Course 521 Assignment

PDPET (DElEd Bridge Course), NIOS,                                                                 ~  Vijay Singh Rajput

Course 521 Assignment I

1. What are the constitutional provisions for Elementary Education in India? Do you think these are being utilised in today’s education? Explain with reasons.

There are several provisions for elementary education in the constitution of India.

It is clearly directed in Article 45 that free and compulsory elementary education is to be provided to all children under the age of 14 years and it is the joint responsibility of the centre and the states.

Article 30 lays down that all religious and linguistic minorities have a right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and that no discrimination shall be done against them by the government.

Article 15 allows the state to make special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes.

Under Article 46, the central government is responsible for the economic and educational development of the SC and ST.

Article 29 (1) provides that no citizen shall be denied admission into any government educational institution on grounds of religion, race, caste or language.

Article 350 (A) directs the government to provide education to the children in their mother tongue.

Article 51 A (k) states that it is the duty of parents or guardians to provide elementary education to their child or ward between 6 and 14 years of age.

There is no doubt that these provisions of the constitution are been being utilised in today’s education. It is because of these provisions that the governments have launched several school based programmes for the development of education in India and to achieve the goal of universalisation of elementary education. Some of such programmes are Operation Blackboard, District Primary Education Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, KGBV, Mid Day Meal, Right to Education Act, 2009 etc. Because of these the total enrolment ratio of students of all classes and genders and their mean achievement score is increasing every year. Though there is still much to achieve further.  

2. What are the major expectations of RTE Act, 2009? Do you feel that these are being fulfilled? Discuss with reasons.

The major expectations of the RTE Act, 2009 are as listed below:

1. It will ensure free & compulsory education to all children within the age group of 6 to 14. It includes free books and stationery.
2. There will be no school fees, capitation fees, charges or expenses
3. Remedial teaching will be provided to the children who did not study earlier or if they fail an examination. All the students will complete their elementary education successfully.
4. Government will provide a school within 1 km walking distance for children in classes I to V and within 3 km for those in classes VI to VIII. These schools are termed as ‘neighbourhood schools’.
5. 25 percent of the seats in private schools will be reserved for RTE students.
6. There will be enough number of teaching staff and headmaster in schools and the quality of education will improve through continuous studies.
7. The school will ensure all round development of the child and practice inclusion without denying admission to any child on any grounds.

I think all of these expectations are being fulfilled to a large extent. It is because of the RTE Act that a majority of the young children have got enrolled in a neighbourhood school. Enrolment of the boys and girls alike is increasing year after year.

Number of Out-of-school children has declined considerably. Every year about 3 percent of Out-of-school children are decreasing.

The educational level of children is improving due to better quality of education being provided.

In spite of all these progresses, there are still some classes of people who are out of the reach of the benefits of the RTE Act.

3. Present a flow diagram of current status of Elementary Education in your state showings:

No. of school, infrastructure, Teacher’s No. student enrolment, dropout, retention and transition rates, achievement levels & pupil teacher ratio; on the basis of the above data draw your conclusions.

Status of Elementary Education in Rajasthan

                                      

No. of Schools (Elementary):  1,05,436

         

Student Enrolment 1,21,52,105

No. Of Teachers 6,62,891

Infrastructure Schools Approachable by All Weather Road: 80.20 % Schools with Playground Facility: 53.60 % Schools with Girls' Toilet: 99.00 % Schools with Boys' Toilet: 99.30 % Schools with Drinking Water: 97.50 % Schools with Midday Meal: 97.80 % Schools with Electricity: 58.30 % Schools with Computer: 32.00 % Schools with Ramp: 30.30 %

                                                                                          

	Dropout: 12.02 % after Class 1                 7.78 % after Class 5                 5.86% after Class 8 Retention: 0.97 % in Class 1                   0.62 % in Class 5                   0.42 % in Class 8 Transition rate: Pri to UP: 91.60 % Pupil Teacher ratio: 18

 

                                             

Conclusion:

There are 1,05,436 elementary schools in Rajasthan. Out of that 19.80 % i.e. 20876 schools are located at a hard to reach place where they are not linked with a proper road. Only about half the schools have playground facility. That is, children in many schools do not get facility to play games in school. Almost all the schools have separate boys’ and girls’ toilets. Approximately 2635 schools have difficulty in providing drinking water to the students. This can make their stay at school difficult and adversely affect their learning outcome. And about an equal number schools are not able to provide their students midday meal which is very necessary for the proper health of the students. 43966 schools do not have electricity supply. This too can adversely affect the education of the students. Because without electricity, computers and other modern gadgets cannot be used. In this age of digitalisation and internet, only 32 % of the schools have computers. Only 30.30 % of the schools have ramp for the disabled students. This means that most of the schools do not have proper facilities for the children with special needs. Dropout ratio after Class 5 is 7.78 % and the retention rate is 0.62 %. More than 91 % students from Class 5 continue their education to upper primary section. Pupil teacher ratio is 18:1 which seems quite comfortable.

Course 521 Assignment II

What is the emerging role of teachers in the present educational scenario in India? What will you do for quality assurance in the classroom? Discuss with examples.

The world has changed too much, so it is very important for the teachers to change themselves and bring innovations in their teaching methods as per the current need of the

society to maximise the outcome of teaching efforts. Technology can help teachers to make their teaching more appropriate and their assessment more accurate. The education system has changed completely. The teacher needs to be creative, innovative and a talented guide.

First and foremost role of the teacher is to construct knowledge and improve the personality of students. A teacher has to play many roles such as:

Facilitator: Though a teacher may be a source of all knowledge for the students, yet he has to impart that knowledge through a self motivation, self help basis on the part of the students. So he has to be a facilitator for learning instead of being a ready reference for the students. The teacher has to motivate and encourage them to discuss their view point so that the teaching process is meaningful.

Researcher: The teacher faces challenges during teaching to provide an effective learning environment for all the students in the classroom. He has to overcome them to improve his professional practice. The approach of action research is to encourage the teachers, administrator and other practitioners to do research in order to improve them

Leader: A teacher must necessarily be a good leader. He has to monitor the system, plan, organise and lead the activities in the classroom and outside. A teacher is a great inspiration for his students. He has to generate interest in the studies. A teacher therefore has to see himself as a leader and lead his students for the excellence in the learning process.

Reflective Practitioner:  A teacher has a professional responsibility to be reflective and evaluative about their practice. As a result of the reflection they can decide to do something in a different way, or they may just decide that what they are doing is the best way.

I will do the following for quality assurance in my classroom:

·         I will try to provide learner friendly classroom infrastructure with inclusive psycho-social environment and equal opportunities to all learners. For example, I will motivate children of marginalised sections and weak students to learn well.

·         I will ensure that quality content is provided to the students for learning. For example, I will provide them a good quality text or audio-video for better understanding of concepts.

·         I will provide student-centred curriculum which is planned around child’s experiences. I will give due preference to child’s perception and vision while organizing teaching learning in classroom.

·         There will be opportunities to construct knowledge as children learn from their own interpretation and experiences. For example, instead of solving their problems, I will help them to learn how to solve them by themselves.

·         Assessments in my classroom will be diverse and flexible. I will use a variety of techniques for a assessments so that Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) is implemented in its true spirit.

·         I will maintain a congenial teacher-student relationship in classroom to ensure quality learning. I will act as a facilitator, mentor and guide.