The Hindu : National : Panel questions data on education

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Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
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National

Panel questions data on education

Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI: The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has questioned the figures for enrolment in primary education given by the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development as they included children going to ‘Education Centres.’

In its draft note on school education, the Commission has taken the view that going to an Education Centre “cannot be treated as school enrolment on a par with the proper schools.” The NKC’s main complaint against the Shiksha Kendras is that their “teachers” are essentially local women who have studied only up to Class VIII and in some cases only up to Class V. “They typically receive no training or a two-week training at best, and may have to teach multi-grade classes often in single rooms.”

As per government data, the proportion of children in the Shiksha Kendras, set up as part of the Education Guarantee Scheme, and the Alternative and Innovative Education programme of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, is around 16 per cent of the total enrolment in primary education. In actual figures, the number of students enrolled in the Shiksha Kendras is in the vicinity of 56 lakh. Add that to the 76 lakh out-of-school children in the country, and the figure goes up to 1.32 crore.

Given the conditions of the Shiksha Kendras, the Commission’s note has made out a case for integrating these parallel systems. This would require special budgetary allocations for upgrading and quality improvement through better infrastructure, intensive training of existing teachers, and employment of additional teachers.

If the note raises doubts about the enrolment figures, it also dwells at length on the need to generate accurate and current data on schooling. Arguing that it should be given priority attention, the Commission is of the view that the methodology of data collection in India leaves much to be desired.

As a case in point, it draws attention to the fact that there is no reliable method for establishing which children are in schools.

Besides, data is collected by teachers instead of specialised personnel.

“There is minimal cross-tabulation, coordination and cross-referencing of data. Results are revealed to administrators and schools too late to be relevant – often several years after the survey takes place.”

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