The Access and Quality of Primary Education in Karnataka
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707 The Access and Quality of Primary Education in Karnataka Komaraswamy D H Department of studies and Research in Economics Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari Karnataka, India, 583105 Niranajan R Department of studies and Research in Economics Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari Karnataka, India, 583105 Abstract: -The quality of education in Karnataka the ASER team surveyed the quality of primary education. The main objective of this study is to know the reading level results of primary schools in Karnataka. To examine the Arithmetic Level Results Elementary schools in Karnataka and understand the Enrolment Level Schools in Karnataka. This studythe data has used secondary data from ASER reports from 2006-2018. This study found that reading level results, arithmetic reading level results, and enrollment. Keywords: Quality of education, mathematical test, and enrollment. I Introduction: Education in all forms leads to individual freedom and empowerment; it yields significant societal development gains and makes an individual self-reliant. It has been seen as the foundational for the society, enabling economic & human wealth, social prosperity, and political stability. (Chandrappa 2014). In India, the education system consists of primary, secondary, and higher education. The contribution of primary education to socio- economic development is significant, and it is the backbone of the entire education system. The quality of primary education has its value; it provides a literate workforce; on the other, it works as a feeder for the following stages of education. Therefore, the progress and development of a nation depend directly on the quality of primary education,lack of proper physical infrastructure facility,the inadequacy of teachersstrength and training,poor administration, low quality of teachers, and gross disinterest in the activities of the school are among many reasons cited in the literature for the poor quality of primary education. High pupil-teacher ratio, lack of professionally trained teachers, and poor level of student learning results in weak learning outcomes at each stage of education are significant challenges faced by the primary school education system (School education in India 2011).Primary education is the stage where education touches at every point. At this level, curiosity, creativity, and activity should not confine to rigorousteaching and learning methods. The government of India has made education a fundamental right, and it has been a birthright for everyone living in the country. Since independence, central and state governments have been expanding primary formal and non-formal education to achieve the universalisation of elementary education. Achieving the target of free and compulsory education is a great challenge, and many efforts are to accomplish this goal. The government of India started a new educational program named District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and SarvaShikshanAbhiyana (SSA). However, all these programs, whichformulateafter the 1990s, viewed education as an economic good. Therefore, in the plan, the main emphasis was on maximum enrolment of the children rather than improving the capabilities of children through quality education. The 86 th Amendment to the Constitution on Act 2002 inserted article 21-A in the Constitution to provide free and compulsory education for all children in the age group of six to fourteen as a fundamental Right. The right of the free and compulsory education act, 2009, which represents the legislation under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full-time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal Volume X Issue VIII AUGUST 2021 Page No : 87 Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707 school that satisfied certain essential norms and standards. Thus, education had become a birthright for each person in the country. In our country, the right to education Act came into effect on 1 st April 2010, providing equal opportunity for every child to get an education. The government of India has implicitly recognised the good public nature of elementary education as the benefits from elementary education are immense; they confinedto the individuals who go to school, and the rest of the society also benefit considerably (Jandhyala B.G. Tilak 1996). Effective elementary education will eradicate child labour and exploitation of children, and even phenomena like child marriage. Elementary is considered a basic need fulfilment that helps fulfil other basic needs (Panchamukhi et al. 1995). The government of Karnataka has made significant progress in terms of reducing illiteracy, increasing student enrolment, established new primary schools, and appointed teachers (Govt of Karnataka). The government of Karnataka implemented several schemes such asfree education, a mid-day meal scheme, free textbooks at primary and secondary education level, supplying free uniforms, bicycles, shoes, providingmilk, scholarship, and a six-month seasonal bridge program (Govt of Karnataka). 1.1 Education policy in India: India implements towards universal free and compulsory education for children aged up to 14 years old, begun post-independence, as stated in the Constitution in 1950 (Article 45). This disquiet over low enrolment rates paved the way to establishing the National education policy in 1986. The National policy Education (NPE) was a significant landmark since it launched the Indian central government as the driver in developing and implementing policy measuresto achieve universal elementary education (Govinda, R., & Bandyopadhyay, M. 2010). Under the policy targets three aspects of elementary education: firstly,universal access and enrolment, secondly universal retention of children up to 14 years of age, and thirdly a substantial improvement in the quality of education to enable all children to achieve basic levels of learning (NPE 1986). A primary reason behind low enrollment rates and dropouts in village schools has been attributing to the high opportunity cost of sending children to school when this time could contribute to farm or housework (Afridi F. 2011). This rise to policies such as the mid-day meals program that offered immediate incentives to attend school for children from lower-income families. However,for ensuring free elementary education for all children between the age of six years and 14 years, the govt of India launched the SarvaSiksha Abhiyan in 2001 and brought a constitutional amendment in 2002, making elementary education a fundamental right (Amarendra Das 2007). The main objectives of the scheme encompass universalizationof access to elementary education from 1 to 8 th standards to all ages of 14 years.Secondly, the survey invokesuniversalisation of enrolments and retention in Elementary education and completion of 8 th standard by all children. Thirdlyuniversalisation means age-specific enrolment and full retention of all enrolled children—fourthly,provision of education of satisfactory quality emphasises life skills and meaningful schooling. Fifthly complete attention to equity by sex and across social groups and parity across regions in educational development. And lastly, total involvement of communitiesup to the village level and especially local government institutions in the management of schools and movement towards 'Self Managing schools' (SSA, Govt. of Karnataka 2020). The SSA programme has retained its purpose as the primary policy initiative for achieving the objectives of the RTE Act 2009 (Ishita Chattergee 2018). Since implementing the SSA educational reforms and policies, some improvements have been made, such as reducing dropout rates in primary and elementary education, particularly for girls (Amarendra Das 2007). Moreover, the lack of student-teacher ratio, quality of teaching, and equitable learning attainment between various classes has been noted(Govinda, R, & Bandyopadhyay, M. 2010). further preserved the aim of the SSA programme in legislation, namely, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE). The main objective of the RTE Act was to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6-14 years. Since implementing the SSA programme, several measuresroll across India's elementary education system, such as Kasturaba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme for setting up residential upper primary schools for girls SC, ST, OBC, and Muslim communities. KGBV provides a minimum reservation of 75 % for girls belonging to SC/ST/OBC and minority communities and 25 % for girls from families livingbelow the poverty line (GoI. 2010). Additional funding was also made available for teacher training and schools for children with special needs. The ASER 2005 report by Pratham shows that infrastructure in schools improved over the decade, with around 66% of the schools having access to drinking water and 42% with functioning toilets (Kingdon. 2007). In this background, the current study examines the quality of primary education in Karnataka;it emphasizesKalyana Karnataka (KK) region. The study signifiesthe relative backwardness in theKalyana Karnataka and other areas in the state. The study embarks to assess the quality of primary education in terms of physical infrastructure availability, quality of teachers, student learning, and several other outcome variables which are vital to understanding the quality of primary education in the region. Volume X Issue VIII AUGUST