Education system for the poor in India

Abstract

Education has its own intrinsic value in terms of social and cultural ethos. Besides it improves household health status by influencing nutritional and health care practices, reduces fertility, infant and child mortality and improves child's schooling performance. Education for the poor offers the greatest opportunity for employment and economic returns and so reduces poverty. Thus the importance of education goes beyond expected horizons. The Indian Education system for the poor people is a point of consideration. Several children do not even get a basic elementary education in villages. Government schools in smaller towns and villages are pathetic. With the goal of empowering poor, social development through education is a process of transforming institutions for greater inclusion, cohesion and accountability. There is a need to understand better the social context of the country and the factors that drive societies as well as the needs and priorities of providing education to poor people. So there is a need for 1) Creating autonomous units of local government having substantial responsibilities 2) Increasing attention to the expansion of education 3) Focusing on the key role of relationships of accountability in providing for effective service delivery. Addressing these issues we came up with a proposal for ?Providing Primary education for rural poor in India?. Before starting the proposal we did a literature study for various schemes like Sarva shikha abhiyan, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, 11th education plan, Jan shikshan santhan, Sakshar bharat and Midday meal scheme. During this study our focus was on objectives of the schemes and how these schemes are completing those objectives. We discussed initiatives by some NGOs and other organisations also. Then we started this proposal by showing how the government primary schooling system in India is in, or nearing, a crisis stage and identified weak accountability as a critical systemic weakness in the status quo. We then used an analytical framework to identify what needs to change. Using the results, we developed a detailed proposal for reform consisting decentralization proposal and allocation of functional responsibilities plus District Professional Cadre (DPTC) proposal. This proposal addresses both the questions we set out to address at the outset. The first question was how to do education delivery in India‘s decentralizing context. It was with this in mind that we developed the ?decentralization of functions plus DPTC? proposal using the analytical approach, and built in the best elements of the various existing systems in India into the proposal. The second question was whether a well designed decentralization is the right solution for addressing the issue of primary education reform in India. It addresses the systemic problem of accountability, and at the same time has a plan built into it that addresses the concerns of political economy of reform and transition. This is what we think makes the proposal a realistic and viable opportunity for giving a brighter future to India‘s children.