comparison to the literacy rates of males (27.2 per cent) and
females (8.86 per cent) in 1951, the literacy rates in 2001 show a substantial
increase. About 81 districts have literacy rate lower than 50 per cent and 297
districts have lower literacy rates than the national average of 65.38 per
cent. On the other hand more than 59 districts have above 80 per cent literacy
rates, most of the districts of Kerala and Mizoram have above 80 per cent
literacy rates. Despite impressive achievements, the number of illiterates in
India has gone up substantially during the period 1951 to 1991. It was perhaps
for the first time that the number of illiterates in absolute terms has
declined in India. Projection exercises however reveal that the goal of
universal literacy is not likely to be realized in the near future. The
detailed Census estimates on literacy are eagerly awaited.
Universalisation of Elementary
Education
Provision of free and compulsory education to all children
until they complete the age of fourteen, is a directive principle of the
Constitution. While adopting the Constitution in 1950, the goal was to provide
free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of fourteen, within
the next ten years. Keeping in view the educational facilities available at
that time in the country, the goal was too ambitious to be achieved within a
short period of ten years. Till 1960, all efforts were focused on to provision
of schooling facilities. It was only after near realization of the goal of
access that other components of Universalisation of Elementary Education, such
as, enrolment and retention started receiving attention of planners and policy
makers. It is the quality of education, which is at present in focus in all the
programmes relating to elementary education in general and primary education in
particular.
Since 1950 impressive progress has been
made in every sphere of elementary education.
In 1950-51, there were about 210 thousand primary and 14 thousand upper primary
schools which has now been increased to 598 and 177 thousand respectively in
the year 1996-97; thus showing an average annual rate of growth of 2.36 and
5.77 per cent. Over a period of time,
the percentage of habitations having access to primary schools/sections within
a distance of one kilometer and upper primary schools/sections within a
distance of three kilometers has also improved significantly. Similarly, the percentage of rural
population having access to schooling facilities has improved tremendously. At
present about 83.36 and 76.15 per cent of the total habitations in the country
are served by the primary and upper primary schooling facilities, which cater
the need of 93.76 and 85.01 per cent population. The ratio of upper primary to primary schools over a period of
time has also improved significantly which is at present 3.4.
Despite these achievements, about 23.9
thousand primary schools in 1993-94 were functioning either in the tents or in
open space. As many as, 51.6 thousand
schools had 'kachcha'
(temporary) buildings.
Of
the total 28.9 thousand schools not having instructional room, Government
schools constituted more than 65 per cent of the total schools compared to 32
per cent in local body managed schools.
The average number of rooms available for instructional purposes was
1.74 in primary schools compared to 3.98 in upper primary schools. Drinking
water facilities were available in about 44 per cent primary schools compared
to 19 per cent schools having urinals. The average enrolment in 1993-94 was 114
and 250 respectively in the primary and upper primary schools.
The improvement in schooling facilities
is quite visible in enrolment at the primary and upper primary levels of
education which has increased from 19.15 and 3.12 million in 1950-51 to 97.4
and 34.0 million in 1990-91 and has further increased to 110.4 and 41.0 million
in the year 1996-97. The increase in
enrolment is also reflected in the corresponding enrolment ratio, which is at
present 90.6 and 62.4 per cent respectively at the primary and upper primary
levels of education. Enrolment ratio of Scheduled Castes (107.81%) and
Scheduled Tribes (106.97) population over time has also improved significantly.
The share of girls enrolment to total enrolment both at the primary (43.44 per
cent) and upper primary (39.80 per cent) levels of education has also increased
many fold and is higher than the corresponding increase in boys enrolment.
The
retention rate at the elementary level over a period of time has improved significantly
but is still low at 47.3 per cent.
Despite no detention policy, as many as 8.7 and 6.4 per cent pupils
repeat Grades I and II compared to 8.6, 7.0 and 6.8 per cent repeat Grades III,
IV and V. This severely affects the
efficiency of education system that is efficient to the extent of only 63 per
cent. Both boys (7.7 years) and girls
(8.4 years) are taking more years to graduate primary cycle than ideally
required 5 years. The cohort survival
rate to Grade V is as low as 52 per cent and only 483 of 1,000 pupils graduated
primary cycle.
The
number of teachers over time has increased many folds but the percentage of
female teachers to total teachers both at the primary and upper primary levels
of education is still low at 32.68 and 35.79 per cent. The majority of teachers
are trained. The pupil-teacher ratio at primary and upper primary level is 45:1
and 38:1.
Teacher salaries constitute more than 90 per cent of the total recurring
expenditure on primary education. So
far as the share of education to Gross National Product (GNP) is concerned, the
increase is not as envisaged in policy document (6 per cent); however, it has
increased from 1.2 per cent in year 1950‑51 to currently 3.7 per cent.
Do the
quantitative expansion of educational facilities imply that the target of
universal enrolment will be achieved by the turn of the present century? The
official estimates of enrolments give reasonably sound reasons to believe that
the stipulated targets cannot be achieved by the turn of the present century.
However, projection exercises undertaken in the recent past indicate that India
may attain the status of universal primary education sometime after year 2007.
It may be noted that heavy
dependence on the formal school system, and the traditional modes of delivery
of primary education may not achieve the desired objective. To achieve the goal of 'Universal Elementary
Education', the Government has recently initiated a new scheme called
'Serva Shiksha Abhiyan'. Also, the scope
of DPEP is likely to be extended to upper primary classes, initially in DPEP
phase one districts.
DATA REQUIREMENTS
To achieve EFA in near
future there is thus a need to take an integrative approach for development of
primary education, with more emphasis on alternative strategies for improving
access, participation, retention and internal management of schools. All this
is expected to achieve through better planning and effective implementation,
which require information on a number of variables.
Planning
exercises are of two types, micro and macro level planning. In micro planning,
educational plans are prepared at the sub‑national level, such as,
institution, village, block and district level, whereas macro plans are
developed at the level which is just above the sub‑national level i.e.
state and national level. At the district level, blocks, villages and
educational institutions are the units of micro planning but at the state
level, district is a unit of micro planning. In India, barring a few states,
educational planning is carried‑out at the state level, which do not
ensure adequate participation of functionaries working at the grassroots level.
Of late, National Policy on Education (NPE, 1986 & 1992) and Eighth Plan
envisaged disaggregated target setting at least at district level. This is also
one of the major objectives of a number of projects and programmes currently
under implementation in different parts of the country. Therefore, development of district plan at
district and lower levels with emphasis on participative planning is of recent
origin
In order to meet data requirements for diagnosis of
educational development, a variety of information relating to both general and
educational scenario needs to be collected. Information, such as on, geography,
irrigation, transportation, industry and administrative structure is required,
so as to prepare a general scenario of the existing infrastructural facilities
available in a district and its sub‑units.
So far as the educational variables are concerned,
required information can be grouped under information relating to demography,
literacy and education sectors. Under the demographic variables, total
population and its age and sex distribution separately in rural and urban areas
needs to be first collected. Apart from total population, age‑specific
population in different age groups is also required. For programmes relating to primary and elementary education,
population of age groups 6‑11, 11‑14 and 6‑14 years and for
adult literacy and continuing education programmes, population of age‑group
15‑35 years is required. Similarly, single‑age population (age `6') is another important variable on
which information needs to be collected. In addition, information on some of
the vital indicators, such as, expectation of life at birth, mortality (death)
rates in different age‑groups, fertility (birth) rate and sex ratio at
birth is required so that the same is used to project population.
For adult literacy and continuing education programmes,
number of literate and illiterates in different age groups is required which
should be linked to population in different age groups.
Universal access to educational facilities is one of the
important components of Education for All;
hence a variety of information relating to population of village/habitation is
required, so that micro planning and school mapping exercises are undertaken.
Exercises based on school mapping play an important role to open new schools or
whether an existing school is to be upgraded or closed down. Thus, number of
habitations distributed according to population slabs is required so that
opening of school is linked to existing norms. Habitations served by schooling
facilities also needs to be collected so as the rural population served by
schooling facilities. Information relating to adult learning and non‑formal
education centers is also required which should be viewed in relation to
illiterates, out‑of‑school children and child workers.
Once the population
is accessed to educational facilities, the next important variable is number of
institutions. Within the institutions, availability of infrastructural
facilities and their utilisation needs to be analysed thoroughly. Information relating to buildings,
playgrounds and other ancillary facilities, such as, drinking water,
electricity and toilets needs to be collected. In other words, complete
information relating to scheme of Operation Blackboard with reference to its
implementation, adequacy, timely supply and utilisation needs to be collected.
Similarly, number of classrooms and their utilisation, schools distributed
according to class‑sizes and sections is also required to judge teaching
arrangements.
Enrolment is the next important variable on which detailed
information is required. Both aggregate and grade‑wise enrolment together
with number of repeaters over a period of time needs to be collected separately
for boys & girls, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population, rural
& urban areas and for all blocks and villages of a district. Similarly,
detailed information on number of teachers distributed according to age,
qualifications, experience and subjects along with income and expenditure data
is also required for critical analysis, so that optimum utilisation of existing
resources is ensured.
It is not only the past and present information that is
required but for proper and reliable educational planning, information on few
variables is also required in future. All the data required for planning is not
available as information on a good number of variables is conspicuous by their
absence. Generally, secondary sources are explored for diagnosis of the
existing situation but for the variables that are not available at lower or the
lowest level, primary data needs to be collected. For example, age‑grade
matrix is one such variable that is not readily available at the micro level
but plays an important role in setting‑out-disaggregated targets.
Information on age‑grade matrix and other variables of similar nature may
be collected through small-scale sample surveys at the local level. For
information on demographic variables, Census publications should be explored.
Information on educational variables can be obtained from the publications of
the State Education Departments. However, state‑wise information can also
be obtained from the publications of MHRD. Information on infrastructure,
access, ancillary facilities and age‑grade matrix is available from the
NCERT publications but only at few points of time.
Before the concept and
definition of indicators is presented, first the basic term like primary and
secondary data, stage and institution-wise data and stock and flow statistics
is discussed.
TYPES
OF STATISTICS
(i)
Primary
and Secondary Data
When information is first
time collected, it is termed as primary data; otherwise it is known as
secondary data. Primary data is generally scattered in files, registers and
records so as to collect them either from the institutions concerned or can
even be collected from the sampling unit, such as, teacher, school and
student. The primary data is
generally termed as raw which has no use to planners and decision making
authorities, as it do not serve as a tool of decision support system. The information thus collected is processed,
analysed and tabulated with the help of statistical indicators, so that it
becomes derived information. Simple statistics, such as, averages, index
numbers, ranks and growth rates can be used to generate derived data. The derived
information in the form of indicators can also be used to analyse present
status of educational facilities and its utilization.
(ii)
Cross-sectional
and Time‑Series Data
Generally two types of statistics, namely cross‑section
and time‑series information is available. If information is available at a single point of time, it is
known as cross‑sectional data.
For example, state‑wise literacy rates and its male and female
distribution in 1991 is an example of cross‑sectional data. Cross‑sectional
data is also known as stock statistics.
Stock statistics do not have flow of information and whatever is
available that restrict to only a single point of time. On the other hand, information available on
more than two points of time is known as time‑series information that is
also known as flow statistics. While analysing educational development, both
types of statistics is needed. For
projecting enrolment, we need enrolment over a period of time, whereas for
analysing present status of educational development, cross‑sectional data
is required.
(iii)
Institution
and Stage‑wise Data
The third type of statistics
generally we deal with is institution‑wise and stage‑wise
information both of which can be cross‑sectional and/or time‑series
in nature. For example, stage‑wise enrolment at the primary level
includes all children of those who are currently in primary classes
irrespective of schools. Thus while collecting stage‑wise information,
enrolment irrespective of schools is considered which means primary stage
enrolment include enrolment in primary, middle, high and secondary
schools. Otherwise, if consider
enrolment in a particular type of school, it is termed as institution‑wise
enrolment. Thus, enrolment in primary
classes in primary schools is an example of institution‑wise
information. In fact, a large number of
children are in primary classes who are otherwise not in primary schools but
are in middle and other higher levels of school education.
INDICATORS
In order to understand what an indicator is
and other questions of similar nature, let us first define an indicator
itself. An indicator is that which
points out or directs attention to something (Oxford Dictionary). According to Jonstone (1981), indicator
should be something giving a broad indication of the state of the situation
being investigated. The most common use
of indicators is to examine the relative state of development of different
systems accomplished over a period of time in a specified field of human
concern. For example, primary enrolment
of two districts do not produce any information but the same, if linked to
corresponding age‑specific population, can be used to compare the status
of primary education.
In our day‑to‑day life we also come across various indicators
which can be classified into three broad categories, namely, input, process and
output indicators. Various process
control machines, such as, videocassette recorder, automatic milk booths and
automatic weighing machines are some of the examples of these indicators.
However, in the field of education, the classification of indicators under
these categories is not an easy task. Generally, we view education as a system,
which receives inputs in the form of new entrants, transforms these inputs
through certain internal processes, and finally yields certain outputs in the
form of graduates. The output from a given cycle of education is defined as
those students who complete the cycle successfully and the input used up in the
processes of education are measured in terms of student years. These indicators can further be classified
into four categories, namely, indicators of Size or Quantity, Equity,
Efficiency and Quality.
Educational indicators can answer a variety of
questions. System's level of
development, accessibility and children taking advantage of educational
facilities are some of the questions, which relate to coverage of an education
system. The next set of questions
relates to internal efficiency of the education system. Information on number of children who enter
into the system and complete an education cycle, those who dropout from the
system in between and number of children who reach to the next higher level can
be obtained, if indicators of efficiency are computed. Similarly inequalities in the system, if
any, can be detected and disadvantage group(s) be identified with the help of
indicators of efficiency. The last set of questions relates to resources
provided to education and how they contribute to the quality of educational
services and whether resources being used in the most effective way possible,
all of which answered efficiently, if indicators for disaggregated target
groups are available.
THE
CORE EFA INDICATORS
Keeping
in view the objectives of EFA presented above, a variety of indicators need to
be developed to judge the performance vis-à-vis different components. A
suggestive core list of indicators is presented below.
A.
Demography and Literacy
In
addition to educational variables, a few demographic indicators also need to be
constructed. One simple indicator is annual population growth rate, which
should be calculated for the total, as well as, age-specific population, i.e.
6-11 and 11-14 years. This indicator
may be termed crucial as the future clientele population depends up on this apart
from other indicators, like birth and death rates. The other demographic
indicators are density of population and sex ratio.
One
of the important components of EFA is Universal Literacy. Therefore, indicator
needs to be developed on literacy rates (total and 15+ population) separately
for male/female, rural/urban and SC and ST population. Gender parity index may also need to be
constructed.
Demography
Indicator 1: Rate of Growth of
Population: Total, 6-11, 11-14, 6-14 and 15-35 years.
Indicator 2: Sex Ratio
Indicator 3: Density of population
Literacy
Indicator
4:
Literacy Rates (Male/Female, Rural/Urban and SC/ST):
(a) Total (7+ population); (b) 15-24 years olds; (c) adult literacy rate: percentage
of the population aged 15+ that is literate and (d) Literacy Gender Parity
Index: Ratio of female to male literacy
B.
Access
Access to primary education
in India is affected by many factors.
It depends on number of schools available, the walking distance to
schools, transport facilities and road conditions. Apart from the physical
distance to schools, existences of social barriers also affect access to
primary schooling. Physical distance and social barriers are therefore critical
issues that need to be addressed to while creating provisions of access to
primary schooling. Apart from this,
there exists high degree of disparities between regions, males and females, and
between social groups in the country.
The
simplest indicator of access is coverage of habitations by the schooling
facilities. The norm for this purpose varies from state to state. The policy at the all-India level is that
all the habitations having population 300 and more should be provided a primary
school/section within a distance of 1 kilometer. Similarly, a habitation having
population 500 and more is entitled to have an upper primary school within the
distance of 3 km. Thus, the basic indicators of access are percentage of
habitations served by the primary schooling facilities within a distance of 1
km. and upper primary schooling facilities within a distance of 3 km. As an alternative, percentage of rural
population served by a primary school/section within 1 km. and an upper primary
school within a distance of 3 km. can also be considered as indicators of
access. The ratio of upper primary-to-primary school also gives idea about the
availability of upper primary schools.
The policy directive in this regard is one upper primary school for
every two primary schools.
Experience shows that
establishment of formal schools may not alone create universal access to
primary education. The need is therefore to create alternative modes of primary
education, wherever necessary, to increase the level of access to schooling
facilities. To achieve EFA, more stress
is also laid on the participation of the community in improving the level of
access to primary schooling. In this respect, micro planning plays an important
role in enrolling children as well as increasing the level of participation of
children in primary education.
However,
availability of a school does not guarantee that schools are being utilised and
the minimum facilities that required for smooth functioning of school is
available. But from the limited set of data that is available on facilities and
practically no data on utilisation, indicators cannot be considered on these
aspects. The other indicators which may also be considered indicators of access
is gross enrolment in early childhood development programmes as percentage of
corresponding official age-group population i.e. 3-5 years. This indicates a
state’s capacity to prepare children for primary education. A high gross
enrolment ratio in early childhood development programme indicates adequate
capacity for this type of programme within the state. A ratio approaching 100
or more than 100 indicates that early childhood centres are available to
accommodate children of age-group 3-5 years.
Similarly,
the gross and net entry rates (intake/admission) can also be considered as an
indicator of access. The apparent
intake rate reflects the general level of access to primary education. It also indicates the capacity of education
system to provide access to Grade I for the official school entrance age
population. This indicator should be
used only when net intake rate due to non-availability of data is not possible
to compute. A high intake rate also
indicates a high degree of access to primary education.
Since, the computation includes all children
including those of over-age and under-age children, the rate may cross hundred.
If the over-age and under-age children are taken out from Grade I enrolment,
the rate calculated is termed as net intake rate. A high net intake rate indicates a high degree of access to
primary education for the official primary school entrance age children and a
high proportion of pupils of the same age in the first primary grade. Both the
policy makers and planners are very much interested in this rate. Unless, this
is brought to hundred, the goal of universal primary education can not be
achieved. Similarly based on this rate, enrolment of Grade V or VIII in future
can also be projected.
Indicator 5:
Percentage of habitations having population 300 and more and access to
primary schooling facilities within a distance of 1 kilometer.
Indicator 6: Percentage of rural
population having access to primary schooling facilities within a distance of 1
kilometer.
Indicator 7: Percentage of habitations having population 500 and more and access
to upper primary schooling facilities within a distance of 3 kilometer; and
Indicator 8: Percentage of rural population having access to upper primary
schooling facilities within a distance of 3 kilometer.
Indicator 9: Ratio of upper primary
schools to primary schools.
Indicator 10: Gross enrolment in early childhood development programmes expressed
as percentage of the official age-group population i.e. ages 3-5 years.
Indicator 11: Percentage of new entrants
to primary Grade I who have attended some form of organized early childhood
development programme.
Indicator 12: Apparent (gross) intake
(admission/entry) rate: new entrants in primary Grade I as a percentage of the population
of the official entry age i.e. age-6 population.
Indicator 13: Net intake rate: new entrants to primary Grade I who are of the
official primary school entrance age
(`6’ years) as a percentage of the corresponding population.
Once
the indicators of access are developed, one may also like to develop indicators
relating to facilities in schools and teaching-learning arrangements.
Percentage of schools having buildings, percentage of building less schools,
average number of instructional rooms, percentage of schools need major and
minor repairs are some of the indicators which can be constructed. Similarly, percentage of schools having
drinking water facility, toilets, playground, electricity etc may indicate
availability of physical facilities in school.
B.
Teachers
Once
the indicators of access are analyzed, the next set of indicators that need to
construct relates to teachers. The
simplest indicator is pupil-teacher ratio, which presents average number of
pupils per teacher in an educational level.
The indicator can be computed both at the primary and upper primary
level of education. This indicator is used to measure the level of human
resources input, in terms of number of teachers, in relation to the size of the
pupil population. The pupil-teacher
ratio should be compared to state norms on the number of pupils per teacher for
type of education. Higher the ratio may
have adverse effect on teaching learning process, as the teacher has to give
attention to more pupils than in an ideal class of 25-30 pupils. Similarly, percentage of female teacher is
another indicator that relates to teachers and is easily available at
disaggregated levels. Percentage of
trained teachers also reflects upon the quality of teachers that are available
so as the age of teacher which gives information about the experience. Similarly, number of schools distributed
according to number of teachers, number of sections, average enrolment per
section, class-size, average number of teachers and percentage of single
teacher schools are some of the other indicators which gives information
regarding quality of teaching inputs.
However, except, pupil-teacher ratio, trained teachers and percentage of
female teachers, other indicators mentioned above are not possible to construct
in the absence of requisite data. Attrition rate of teachers is another
indicators that give information regarding number of teachers who retire,
transfer or die during an academic year that is not available on regular basis.
NCERT as a part of its Sixth survey has collected information on this
aspect. On an average, the attrition
rate at the all-India level is about 2 to 3 per cent but vary from state to
state.
Indicator 14:
Percentage of female
teachers at the primary and upper primary levels.
Indicator 15:
Percentage of trained teachers at the primary and upper primary levels
distributed according to sex
Indicator 16: Pupil-teacher ratio at the
primary and upper primary level.
C.
Coverage
One
of the other important indicators, which give information about the coverage of
child population, is the Enrolment Ratio. A variety of enrolment ratios, such as,
overall enrolment ratio which gives the overall scenario of total education
system, level enrolment ratio (Gross and Net) which shows coverage of relevant
age group population and age-specific enrolment ratio which presents ratio of
single age population (or age-group) attending schools are available. The
computation of these ratios and their applicability depends upon the
availability of data. However, Gross Enrolment Ratio can easily be constructed
but is termed crude, as it is total enrolment irrespective of age, as a
percentage of corresponding age-specific population. This needs age-grade matrix
that is not available, in the absence of which GER is used to show level of
participation and capacity of an education system. Thus, Gross Enrolment includes over-age and under-age children
that vary from system to system. At the
all-India level, it is estimated to be around 22 per cent at the primary level.
A high GER indicates a high degree of
participation, whether the pupils belong to the official age group or not. A
GER approaching 100 indicates that a state/district has accommodated all of its
school-age population. More than 100
GER need not means that the goal of UPE/UEE is achieved; and therefore a GER of
100 per cent is a necessary but not sufficient condition for universal primary
enrolment. However, it may be noted
that as we approach Universalisation, the percentages of over-age and under-age
children will start declining so as the dropout rates.
If
data available, NER is used to measure the extant of participation of children
belonging to the official primary school age, as it is considered more precise
indicator than the GER. The value of NER can not exceed 100, as its maximum
value is 100 per cent. Higher the ratio
means that majority of children of the official age group are covered under the
system. The difference between the GER and
NER is termed as grossness. If the NER
is below 100 per cent, that need not guarantee that the balance of students are
out-of-school. These students may be enrolled under the non-formal system of
education. Therefore, the more precise indicator of coverage, as mentioned
above, is the age-specific enrolment ratio that considers all children of a
specific age-group population.
Coverage
of child population need not guarantee that children attend schools regularly,
which can be known only, if data on attendance rate is available. This is not available on regular basis but
is recently collected by the NSSO as part of its 52nd Round
(1995-96) on `Attending an Educational Institution in India: Its Level, Nature
and Cost’. Apart from other indicators, it constructed two indicators, namely,
Gross Attendance Rate and Net Attendance Rate that are of vital importance.
Needless to mention that these indicators give information regarding children
attending schools which is considered a better indicator than the enrolment
ratio. The indicator is separately made available for all the major states and
for rural and urban areas and for male and female population.
Indicator 17: Gross Enrolment Ratio: enrolment (total) in
Grades I-V as percentage to the corresponding official age-group population
i.e. 6-11 years will give GER at primary level. Similarly enrolment in Grades
VI-VIII as a percentage to 11-14 years population will give GER at upper
primary level.
Indicator 18: Net Enrolment Ratio: enrolment in Grades I-V (age-group 6-11 years)
as percentage to 6-11 years population will give NER at primary level.
Similarly enrolment in Grades VI-VIII (age-group 11-14 years) as a percentage
to 11-14 years population will give NER at upper primary level.
Indicator 19: Age-specific enrolment Ratio: enrolment (total) of a particular age
`a’ as percentage of total population of that age `a’ gives age-specific
enrolment ratio.
D.
Efficiency
Next to indicators of coverage are the indicators
relating to efficiency of education system. Two basic indicators are drop out
and repetition rate that need to compute grade-wise. The reciprocal of dropout
is known as retention, which is computed at the end of an education cycle.
In India, the level of
dropouts and the extent of absenteeism are high. Planning exercises need to
adopt appropriate strategies to bring down the level of dropouts and
absenteeism in primary schools. Micro planning exercises may help in reducing
the level of dropouts.
Based on dropout and repetition rates, a variety of other
indicators relating to efficiency of system can be constructed. The origin of
efficiency lies in economics but it has relevance in every spheres of life. In
simple terms, efficiency can be defined as a optimal relationship between input
and output. An activity is said to
perform efficiently, if a given quantity of output is obtained with minimum
inputs or a given quantity of input yields maximum outputs. Thus, by the efficiency we mean to get
maximum output with minimum inputs or with a minimum input, maximum output is
obtained. The best system is one, which has both input and output exactly the
same that is known as a perfect efficient system.
Efficiency may be of two
types, namely internal and external efficiency. We may have a system that is
internally efficient but externally inefficient or vice‑versa. A system
may have no drop‑out, low repetition and high output but the output that
is produced may not be acceptable to the society and the economy.
What are input and outputs in an education system?
Let us suppose that a student has taken
admission in a particular grade and he/she remains in the system for at least
one complete year. A lot of expenditure
on account of cost of teachers, room, furniture and equipment’s is incurred on
those who stay in the system, which can be converted into per student cost and
is termed as one student year. On the
other hand every successful completer of a particular cycle is termed as
output, which is also known as a graduate.
Based
on a hypothetical (theoretical) cohort of 1,000 pupils, indicators, such as,
input/output ratio, wastage ratio, average number of years the system is taking
to produce graduates, wastage on account of drop out and repetition etc. can be
constructed