Re: Re: Discussions so far: Primary Education

["BDP India" <bdp.india@mailexcite.com>]

Govt of India is spent Rs. 24, 187 million on the elementary education in 194-95.
I am still  in the process to find out as how much money was spent per student in
India. Govt plans to put 8% of the GNP in the education sector. I 'll report as howmuch
more money is required to provide similar funding to each student as given to each
student in the higher literay countries.

But I am not sure if money should be raised on the reserves. What about taking 80%
of the money from the higher education to primary and secondary education. Let the
higher education Institute raise money eiter from industry/alumni or ask the government
to create a national loan scheme.

Also I will suggest that a certain percentage of funding for primary/secondary education
needs to come out from the local funds. Cities should be held responsible to educate
their kids (all the kids). I am not sure if cities should raise that money thru taxes.
But I will propose a certain amount of tax income towards the education budget at
the city/ Tahseel /District level.

Thanks,

Utkarsh

Just some facts to consider. A bit outlandish, perhaps, and not comparabl=
>e
>with the effect of $600 million on India, but relevant nevertheless:
>
>US expenditure on Education (from Statistical Abstract, 1997), on the web
>at: http://www.census.gov/prod/3/97pubs/97statab/educ.pdf
>
>In 1996:
>Total expenditure on Education: $514,691 million=20
>Out of which exp. on Primary + Sec	:	$309,533
>		     College + Univ	: 	$205,157
>
>These include all expenses, public and private.
>
>For India, $600 million over 5 years converts into $120 million per year
>or a tiny drop in India's ocean. The wealth of Bill Gates fluctuates by
>much more than this amount each second during an ordinary trading day.
>
>As Secy, Education, Assam I was involved for a very brief period (before =
>I
>left for Mussoorie and then USA) in helping upgrade a very poorly prepare=
>d
>proposal for the Primary Education Project of the W.Bank for one of the
>districts of Assam. These are excellent projects in principle, but
>obviously the money we are borrowing is too little.=20
>
>With $24 billion in reserves, we can safely borrow ten times this amount
>and make a serious dent in our education. With right economic policies,
>borrowing even 60 billion dollars should not be difficult. We need to pum=
>p
>money into this sector in an unprecedented way. No incremental change wil=
>l
>be of any use.=20
>
>Sanjeev
>*************************************************************************=
>**
>
>On Sat, 11 Apr 1998, Sanjeev Sabhlok wrote:
>
>> SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS SO FAR
>>=20
>> TOPIC: PRIMARY EDUCATION
>>=20
>> Utkarsh:
>> ----------------
>> Hi Everyone:
>>=20
>> Having decided "EDUCATION" as the first topic of a policy statement, I
>> have started to do some research. I was able to find one good resource.=
>=20
>> Over the last five years, world bank has provided more than $600 M to
>> increase primary education in India.  They have published a report
>>=20
>> Titled:Primary Education in India by World bank.=20
>>=20
>> I was told by the project co-ordinator that it does outline India's
>> current policy. It is available through Worldbank Publications.
>>=20
>> at http://www.worldbank.org/html/extpb/Publications.html
>>=20
>> and can be ordered using instructions from:
>>=20
>> http://www.worldbank.org/html/extpb/HowToOrder.html
>>=20
>> for $30 and shipping.
>>=20
>> Any one interested should order the book. I did order a copy for myself=
>. Please let
>> us know if any one of you have come across any other resource.
>>=20
>> PRESS RELEASE
>>=20
>> News Release No. 97/ 1317 SAS=20
>>                                                    =20
>> UNIVERSAL PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION OF HIGHER
>> QUALITY IS WITHIN INDIA'S GRASP
>>=20
>> NEW DELHI, April 24, 1997^=D7India^=D2s primary education glass is two-=
>thirds
>> full, one third empty. Having steadily raised primary enrollment rates
>> since independence, India today has the world^=D2s second largest educa=
>tion
>> system after China, with 67 million children aged 6-10 attending primar=
>y
>> school. But another 32 million primary school age children are not in
>> school, and the result is that many of the huge returns to primary
>> education are lost, the World Bank says in a new study, Primary Educati=
>on
>> in India, released today.
>>=20
>> According to the report, India^=D2s average level of educational attain=
>ment
>> has not yet reached the critical threshold where benefits are greatest
>> and high economic growth rates are sustainable. Without action, at the
>> current rate of growth in primary schooling in some of India^=D2s large=
>st
>> states, educational attainment will not reach an average of four to fiv=
>e
>> years of primary education until the middle of the next century.=20
>>=20
>> "Primary education leads to better family health, lower fertility, and
>> slower population growth. It helps workers to take advantage of
>> technological change, raising their productivity and earnings.=20
>> Increasing the labor force^=D2s average primary schooling by even one y=
>ear
>> can increase output substantially," says Marlaine Lockheed, a principal
>> education specialist at the World Bank and main author of the study.
>>=20
>> The report is based on a collaborative program of research and studies
>> conceptualized and carried out in India by the Ministry of Human Resour=
>ce
>> Development/Department of Education and major Indian research
>> institutions and scholars. The report presents new data on primary
>> education in India and focuses on how to provide primary schooling or i=
>ts
>> equivalent for all 105 million children of primary school age in India
>> and how to improve the quality of the more than 500,000 mostly public
>> schools serving the rural poor.
>>=20
>> Main Findings
>>=20
>> Enrollment data and age-specific literacy rates suggest that India has
>> made great strides in expanding access to education^=D7in 1993 about 10=
>0
>> million children were enrolled in primary school, up from 85 million in
>> 1987. But reaching full enrollment of the 6-10 age group remains a majo=
>r
>> challenge in all states of India and a distant goal in some.
>>=20
>> Although there is considerable uncertainty about the reliability of the
>> available data on India^=D2s education system, the report found that:=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 More than 80 percent of six-year old children enroll in school.=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 Enrollment by girls increased by 20 percent between 1986 and 1993.=
>=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 About 65 percent of the 6-10 age group attend school regularly.=20
>>=20
>> While:=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 Growth in enrollment between 1986 and 1993 has been modest (13.8
>> percent), and the official gross enrollment rate increased by only 4.2
>> percentage points to reach 95 percent in 1993-94.
>>=20
>> ^=D5 About 15-20 percent of the children enrolled are overage.=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 About 15-20 percent of the children enrolled do not come to school
>> regularly.
>>=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 Only 35 percent of children who enroll in grade 1 are enrolled in
>> grade 8 eight years later.
>>=20
>> ^=D5 About 32 million children remained out of school in 1993.=20
>>=20
>> An important part of India^=D2s primary education story is the great
>> diversity in performance, the report says. Almost all students^=D797
>> percent^=D7are in the 15 major states. Of these, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
>> Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Punjab are providing almost all their
>> children with a primary education. But national progress will criticall=
>y
>> depend on progress of six states^=D7Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Prade=
>sh,
>> Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal^=D7which account for seventy-=
>five
>> percent of the primary schoolage children not in school. The report say=
>s
>> that centrally-sponsored schemes to tackle the challenges of primary
>> education development such as the District Primary Education Program
>> (supported by the World Bank) are showing promise in these and other
>> states.
>>=20
>> In addition to disparities between states, vast differences remain with=
>in
>> states^=D7with some districts faring poorly even in states that are
>> otherwise doing well, and vice versa. There are also gaps between group=
>s
>> of children:
>>=20
>> ^=D5 Gender gap^=D7Since independence, India has reduced disparities be=
>tween
>> boys and girls in primary education. During 1981-91 primary enrollment
>> for girls grew 3.7 percent per year, while for boys it grew 2.5 percent
>> per year. The male literacy rate for persons age seven and above is
>> nearly double the female rate. The gender gap in literacy stems largely
>> from the gender gaps in enrollment and retention, both of which have
>> narrowed in recent decades.  The main reasons for persisting gender
>> disparities are economic activity and lack of interest. Also important
>> are parental attitudes: as survey data show, parents prefer to educate
>> sons and there is a higher opportunity cost for girls^=D2 time in doing
>> domestic work.=20
>>=20
>> ^=D5 Poverty gap^=D7Children of poor families are less likely to be enr=
>olled
>> in school than children of better-off families. Because poverty affects
>> whether children enroll in school, whether they stay in school, and how
>> much they learn, children from the poorest households are educationally
>> disadvantaged. In much of rural India, parents cannot afford the direct
>> and indirect costs of sending their children to school. State and
>> centrally-sponsored schemes are working to mitigate these effects.
>>=20
>> ^=D5 Varying caste and tribal gaps^=D7Members of scheduled castes and
>> scheduled tribes^=D7meaning those groups which are often both physicall=
>y
>> and socially isolated from majority communities and which are
>> historically disadvantaged socially, economically, and
>> educationally^=D7have been targeted under post-independence legislation=
> to
>> eliminate discrimination. While recent evidence suggests that targeted
>> programs for scheduled castes, in particular, have been effective in
>> reducing disadvantage in education, school participation for both
>> scheduled caste and scheduled tribe children is lower than it is for
>> other children.=20
>>=20
>> While few empirical studies of learning achievement at the primary leve=
>l
>> have been carried out in India, the available evidence shows that
>> primary-level learning achievement is low, that it varies according to
>> the background of the child, and that it varies across schools.
>>=20
>> Achieving nearly universal net primary school enrollment by 2005
>>=20
>> India has made enormous gains in primary education since independence a=
>nd
>> could achieve 95 percent^=D7nearly universal^=D7net primary school enro=
>llment
>> rates by 2005. To make it happen, India still needs to address four
>> overarching issues in education^=D7access, efficiency, learning
>> achievement, and school quality^=D7as well as specific challenges in
>> reform, the report says.
>>=20
>> Accommodating all of India^=D2s children ages 6-10 in primary schools i=
>n
>> the next decade could require building as many as 1.3 million classroom=
>s
>> and hiring 740,000 new teachers. This can be done. Based on conservativ=
>e
>> assumptions about economic growth, the report estimates that 80 percent
>> of the resources required for universal primary education will be
>> available a decade from now if past trends continue. However, trends in
>> revenue deficits in the major states and the falling share of developme=
>nt
>> expenditures suggest that boosting budgetary resources for education
>> requires significant changes in the conduct of fiscal policy^=D7increas=
>ing
>> revenues, restructuring expenditures, and becoming more cost-effective =
>in
>> the provision of schooling.
>>=20
>> There is scope for restructuring to increase education spending: losses
>> by the state electricity boards, for example, are two and a half times
>> the total state planned expenditures on education. Building schools usi=
>ng
>> professionally-supervised community construction and local materials ca=
>n
>> be cost-effective. Also required will be temporary measures to
>> accommodate the primary school participation of overage students who
>> enroll late and sustained measures to reduce repetition. Local efforts =
>by
>> village education committees to monitor student enrollment and school
>> attendance could help to ensure that children who enroll in school
>> complete their education without repeating grades or dropping out.
>>=20
>> Boosting teachers^=D2 performance is the most important challenge in
>> primary education in India. In the next decade, an essential task will =
>be
>> to improve the preparation, motivation, and deployment of teachers.=20
>> While India^=D2s governments have done much to raise the quality of the
>> teaching corps, teachers^=D2 performance falls short of what is needed =
>to
>> ensure that all children complete primary school with adequate learning.
>> Teachers^=D2 salaries claim by far the largest share of state education
>> budgets.  Implementing teacher qualification standards, improving the
>> conditions of teaching and making career advancement performance-based,
>> shortening pre-service teacher training and shifting the emphasis to
>> building teaching skills, and continuous school-based in-service traini=
>ng
>> could have high payoffs. Increasing the share of female teachers and
>> teachers who speak local languages is especially important to expand
>> access to girls and students from scheduled tribes.
>>=20
>> The report also proposes strategies to improve the quality of textbooks
>> and the efficiency of their production. This is critical as they are th=
>e
>> main instructional aid in India^=D2s primary schools^=D7they carry the
>> curriculum for both students and teachers, and for most disadvantaged
>> students they are the only available reading material.
>>=20
>> Another key area for action is strengthening management and institution=
>al
>> capacity.  Significant steps are recent reforms to pass on responsibili=
>ty
>> for primary education to districts and efforts to strengthen state and
>> district education institution. The report says that the shifts in
>> responsibility need to be accompanied by careful planning to prevent
>> administrative weaknesses.
>>=20
>> A final area for action is to strengthen the central government^=D2s
>> leadership. The report^=D2s analysis found that the central government =
>will
>> need to expand its role in primary education in the medium-term because
>> of low levels of funding at the state level, importance of capacity
>> building in educational administration, and the need for research to
>> select cost-effective strategies.=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>
>



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