Education News

Delhi

Content control proposal

Although the septuagenarian Union minister of human resource development (aka education) Arjun Singh has numerous infirmities — he never answers letters or telephone calls and reportedly dozes off during meetings — his commitment to secular tenets enshrined in the Constitution is unquestionable. From the day he took charge of the ministry some 16 months ago, he has led an unremitting campaign to expurgate communal propaganda from textbooks used by the Hindu fundamentalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Muslim madrassa schools. Now in pursuance of the same objective, Singh has reportedly established a Textbook Regulatory Council (TRC) which will monitor and review textbook content mandated by all independent schools and examination boards including the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).

Arjun Singh: unremitting campaign

For instance, the Deoband (Uttar Pradesh)-based Darul Uloom Deoband and Nadvat-ul-Ulema, though affiliated to several school state boards, still publish texts over which the state governments have no control. Similarly, the RSS-run Shishu Mandirs also publish textbooks on non-mainstream subjects like Vedic maths and Sanskrit. Though schools affiliated to the state boards prescribe textbooks published by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) or its state-level counterparts, private schools often mandate supplementary texts published outside the government system.

HRD ministry officials believe that the national interest demands that Central and state governments should be invested with powers to screen and regulate content in privately published textbooks as well. The council will have the power to act on complaints or take suo motu action to summon any textbook publisher for interrogation. It will also have the power to proscribe ‘objectionable’ writing from school books.

Inevitably this initiative has stirred strong reactions in academia. While some approve of government supervision of school texts, others are cynical whether the TRC will be invested with sufficient autonomy. Comments Jyotirmoy Sikand, a retired government school principal: "No matter how many regulatory councils are set up, the very fact that the control of what is acceptable rests with a political party means autonomy will be diluted. The fact is that in India the linkage between politics and education can’t be wished away."

Nevertheless some measure of supervision in the interests of quality control is regarded necessary by most educationists. "In a country like India — where numerous state boards, different types of schools and political interests exist, it’s essential to have a central regulatory authority to monitor the books children read in school. This move was long overdue," says Jyoti Bose, principal of Delhi’s Springdales School.

Currently HRD ministry officials are working on drafting legislation to empower the TRC. Once the draft legislation is completed it will have to be approved by state governments and Parliament. States where the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government constituents are not in power, are likely to oppose the Bill. In the meantime, perhaps it’ll be a good idea for the HRD ministry to precipitate a national debate, inviting authors, school principals, academicians and journalists to examine the pros and cons of setting up the proposed Textbook Regulatory Council.

Neeta Lal (Delhi)

Sartorial imposition

Although this is the era of liberalisation and the international demonstration effect, a resurgent wave of Victorian puritanism is sweeping the subcontinent. In August liquor bars featuring dancing girls were outlawed in Maharashtra and soon after in Karnataka, throwing thousands of young women out of employment. In the southern state of Tamil Nadu (pop. 62.1 million) as well — despite it being ruled by former film star J.Jayalalithaa who shook more than a leg on the silver screen in her heyday — a rising tide of petit bourgeois conservatism has prompted Anna University’s vice chancellor, Dr. D. Viswanathan to proscribe the wearing of jeans, T-shirts, skirts, sleeveless and tight-fitting clothing for the university’s students and in all its 227 affiliated engineering colleges. Women students have been compelled to switch from the popular jeans and T-shirt to salwar kameez, and men to formal shirts and trousers. The directive issued by the university also includes a ban on the use of mobile phones on college campuses and conducting of film-based cultural events.

"The dress code clearly targets women in particular and reflects a sexist, conservative, male chauvinistic mindset. If the university authorities are against casual wear, they should ban casual attire and mandate western formals instead of restricting us to the north Indian salwar kameez. For people in the southern states, this new dress code is very inconvenient," says a woman student of Anna University.

Vishwanathan: culture argument

However, the vice chancellor’s diktat relating to sartorial morality is interpreted by women students and educationists as male chauvinistic, narrow-minded and gender oppressive. "Instead of concentrating on crucial education reform issues, the vice chancellor is wasting time on this trivial issue. He needs to understand that these are not school children, but adults with full voting and other rights. As such they are qualified to decide what to wear and where. Moreover, college life is associated with fun and fashion and it is unfair to rob students of these small pleasures," says eminent Chennai-based educationist S.S. Rajagopalan.

Unfortunately, in self-financing engineering colleges across the state, gender discrimination is the rule rather than exception. Therefore unsurpri-singly, the managements of Anna University’s affiliate colleges have unanimously welcomed the dress code as a ruling which will ensure campus discipline.

But this "shallow reasoning" has aroused not only the ire of the student community but also of the editors of The Hindu, Chennai’s heavyweight daily, with a circulation of one million plus per day. "Unfortunately many colleges, which otherwise have been quick to protest against any encroachment of their domain by the university, have welcomed Dr. Viswanathan’s diktat; for some of them, it provides a cloak of legitimacy for their illiberal ways. Such absurd bans and restrictions on adult students are likely to be tested in court. They certainly have no place in a liberal and progressive modern educational environment," thundered an editorial (September 17) of this vigilant guardian of the public interest.

A stinging reprimand no doubt. But it’s a moot point whether it will impact the petty bourgeois neanderthals masquerading as educationists in Tamil Nadu’s asphyxiating institutions of higher education.

Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)

Private schools boom

Given that infiltrating and capturing education institutions is a top priority of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), which with its fellow-travelling Left parties has ruled West Bengal for 28 years since 1977, the state government has done very little to invite private investment in schools and colleges.

But since the CPM’s Deng Xioping-style reformer Buddhadev Bhattacharya took charge as chief minister of West Bengal last year, the education scene in this Marxist state is jumping. A slew of new private schools has been announced in recent months with several designed to the standards of international residential schools. None of these proposed schools will spring up in Kolkata proper, which has long reached its maximum limit of saturation; they will mushroom on its peripheries.

DPS Megacity — a venture of the Delhi Public School group which has promoted 124 schools countrywide —has started a day school and plans to offer residential facilities by 2007 to 400 students. Its 14 acre campus is sited in Rajarhat, the new township coming up to Kolkata’s north, beyond the airport, as a fully planned alternate city.

The ambitiously christened Pailan World School has acquired a 40-acre campus in Joka, one of Kolkata’s southern satellite towns. Moreover the Lifestyle School, under construction on a 10-acre campus fringed by a river and reserve forest near Shantiniketan, 150 km to Kolkata’s north, will offer primary education (class IV-VIII) to 160 students in 2006.

All these schools promise the latest technological aids, and will synergise Indian culture with modern education. With sprawling campuses, state-of-the-art sports facilities, an array of extra-curricular activities and a choice of examination boards and school certificates, they describe themselves as ‘international’ schools. "Sports, food and security will be top grade," promises Priyanka Sengupta, course coordinator at Pailan World School (PWS). Sengupta adds that PWS has hired Australia-based Westfield Sports as its consultant and international academic education apart, promises world standard swimming, cricket, tennis, basketball, football, indoor sports, water sports, athletics and golf education as well. Technology gizmos installed include closed circuit TV cameras, computers in all classrooms and dormitories, audio-visual facilities as well as online libraries.

While domestic demand for admission into traditionally upscale convent schools far exceeds supply, promoters of 5-star international schools are doing a lot of hardsell to a new target audience that has emerged lately, viz. NRIs (non-resident Indians) who prefer their children to be schooled in India rather than abroad. Piyush Kedia, director and promoter of DPS Megacity, regards neighbouring SAARC countries as prime targets. Suborno Bose, chairman of Lifestyle School, has received a "strong response" from NRIs in West Asia. "Most NRIs send their children to the Doon valley, Delhi or Bangalore. But I believe if we provide internationally benchmarked syllabuses and infrastructure, they will definitely be interested in sending their children to Bengal, a state with strong cultural moorings," she says.

Though by prevailing Indian standards tuition fees will be high, in dollar terms, they are modest. The fees of Lifestyle School is an estimated Rs.1.25 lakh per year while the PWS management is likely to charge between Rs.15,000-16,000 per month. DPS Megacity is yet to work out its fee structure.

But with several schools ready to admit their first batches next year, inter-school wars for students and faculty are very much on the cards — a novelty in this Marxist stronghold.

Sujoy Gupta (Kolkata)

Minority status row

A single judge bench judgement of the Allahabad high court pronounced on October 4 which shot down the grant of minority status to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) way back in 1981 as violative of the Constitution, has created a furore within the academic community in north India. The AMU Amendment Act of 1981, passed during the prime ministership of Indira Gandhi had conferred minority status to the university. The logic was that since the institution was established by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan over a century ago, it qualified for grant of minority status.

Whether or not a university or college is a minority institution is not a mere legal quibble. Designated minority institutions have the right to reserve 50 percent of capacity for students of the promoter minority community whether they are state aided or not. Accordingly on the authority of the AMU (Amendment Act) 1981 in February this year, the Union HRD ministry had given the all-clear to the university manage-ment reserving 50 percent of postgraduate capacity for Muslim students.

AMU: secular reputation

Citing the judgement of the apex court in the Azeez Basha Case (1968), Justice Tandon of the Allahabad high court commented: "The AMU (Amendment) Act 1981 does not at all touch or shake the aforesaid judgement. In view of thereof, the entire admissions made in the postgraduate medical courses are quashed and one month’s time is granted to AMU to complete the process of admissions afresh."

In support of his judgement that AMU is not a minority institution under Articles 26 and Article 30 (1) of the Constitution, Justice Tandon cited the judgement of the Supreme Court in Azeez Basha’s Case which stated: "The Aligarh Muslim University when it came into existence in 1920 was established by the Central Legislature by the Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920. It may be that the 1920 Act was passed as a result of the efforts of the Muslim minority. But that does not mean that the Aligarh University when it came into being under the 1920 Act was established by the Muslim minority."

Despite the sound rationale of the judgement, politicians with an eye on the Mustlim vote bank were quick to denounce it. Leading the pack was UP’s minister of parliamentary affairs, Mohammed Azam Khan, who directed his exhortations to the university’s student union. "I call upon students and student leaders to launch a nationwide agitation against the decision, while remaining within the bounds of law. Why do we forget that the money and land to establish the university all came from Muslims?" said Khan while advising the Central government to appeal to the Supreme Court and if need be, call a special session of Parliament to pass a legislation to override the court’s judgement.

On the other hand BJP’s vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is elated by the judgement, which he says had put paid to the Congress party’s agenda to convert the AMU into a madrassa. "As per the court’s ruling the government should cancel its reservation order which will damage the original secular foundations of AMU. Moreover the government should resist the temptation to enact legislation to nullify the judgment, as it did in the Shah Bano Case," he adds.

Saner voices however are concerned about the immediate future of students admitted under the reservation policy. "While we have complete faith in the judicial system, our first priority is to protect the interests of the 2,500 students enrolled into 36 different professional courses whose admissions have been quashed. We are extremely concerned about them. The purpose of the reservation policy was only to restore the pan India character of the university and raise the standard of education among Muslims in the country," says Naseem Ahmed vice chancellor of AMU.

Be that as it may, Muslim community leaders are highly critical of Justice Tandon’s October 4 judgement. "Given the backward education status of Muslims in the country, it is imperative that reservations should be made for them in all institutions. Therefore to take away the reservation already established as a right since 1981, is a particularly hard blow to the Muslim community," says Maulana Khalid Rashid of Lucknow’s Firangi Mahal mosque.

Following widespread protests from the university’s teachers’ association and the student union, on October 13, the Union government declared its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court against the high court order. Ditto the university’s management.

Quite clearly the last word on the status of AMU has not been said.

Vidya Pandit (Lucknow)

Outcomes initiative

It’s an unprecedented path-breaking initiative of monumental potential. An independent research project, christened the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) commis-sioned by the highly respected education NGO Pratham (estb: 1994), is in the final stages of completion. It will provide citizens a comprehensive report compiled by a credible third party on the status of education in each of the 602 districts of the country and also offer activist citizens the opportunity to participate in the exercise themselves.

Covering nearly 12,000 sample villages in all 602 districts across the 31 states, ASER will assess and evaluate educat-ional needs and conditions of every district and state. It will provide data on the percentage of children who can read, write and do basic sums; the percentage of villages with primary schools in every state; the status of school infrastructure including classrooms, toilets, drinking water; availability of textbooks and percolation of funds to teachers etc. A national report based on the sample data is scheduled for release in January.

 Says Madhav Chavan founder and project director, Pratham: "The government of India has increased its outlay for education and has promised more. No one has grudged the addit-ional 2 percent cess on Central taxes that we all are paying. However, it is time that people also get to see real improvement in the status of education. As the finance minister says, ‘outcomes’ and not just ‘outlays’ are important. ASER is linked with the constructive concept of enforcing the right of citizens to participate in the functioning of government. At Pratham, we believe that good work done by governments — and there is a lot of it — deserves to be applauded. But governments must also take outcome-oriented steps to improve the performance of schools."

Pratham’s previous experience of evaluating education outcomes has helped it to roll out ASER. In 2004, it pioneered a pilot survey of 19 districts across 17 states including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The survey indicated that while the percentage of children aged six-ten enrolled was very high (85-90 percent in most states), more than half the children in government schools could not read even simple sentences in class V.

Chavan: participation opportunity for activist citizens

To aspiring participants, Pratham offers several options. Among them: take charge of surveying a district — about 20-30 randomly selected villages (training given by Pratham); raise a minimum of Rs.10,000 towards the cost of surveying one district; contribute Rs.500 towards the survey of one village; spread the word, before, during and after the survey; help in any other way.

Concludes Chavan: "As citizens of India, each one of us has the right to monitor the work of government. Simultaneously we have a responsibility to make our society equitable, efficient and effective. There is no better way of doing this than by ensuring every child receives quality education. We appeal to individuals, organisations, and businesses to help the ASER initiative in whichever way they can."

Gaver Chatterjee (Mumbai)

Paper proposals

An enduring paradox of post-independence India’s school education system is that the pay and perquisites of government school teachers are way above those of their counterparts in private sector schools — the new generation of 5-star schools excepted. This is particularly true of schools affiliated to the 29 state examination boards. Despite general acknowledgement that the classroom performance and attendance record of government school teachers is poor, their salary packages are 100-200 percent higher than of teachers in private unaided schools, who put in longer hours under stricter supervision.

Following widespread complaints from within the community of 45,635 teachers in Karnataka’s 5,761 unaided schools, the state government has prepared a draft Karnataka Education Institutions (Certain Terms and Conditions of Service of Employees in Private Unaided Primary, Secondary and Pre-university Educational Institutions) Rules Bill 2005, slated to come into force from the next academic year (2006-07). The objective of the Bill is to improve the pay and service conditions of short-changed teachers working in privately promoted unaided schools.

The draft Bill’s proposals, if implemented, will radically improve the pay packets and service conditions of teachers in schools affiliated to the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB). Notable among the proposals are: pay equivalent to the basic salaries of their counterparts in government educational institutions; payment only by cheque; 12 days paid leave per annum; maternity leave for women teachers; mandatory issue of appointment letters stating pay scales, etc. With the specific objective of eliminating the prevalent practice of private school managements demanding pre-dated or undated resignation letters in exchange for appointment letters which are a sword held over the heads of private school teachers, the Bill pointedly proscribes this practice.

"In several private unaided schools, teachers are paid less than what pourakarmikas (manual labourers) are paid in the Bangalore City Corporation. Teaching is a noble profession and there have to be minimum standards in terms of salaries, paid leave, conducive working environment and other facilities. By enacting this Bill, the state government will regulate administration of unaided schools so that the interests of teachers and students are protected," says R. Ramalinga Reddy, Karnataka primary and secondary education minister.

According to Sharma the state government already wields draconian powers over unaided schools. It has powers to stipulate and regulate tuition fees chargeable by KSEEB affiliated schools and to derecognise those in breach. This rule is not applicable to schools affiliated to Central boards like CISCE or CBSE. But since affiliating with these boards requires large investment in infrastructure, most KUSMA members are stuck with the state board. "We are not allowed to collect capitation fees, donations or charge reasonable tuition fees. When our revenue is low, teacher salaries will obviously be low. If forced to pay government school salaries, our schools would be bankrupted. If the govern-ment is so concerned about teachers’ salaries they should just underwrite our teacher salary bill," says Sharma.

Teachers of unaided schools accustomed to working long hours for relatively low pay welcome this proposal, but are guarded in their jubilation. "In the past 12 years of teaching in four schools, I have always signed a receipt for twice my actual monthly pay. Moreover there’s no job security. It’s common practice for managements to demand an undated resignation letter from us the day we join duty, to keep teachers in line. On paper the proposed rules are fine but I doubt if they are enforceable," says a teacher employed in an unaided school who requested anonymity.

But even if the state government is unlikely to be able to enforce its proposed rules for unaided schools, some regulation of anti-teacher practices by member schools needs to be imposed by KUSMA itself. If not, the flow of qualified graduates opting for the teaching profession is likely to progressively reduce. Already signs of severe teacher shortage are manifes-ting in upscale 5-star schools which has driven salaries sky high. If pay and service conditions in KSEEB affiliated schools are not improved, it’s only a matter of time before they suffer the same fate.

Srinidhi Raghavendra (Bangalore)