parents perception on the quality of education in

Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management StudiesXISS, Ranchi, Vol. 19, No. 2, April-June 2021, pp. 8753-8769

PARENTS PERCEPTION ON THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONIN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS OF BIHAR

Rajeev Kamal Kumar1

Education is one of the most important indicators of development.The Right to Education Act, 2009 came into effect since April, 2010.This Act has the provision of free and compulsory education as aFundamental Right for the children belonging to the age group of6-14 years under the Article 21-A of the Constitution of India.Despite so many Acts and provisions of the Government, we are faraway from achieving the desired goals. The total literacy rate of theState of Bihar is only 61.8 percent in the year 2011, which hasshown the improvement of 14.8 per cent from the previous Censusof 2001. The gender disparity and disparity among the districts ofBihar in literacy rate are other serious concerns. However, themost serious concern for all the stakeholders is the quality ofeducation in government schools. The sharp decline in quality ingovernment schools in recent years has paved the way for theprivate players. The decline is also linked with the poor enrolment,drop out, double enrolment, infrastructure, poor involvement ofparents and guardians and poor outcome in terms of learning. Thepresent paper is drawn from a large-scale survey - “tracking ofchildren of age group of 0-14 years under SSA”. The main objectiveof the paper is to understand the perception of parents and guardianstowards the quality of education being offered in the governmentschools of the state. The data were collected using checklists andinterview schedule. It has been realized that the parentalinvolvement plays a significant role in children’s academic outcome.Nevertheless, their opinions are not considered at the time of policyformulation and implementation of the programmes.

Keywords : Quality education, Government school, Literacy rate,Drop out, Double enrolment

Introduction

The importance of education has been acknowledgedunanimously. A direct effect of education is knowledge gain and helpsto form opinions. It makes us capable of interpreting things rightlyand applying the gathered information in real life situation. The statehas taken the responsibility to provide free primary education to all.The Government has developed the formal system of education throughdifferent types of institutions at different levels. The school years arethe grounding years of one’s education. Schools play a key role in shaping

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1 Assistant Professor, Division of Sociology & Social Anthropology, A.N. SinhaInstitute of Social Studies, North Gandhi Maidan, Patna (Bihar), PIN-800001,Mobile: 09386850611/ 0612-2219395 Fax: 0612-2219226/ 2219138. E-mail:[email protected]

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the children and developing them into responsible citizens and goodhuman beings.

The centrally sponsored scheme of Non-Formal Education (NFE)was introduced in 1979-80 on a pilot basis with the aim to support theformal system in providing education to all children up to the age of 14years. The National Policy on Education-1986 recognizes that the schoolcould not reach to all children and a large and systematic programmeof non-formal education would be required for school dropouts, forchildren from habitations without schools, working children and girlswho could not attend full day schools. Thus, NFE became an importantcomponent of the overall strategy for achievement of Universalizationof Elementary Education (UEE). With the view to achieve the goal ofUEE, the centrally sponsored scheme like, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA)has set time bound targets. Efforts are being made to provide access toout of school children and ensure their regular participation andcompletion of primary education. The most challenging part of theprogramme is to track the children belonging to migrating familiesand provide them elementary education.

The Right to Education Act came into force from April 1, 2010.Under RTE, the government has a mandate to provide free elementaryeducation and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completionof elementary education to every child in the age group of 6-14 years.Free education means no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee orcharges or expenses which may prevent him/her from pursuing andcompleting elementary education. It also provides for the recruitmentand deputing appropriate number of teachers in these schools andprohibiting teachers for non-educational work, other than decennialcensus, elections to local authority, state legislatures and parliamentand disaster relief. It also prohibits physical punishment and mentalharassment, screening procedures for admission of children, capitationfee, private tuition by teachers, and running of schools withoutrecognition.

It has been found in different reports and studies that despite somuch initiatives and efforts by the government, the literacy status ofBihar is still very poor, only 61.8 percent as compared to nationalaverage of 72.9 percent. There is also a huge gender gap in the literacyrate in the state. Inter-state comparison of literacy rates suggests thatbackward states like Bihar is not only lagging behind national average,it is lagging behind many backward states even, such as Jharkhand,Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.There is also a huge intra-regional disparity in literacy rate of differentdistricts, as only 8 districts are closer to and above the national average

Parents Perception on the Quality of Education in Government Schools 8755

and 11 districts are below 60 percent literacy rate (Diwakar & Kumar,2015). The launch of SSA leads to huge increment in the enrollment.However, the quantitative expansion has not matched by improvementin quality of education (Chakraborty, 2016).

The quality of education in Bihar has declined over the years.The decline can be visibly noticed at all levels either it is primary,secondary and higher, or technical (Jha, 2016). At the primary level,government schools are the only option for poor people, especially inrural areas. The government has failed to provide adequateinfrastructure for these schools, in terms of buildings, teachers, etc.(Singh, 2014). As the government schools, especially in rural areasare mostly under resourced and hardly able to meet the needs of thestudents. A number of factors including the physical infrastructure,availability of trained and skilled teachers, availability of text books,science and computer laboratory, toilets, etc. are responsible for thepoor literacy rate and poor-quality primary education (Jha & Parvati,2014; Diwakar & Kumar, 2015; Jha, 2016). In addition to these, lessinvolvement of the parents, guardians and community members inthe school education also affects the quality. Parental involvement playsa significant role in students’ social and academic outcomes (Berkowitzet al., 2017). Meaningful involvement of parents in school educationespecially at the primary level increase the chances of better outcomesof not only educationally but also overall growth and development ofchildren. Through parental participation, they encourage their childrento learn the importance of schooling and academic achievement, whichalso influence their children’s degree of involvement in class and schoolactivities and academic success (Barnard, 2004; Stewart, 2008;Berkowitz et al., 2017).

Objective

Present study is part of a large survey carried out by the A. N.Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna for Bihar Education ProjectCouncil, Government of Bihar. The main objective of this paper is tounderstand the present status of school enrollment, drop out, duplicateenrollment, gender gap, etc., of children in schools. The study alsotries to understand the perception of parents and guardians regardingthe quality of education in government schools.

Brief Profile of the State and Sample Districts

The present study has been conducted in eight Gram Panchayatsand four Urban Wards of four districts, namely, Samastipur, Begusarai,Saran and East Champaran of Bihar. The state has a total of nine

administrative divisions consisting of 38 districts and 534 communitydevelopment blocks. The percentage decadal growth rate (DGR) of thestate is 25.07 during 2001-2011. Sex ratio of the state is 916 femalesper 1000 males. The rural-urban gap in the sex ratio for the state isvery wide (926 in rural and 868 in urban areas), however, urbanizationin the state is only 11.3 per cent. The literacy rate for the state showstwo issues prominently; first, low literacy rate (61.80 per cent) andsecond, wide gender gap in the literacy rate (male -71.20 and female-51.50 per cent). Among the studied districts, Samastipur has a sexratio of 911 and literacy rate of 63.81 per cent, 895 and 66.23 per centfor Begusarai, 954 and 65.96 per cent for Saran, and 902 and 58.26 percent for East Champaran respectively (Table1).

Table-1. Profile Characteristics of State and Studied Districts

Indicators Bihar Samastipur Begusarai Saran EastChamparan

Average Annual growth rate (%) 2.26 2.53 2.58 2.14 2.91Decadal (2001-2011) growth rate (%) 25.07 25.33 25.75 21.37 29.1Total Population 103804637 4254782 2970541 3951862 5099371Sex Ratio (no. of females/ 1000 males) 916 911 895 954 902Rural 926 911 896 927 903Urban 868 901 891 910 884Child Sex Ratio (0-6 years) 933 923 919 926 933Population density per sq. km. 1100 1465 1500 1,496 1,300Total Literacy Rate (Census, 2011) 61.80 63.81 66.23 65.96 58.26Male Literacy Rate (Census, 2011) 71.20 71.25 71.58 77.03 65.34Female Literacy Rate (Census, 2011) 51.50 51.51 55.21 54.42 45.12

Source: Census, 2011

Methodology

The study involved collection of both primary and secondary data.For the collection of primary data, structured interview schedule wasused. The information has been gathered mainly from the heads of thehouseholds, who were either parents or guardians of children. Theprimary data have been collected from these four districts based onthe highest number of 0-14 years children. In this way, Samastipur,Begusarai, Saran and East Champaran have been selected from thesedivisions respectively. Further, two Gram Panchayats and one urbanward have been selected from each district randomly covering maximumgeographical area. These three units of each district are taken fromdifferent blocks. In this way a total of 8 GPs and 4 UWs have beenselected from these four districts (Table 2).

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Results and Discussions

Socio-Economic Background of Respondents

The total households covered under the survey are 16093 andtotal population of these households was 62187 (male- 51.5 per centand female- 48.5 per cent). The population wise largest Gram Panchayatis Papraurof Begusarai and the smallest is Basti Jalal of Saran.Similarly, largest ward in terms of number of households and populationis ward no.21 of Begusarai and smallest is ward no. 4 of Samastipur.The majority of respondents have nuclear family, the married son iseither migrated outside in search for better employment opportunity.At the time of data collection, a good number of respondents were eitherwithout children or having only one child (38 percent). The averagefamily size is 3.86 (Table 2).

Table-2. Gram Panchayat/ UW and District wise Distributionof Household and Population

S.N. Districts GP/UW No. of HH Population Avg. Family Size1. Samastipur Haripur 2131 7783 3.65

Dharampur 1910 6847 3.58Ward no. 4 401 1194 2.98

Total 4442 15824 3.562. Begusarai Papraur 1905 8302 4.36

Chauki 1945 7623 3.92Ward no. 21 881 3179 3.61

Total 4731 19104 4.043. Saran Salemapur 1400 5495 3.93

Basti Jalal 1389 4935 3.55Ward no. 24 666 2148 3.23

Total 3455 12578 3.644. East Shankar 1472 6020 4.09

Champaran Saraia (North)Chandanwara 1548 7271 4.70Ward no. 11 445 1390 3.12

Total 3465 14681 4.24Grand Total 16093 62187 3.86Source: A Study Report on Tracking of children (0-14 years) under SSA’, ANSISS,Patna, 2014

Some of the factors, such as poverty, number of children tothe couple, occupation, and educational levels of the parents arealso important determinants to the children’s education. Table 4shows maximum respondents belong to Other Backward Caste group(52.2 per cent), General (27.4 per cent) and Scheduled Caste (18.6 percent). Begusarai district has maximum OBC respondents (55.6 percent) and Samastipur district has minimum (49.5 per cent) OBC


respondents among the surveyed districts. Although the formaleducation provided in the Government schools are free of cost, but stillthere are some children who are out of schools due to various reasons.The children belonging to poor families are not attending the school,as they are either engaged in economic pursuits or some householdchores. These children are enrolled in the schools only to get thegovernment schemes. Table 3 shows district wise distribution ofrespondents belonging to BPL category. It can be seen that quite agood number of respondents belong to BPL status (41.2 per cent). Thedistrict wise figure reveals maximum percentage of BPL respondentsare in East Champaran (45.8 per cent) and minimum in Saran district(34.6 per cent).

Table- 3. Caste group wise distribution of respondents indifferent districts (n=16093)

District General OBC SC ST Total N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 1096 24.7 2200 49.5 1021 23.0 125 2.8 4442Begusarai 1311 27.7 2631 55.6 751 15.9 38 0.8 4731Saran 915 26.5 1835 53.1 617 17.9 88 2.5 3455East Champaran 1071 30.9 1767 51.0 587 16.9 40 1.2 3465Total 4393 27.3 8433 52.4 2976 18.5 291 1.8 16093Distribution of respondents according BPL APL Totalto the Poverty status (n=16093) N % N %Samastipur 1948 43.9 2494 56.1 4442Begusarai 1896 40.1 2835 59.9 4731Saran 1194 34.6 2261 65.4 3455East Champaran 1586 45.8 1879 54.2 3465Total 6624 41.2 9469 58.8 16093

Source: A Study Report on Tracking of children (0-14 years) under SSA’, ANSISS,Patna, 2014

Status of Children and their Parents

Table 4 shows district wise distribution of respondentsaccording to the number of children in the family. It is revealed thatSamastipur has maximum percentage (26 per cent) of families havingtwo children while Saran has maximum percentage of families withoutany child (20.9 per cent) and Begusarai has maximum percentageof families having three children (20 per cent). East Champaranhas maximum percentage of families having five or six and morechildren.

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Table -4. Distribution of Respondents according to numberof Children in Family(n=16093)

District 0 1 2 3 4 5 6& more Total

N % N % N % N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 908 20.4 918 20.7 1157 26.0 864 19.5 381 8.6 162 3.6 52 1.2 4442Begusarai 832 17.6 877 18.5 1071 22.6 947 20.0 581 12.3 245 5.2 178 3.8 4731Saran 723 20.9 695 20.1 855 24.7 687 19.9 329 9.5 119 3.4 47 1.4 3455E. Champaran 712 20.5 575 16.6 722 20.8 653 18.8 448 12.9 219 6.3 136 3.9 3465

Total 3175 19.7 3065 19.0 3805 23.6 3151 19.6 1739 10.8 745 4.6 413 2.6 16093


A total of 33661 children (0-14 years) have been tracked from thestudied GPs and UWs. Maximum children (23.9 percent) belong to theage group of 8-10 years and minimum (8.9 per cent) in the category of0-1 year age group. In terms of district wise percentages of children indifferent age groups, Samastipur district has maximum percentagesof children belonging to the age group of 11-14 years (25.3 per cent).East Champaran has maximum percentages in two age groups i.e., 5-7 year and 8-10 year (Table 5).

Table-5. District wise distribution of below 14 years childrenin different age groups (n=33661)

District 0 to1 2 to4 5 to 7 8 to 10 11 to 14 TotalN % N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 684 8.0 1746 20.5 1928 22.6 2005 23.5 2151 25.3 8514Begusarai 1004 9.4 2146 20.1 2490 23.4 2535 23.8 2481 23.3 10656Saran 520 7.8 1383 20.6 1519 22.7 1602 23.9 1676 25.0 6700East Champaran 803 10.3 1577 20.2 1894 24.3 1894 24.3 1623 20.8 7791

Total 3011 8.9 6852 20.4 7831 23.3 8036 23.9 7931 23.6 33661


The importance of parents’ education cannot be undermined ineducating their children. If both the parents are educated the chancesof children attending the school increases as compared to uneducatedor less educated parents. The involvement of parents in their children’sschool increased leading to better learning outcome. This is also due tounawareness on the part of the parents. The children also get a betterenvironment and encouragement for the study not only in their schoolsbut also in their homes. It was found that more than half of children’sfather are either illiterate (38.5 per cent) or primary educated only (18per cent). A smaller number of them are having formal education abovesenior secondary level (Fig. 1).


Fig.1: Literacy Status of Children’s Father

Beside parents’ education, occupational status and financialcondition of the parents also play significant role in educating thechildren. Fig. 2 shows the occupational status of children’s father inall four studied districts. If we see the figure in reference, it clearlyreflects that the dependency on the agriculture sector has been reduced,although the population is predominantly rural. It means that the outmigration from the villages is more as maximum percentages ofchildren’s father are non-agricultural laborer (44.2 per cent) and only28 per cent are engaged in agriculture either as farmer (10.4 percent)or agricultural labourer (17.7 per cent).

Fig.2: Occupational Status of Children’s Father

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Education of mother is also detrimental in upbringing andeducating the children. Educated mothers may take care of theirchildren’s studies well. Table 6 shows that over 60 percent children’smothers are illiterate, 14 per cent are educated up to Std. 5th and 8.9per cent up to std. 8th and only 7.5 per cent are educated up to std. 12or above. It has also been found that majority of the women arehousewives, only a few of them are engaged in domestic help andagricultural labour.

Table-6. District wise distribution of literacy status ofchildren’s mother (n=14365)

District Illiterate Up to Up to Up to Std. 12 Any other Totalstd. 5 std. 8 std. 10 & above

N % N % N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 2344 63.7 454 12.3 307 8.3 280 7.6 278 7.6 16 0.4 3679Begusarai 2410 56.8 612 14.4 389 9.2 355 8.4 395 9.3 80 1.9 4241Saran 1627 54.8 424 14.3 354 11.9 311 10.5 232 7.8 23 0.8 2971E. Champaran 2306 66.4 518 14.9 226 6.5 176 5.1 169 4.9 79 2.3 3474

Total 8687 60.5 2008 14.0 1276 8.9 1122 7.8 1074 7.5 198 1.4 14365


Schooling Status of Children: Enrollment and Drop Out

As mentioned, a total of 33661 children were tracked from thestudied area. These children are further segregated into two broadercategories- i.e., 0-5 years and 06-14 years (school age group). Almosttwo-third (65.9 per cent) children belong to the age group of 6-14 yearsand remaining one-third (33.5 per cent) belong to the other age group(Table 7).

Table-7. District and age group wise distribution of children(n=33661)

District 0-5 Year children 06-14 Year children TotalN % N %

Samastipur 2777 32.6 5737 67.4 8514Begusarai 3690 34.6 6966 65.4 10656Saran 2242 33.5 4458 66.5 6700East Champaran 2778 35.7 5013 64.3 7791Total 11487 34.1 22174 65.9 33661



As mentioned above, the total number of school age group (6-14years) children are 22174. Of this, more than 90 percent are enrolled.Maximum enrollment is found in Saran district (94 per cent) andminimum in East Champaran district (86.5 per cent). The analysis ofGram Panchayats and Urban Wards wise data shows slightly moreenrollments in urban wards as compared to the Gram Panchayats. Ifwe see gender wise enrollment, it depicts slightly more enrollmentsfor female children (90.9 per cent) as compared to the male children(89.6 per cent). Maximum percentage of enrollments for male and femalechildren is found in Saran district and their percentages are 93.9per cent and 94 per cent respectively. Slightly higher enrollment ofgirls can be seen in all the study districts except East Champaran(Table 8).

Table-8. District wise School Enrollment Status of Children(n=22174)

District Enrolled Not Enrolled TotalN % N %

Samastipur 5117 89.2 620 10.8 5737Begusarai 6351 91.2 615 8.8 6966Saran 4189 94.0 269 6.0 4458East Champaran 4338 86.5 675 13.5 5013Total 19995 90.2 2179 9.8 22174Sex wise School Enrollment status of ChildrenDistrict Male Female

N % Total N % TotalSamastipur 2666 87.4 3049 2451 91.2 2688Begusarai 3325 90.7 3666 3026 91.7 3300Saran 2198 93.9 2341 1991 94.0 2117E. Champaran 2356 86.7 2718 1982 86.4 2295Total 10545 89.6 11774 9450 90.9 10400


The total children in the school age group (6-14 years) are 22174,including 9.8 per cent (2179) out of school children. This includes bothcategories, i.e., children who are never enrolled in the formal schoolsand those who are enrolled but dropped out for various reasons. Thepercentage of dropped out children is very less (1.3 per cent) ascompared to the never enrolled children (8.6 per cent). East Champaranhas maximum (13.5 per cent) and Saran has minimum (6 per cent)out of school children (Table 9).

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Table-9. District wise out of school (dropped out and neverenrolled) children (n=22174)

District Drop Out Never Enrolled Total (Out of School) TotalChildren

N % N % N %Samastipur 129 2.2 491 8.6 620 10.8 5737Begusarai 81 1.2 534 7.7 615 8.8 6966Saran 37 0.8 232 5.2 269 6.0 4458East Champaran 34 0.7 641 12.8 675 13.5 5013Total 281 1.3 1898 8.6 2179 9.8 22174


Type of SchoolsMost of the rural people are dependent on government schools.

Out of 22174 school age group children (6-14 years), the total childrenonce enrolled is 20276 (including the present drop out children afterenrolment). Table 10 shows most of the children are studying ingovernment schools (79.2 per cent). There are various reasons for highdependency on the government schools in the rural areas such as freeeducation, poor economic condition, schemes and programmes in thegovernment schools, etc. the study shows that the maximum percentageof children going to government schools is in Samastipur (89.2 percent) and minimum in East Champaran (63.2 per cent) districts ofBihar.

If we see the medium of teaching in the school, most of thechildren are enrolled in Hindi medium schools (78.8 per cent), some ofthem are also in English medium (15.1 per cent) and Urdu mediumschools (6.1 per cent). District wise distribution shows that maximumchildren are enrolled in Hindi medium schools in Samastipur district(89.9 per cent) and minimum in East Champaran (60.25 per cent).Similarly, Saran district has maximum number of children in Englishmedium school (20.36 per cent) and minimum in Samastipur (9.85 percent). Urdu medium schools are found more in East Champaran.Table- 10. Type of school where children enrolled and medium

of teaching in school (n=20276)District Government Private Any Other Total

N % N % N %

Samastipur 4677 89.2 567 10.8 1 0.0 5245Begusarai 5247 81.6 1162 18.1 24 0.4 6433Saran 3374 79.8 851 20.1 1 0.0 4226East Champaran 2763 63.2 1434 32.8 175 4.0 4372

Total 16061 79.2 4014 19.8 201 1.0 20276


Medium of teaching in schoolsHindi English Urdu Total

N % N % N %Samastipur 4719 90.0 515 9.8 12 0.2 5246Begusarai 5252 81.7 978 15.2 202 3.1 6432Saran 3361 79.5 842 19.9 23 0.5 4226East Champaran 2646 60.5 729 16.7 997 22.8 4372Total 15978 78.8 3064 15.1 1234 6.1 20276

Source: A Study Report on Tracking of children (0-14 years) under SSA’, ANSISS, Patna,2014

Perception of Parents and GuardiansPerceptions of parents and guardians have also been recorded on

different issues related to the basic facilities, quality of education inschools, drop out, enrollment of children in more than one schools,whether children are getting the benefits of government schemes,problems in getting the schemes, etc.

Out of 16093 respondents, only 10958 (68 per cent) respondentshad children in the school going age groups in their family, otherrespondents (5135 i.e., 31.9 per cent) are either without children orchildren are not in the school going age group. Majority of therespondents (92 per cent) said that children in school age group areattending the school. Maximum respondents (95.9 per cent) fromSamastipur district said so (Table 11).Table-11. All children of school going age group in the family

are going to school (n=10958)District Yes No Total

N % N %Samastipur 2805 95.9 120 4.1 2925Begusarai 3040 88.8 384 11.2 3424Saran 2167 94.2 134 5.8 2301East Champaran 2069 89.6 239 10.4 2308Total 10081 92.0 877 8.0 10958Source: A Study Report on Tracking of children (0-14 years) under SSA’, ANSISS,Patna, 2014

Out of 10958 respondents, only 877 (8 per cent) respondentsinformed that their children are not attending school. Multiple responsesreceived on this – not interested in study (14.5 per cent), daily wage(10 per cent) and involvement in household chores (9.3 per cent). Someof them also said financial problem (7.9 per cent) which is related withthe engagement of children in economic and allied activities, lowmotivation on the part of children in attending the school (5.3 percent), migration of the family (4.6 per cent), and misbehavior of teacherswith the children (3.3 per cent), etc. (Table 12).

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Table-12. Reasons for not sending children to school (multiresponse, n=877)

District Household Daily wage Not Economic Migration Teachers Any other TotalChores interested Problems

N % N % N % N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 9 7.5 24 20.0 33 27.5 22 18.3 1 0.8 4 3.3 8 6.7 120Begusarai 46 12.0 30 7.8 41 10.7 15 3.9 4 1.0 13 3.4 217 56.7 384Saran 15 11.2 8 6.0 22 16.4 12 9.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 62 46.3 134E. Champaran 11 4.6 26 11.0 31 13.1 20 8.4 35 14.8 12 5.1 91 38.4 239

Total 81 9.3 88 10.1 127 14.5 69 7.9 40 4.6 29 3.3 378 43.2 877


Table 13 shows the response of parents on sending out of school(never enrolled and dropped out) children to school in near future. Itmay be observed that more than half (59 per cent) respondents arethinking of sending their children to school again very soon; while10.7 per cent parents do not want to send their children to the schooldue to obvious reasons mentioned above. Nearly 30 per cent remainindecisive as they are not able to provide clear response.

Table -13. Whether parents are planning to send their out ofschool children to school? (n=877)

District Yes No Cannot Say TotalN % N % N %

Samastipur 53 44.2 21 17.5 46 38.3 120Begusarai 243 63.3 38 9.9 103 26.8 384Saran 81 60.4 25 18.7 28 20.9 134East Champaran 141 59.0 10 4.2 88 36.8 239Total 518 59.1 94 10.7 265 30.2 877Source: A Study Report on Tracking of children (0-14 years) under SSA’, ANSISS,Patna, 2014

The respondents were also asked about whether their childrenare enrolled in more than one school and reasons behind it (Tables 14).Response to this question was very less, as out of 10081 respondentswhose children are attending the school, only 258 (2.6 per cent) saidthat their children are enrolled in more than one school. Begusaraidistrict has maximum children of double enrollment (3.7 per cent) andSaran district has minimum such cases (1.6 per cent). The reasons ofenrolling the children in more than one school are- to avail thegovernment schemes (31 per cent), to get the certificate fromgovernment schools (31.4 per cent) and to get better education in privateschools (37.6 per cent).


Table-14. Whether children are enrolled in more than oneschool (n=10081)

District Yes No Total N % N %

Samastipur 44 1.6 2761 98.4 2805Begusarai 113 3.7 2927 96.3 3040Saran 35 1.6 2132 98.4 2167E. Champaran 66 3.2 2003 96.8 2069Total 258 2.6 9823 97.4 10081If yes, reasons for enrollment in more than one school (multi response; n=258)District to avail govt. to get certificate to get better education

schemes from govt. school in pvt. School TotalN % N % N % N

Samastipur 6 13.6 8 18.2 30 68.2 44Begusarai 49 44.5 44 40.0 17 15.5 110Saran 1 2.9 3 8.6 31 88.6 35E. Champaran 24 34.8 26 37.7 19 27.5 69Total 80 31.0 81 31.4 97 37.6 258


Respondents were also inquired about the reasons for sendingtheir children to government schools. In addition to the free educationin these schools, the children get good education, benefits under differentschemes, and a valid certificate. Out of 8250 respondents whose childrenare attending the government schools, only 17.2 per cent said thatthey have faced some problems in availing the schemes, such as delayin getting the benefits of scholarships, school dress and books, etc.Maximum (29.6 per cent) respondents in Samastipur district have saidthat their children have faced problems in availing the schemes whilethe minimum respondents (7.8 per cent) of East Champaran districthave said so (Table 15).

Table-15. Did your children also face problem in getting thebenefits of schemes in the school? (n=8250)


Samastipur 731 29.6 1741 70.4 2472Begusarai 368 14.4 2184 85.6 2552Saran 204 11.6 1557 88.4 1761East Champaran 115 7.8 1350 92.2 1465Total 1418 17.2 6832 82.8 8250Source: A Study Report on Tracking of children (0-14 years) under SSA’, ANSISS,Patna, 2014

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It can be seen from Table 16 that 88.8 per cent respondents aresatisfied with the performance of the schools, as their children aregetting good education. Maximum satisfaction with the schools isregistered for Saran district (85 per cent) and minimum for Samastipurdistrict (75.9 per cent).

Table-16. Are you satisfied with the performance of the school?(n= 10081)


Samastipur 2128 75.9 677 24.1 2805Begusarai 2447 80.5 593 19.5 3040Saran 1842 85.0 325 15.0 2167East Champaran 1731 83.7 338 16.3 2069Total 8148 80.8 1933 19.2 10081


Respondents were also sought their suggestions to improve theenrollment and attendance in schools. It may be seen that only 15 percent respondents put forth their opinion. They suggested improvingthe teaching environment in the school and ensure basic infrastructure,more qualified teachers, better discipline, more focus on teaching thanMDMS, etc. Parents and guardians should be proactive and monitortheir wards and interact with school administration. Some of themalso suggested that teachers should be made responsible for the qualityteaching and monitoring and the teachers should regularly interactwith the community members, parents, and guardians and convincethem to send their children school regularly.

Table-17. Suggestions to improve the enrollment andattendance of children (multi response; n=16093)

District Regular monitoring

Easy process for Govt.

schemes and basic

infrastructure

Teachers should

responsible& maintain discipline

Awareness among parents,

guardians

Qualified teachers

should be appointed

More focus on teaching than MDMS

& other schemes

No response Total

N % N % N % N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 175 3.9 74 1.7 173 3.9 98 2.2 63 1.4 38 0.9 3870 87.1 4442 Begusarai 55 1.2 228 4.8 302 6.4 110 2.3 76 1.6 40 0.8 3693 78.1 4731Saran 77 2.2 36 1.0 105 3.0 59 1.7 53 1.5 41 1.2 3185 92.2 3455 E. Champaran 59 1.7 116 3.3 216 6.2 61 1.8 46 1.3 13 0.4 2937 84.8 3465

Total 366 2.3 454 2.8 796 4.9 328 2.0 238 1.5 132 0.8 13685 85.0 16093



Regarding the improvement in quality of education in schools,only 3534 (22 per cent) respondents gave their suggestions. They saidparents, guardians and community members should be involved inmonitoring the performance of the school and its teachers (6.4 percent); quality and quantity of teachers should be regulated (4.0 percent); the education department and higher officials from differentlevels such as block, district, division and state should constantlymonitor the schools on not only the implementation of the MDMS andother schemes, but also ensure their regular attendance in the schoolsand quality education (3.2 per cent). Some of the respondents have alsosuggested that the local teachers of the block are not so serious andthey should be transferred to some other blocks and districts for betterresults (2.1 per cent), grading system should be replaced with the oldersystem of examination. They consider that the present grading systemhas ruined the children and they are not serious about the teachingand examinations (1.9 per cent). A few respondents also said that theteachers and the school system should be partial in distribution ofbenefits of different schemes.

Table- 18. Suggestions to improve the quality of education inthe school (multi response; n=16093)District Local

teachers should be transferred

Grading system to

be replaced with exams

Quality and quantity of teachers to be ensured

Parents & guardians should be

aware

Monitoring of schools & teachers' attendance

All children should get

equal benefits

Any Other No Suggestion

Total

N % N % N % N % N % N % N % N %

Samastipur 211 4.8 80 1.8 129 2.9 284 6.4 158 3.6 82 1.8 113 2.5 3385 76.2 4442 Begusarai 56 1.2 111 2.3 285 6.0 296 6.3 144 3.0 91 1.9 162 3.4 3576 75.6 4731 Saran 43 1.2 32 0.9 103 3.0 256 7.4 154 4.5 56 1.6 79 2.3 2732 79.1 3455E. Champaran 20 0.6 75 2.2 132 3.8 197 5.7 66 1.9 53 1.5 55 1.6 2866 82.7 3465

Total 330 2.1 298 1.9 649 4.0 1033 6.4 522 3.2 282 1.8 409 2.5 12559 78.0 16093


Summary and Conclusions

It has been found from the study that the enrollment of childrenin the schools is good and most of the children in the studied districtsare enrolled in the Government schools. However, these villages alsohave out of school children. The dropout rate is low as compared tonever enrolled children. If the coverage for enrollment of children isincreased, so that every child is enrolled, then the out of school childrenwill come down sharply as the children once enrolled likely to stay inthe school due to the benefit of various schemes. The Governmentunderstood this problem and has taken some initiative such as specialtraining school for out of school children. It has also been found thatparents and guardians are aware of school education and also havingtrust in the government schools. Most of them are also aware of the

8768 Kumar

different programmes and schemes for the children enrolled in theseschools.

It may be safely concluded from the results that most of thechildren in the school going age group are enrolled in some schools andthose few children who are dropped out and out of schools; their parentsare resolute to send them schools in the near future. The childrenenrolled in government schools are getting benefits, albeit with a littledifficulty. The respondents are satisfied with the enrollment process,school education but still some of them are a little apprehensive on thequality, physical infrastructure, and disbursement of schemes, etc.They have also provided some very good suggestions based on theirexperiences at the ground level and their day-to-day interaction withthe system. Their suggestions may be acknowledged and used duringthe implementation of programmes.

Acknowledgements

This paper has been presented to the first Bihar Social ScienceCongress, held on 29-30 November, 2019 at ANSISS, Patna. Theauthor is thankful to the participants of the congress for theirinvaluable comments and feedback on the paper.

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