GS: Primary & Secondary Education in India

Primary Education in India means from Class I to VIII. Secondary Education means Class IX to XII. (Education system in India)

Major Surveys :

Pratham's Annual Status of Education Report(ASER) - ASER 2013 report shows that barely 47% of children in grade 5 could read a grade 2 level text.
NCERT's National Achievement Survey(NAS)
NCERT's All India Educational Surveys (AIES)
UNESCO's Gender Parity Index (GPI) - improved "substantially" at primary and secondary levels by increasing enrolment of girls, although in higher education, gender disparities still prevail

Present Status (Facts)

Literacy rate : 74%
Pupil to Teacher Ratio : 23:1 national level for primary schools in 2015-16(RTE stipulates PTR should be 30:1(primary level) and 35:1(upper primary level) Improved
Gross Enrollment ratio :

Legislative framework : Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (separate analysis later)

Institutions :

Existing Schemes/Initiatives :

Case study :

Challenges/Shortcomings in present education system :

focuses on inputs — infrasturcture, teacher qualifications and compensation, standardized textbooks, curricula, etc. — more than on important outcomes such as the quality of education.

Poor teaching quality
Focus on rot learning rather than promoting analytical abilities
High dropout rate
Issue of accessibility especially in rural areas - naxal affected areas
Inadequate budgetary support
Lack of adequate infrastructure e.g. chair, toilet, laboratory equipment, sports goods, digital connectivity etc.
Gap between RTE & Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, amended in 2016: Prohibition of employment of children below 14 years in all occupations or processes except where child helps his family. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had recommended revisions in child labour law and had specifically called for deletion of the word 'regulation' so that “child labour abolition becomes non-negotiable”

Suggestions :

Improving Teacher Management System(deployment, capacity building, etc)
Use of Technology to make it more more accessible, affordable and better monitoring of student progress
Operation Digital Board on the lines of Operation Blackboard of 1987 should be started aimed at providing better digital education in all schools.

Need to make education system outcome oriented - linking a component of teacher's salary with students' performance e.g Voucher system to infuse competition in public school
Inclusive : Bridging social & gender gap
Promoting vocationalization of education
Promoting Volunteer teaching through programmes like Vidyanjali
Holistic approach : Effort should be in building sound body(sports) and inculcating moral values too.
Strengthen anti-poverty schemes as total elimination of child labour would not be practical as long as poverty persisted

Steps taken for training teacher :

to include the defined class-wise, subject-wise learning outcome
allows teachers gives teachers time till 2019 to complete qualification. Under a scheme ‘Swayam Prabha’, teachers will not only be trained offline or online & even through direct-to-home (DTH) television channels

Prashikshak is the teacher education portal for DIETs which contains a comprehensive database of all DIETS in the country with all relevant performance indicators.
DIKSHA portal to assist teachers by equipping them advanced digital infrastructure.

The blog is Part of Educating the Nation series

GS