India can now boast almost universal enrolment at elementary levels

Updated on: Monday, August 05, 2013

India has made tremendous strides and can now boast almost universal enrolment at elementary levels with a Net Enrolment Ratio of 99.8% at primary level (grades I to V) and 61.8% at upper primary level (DISE 2010-11). Enrolment rates of children from marginalised social groups, minorities and children with special needs (CWSN) are all showing a positive trend, however the Out-of-School data (MHRD 2001-12) highlights that children from socially disadvantaged groups continue to drop out of schools.

For example, 15.6% of SC children, 12% of ST and 10.8% of BC children are out of school in the age group 11-14. It is apparent that Education for All (EFA) goals cannot be achieved merely by achieving universal enrolment. A large proportion of children who continue to remain in school attain sub-minimal levels of basic learning competencies and fail to acquire desired levels of knowledge and skills.

The National Achievement Survey (NCERT, 2012) highlights that in grade V, two-thirds of the children were unable to identify the main theme and evaluate the title of a given passage, while two-third of the children could not compute the difference between two decimal numbers and only 22% could do word problems based on memory. No significant difference was reported between boys and girls as well as urban and rural students. The survey also reports that children with disabilities, SC and ST children continue to perform poorly in subjects such as language, mathematics and EVS. This is corroborated by Young Lives, a longitudinal research studying 3,000 children across 15 years, only 52.7 % children were able to read sentences in 2010, with ST children showing the worst reading skills. In mathematics, the performance was even worse and only 8.6% children were able to solve division and multiplication sums. Once again, SC and ST children fared worst. The key question that emerges is how we can move away from providing mere access to quality learning for the most disadvantaged children? While the question is complex, one immediate answer lies in developing 'standards.' Standards for teaching and learning that will not only clarify the knowledge, skills and competencies expected at each level across domains, but also provide a focus for reform in teaching practices, since they will provide a yardstick for evaluating all aspects of schooling.

An articulated set of expectations for improved educational outcomes in the structure of uniform standards could serve an added function, by ensuring that migrant and highly mobile groups of children do not fall through the cracks. Effectively implemented and monitored, standards could also pave the way for addressing the inequities in learning levels that currently exist, since outcomes of all children will need to meet certain benchmarks, not just the privileged few. What teachers do and how they do it is critically important and has a profound impact on the quality of the educational experience for children, so teaching and pedagogic standards become an important tool to ensure that learning standards are met.

Teaching and learning standards need to be developed at the national level and states need to adapt these to suit their individual context. The Jomtien Declaration (1990) emphatically stated: 'Whether or not expanded educational opportunities will translate into meaningful development — for an individual or for society — depends ultimately on whether people actually learn as a result of those opportunities, i.e. whether they incorporate useful knowledge, reasoning ability, skills and values... (Art 4)'. It is time we make improvement in learning levels imperative, through meeting set standards, so that universal education becomes a powerful tool for children.

India can now boast almost universal enrolment at elementary levels

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