Chapte~ III

STATUS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN SOUTH ASIA

The goal of universal access to basic education and completion of primary

education by at least 80 percent of primary school-age children by the end of this century

has been repeatedly affirmed, individually and collectively, at the highest political level

of government of the countries of South Aiia. There is an equal and concurrent

commitment to reduce the adult illiteracy rate to atleast half the 1990 level with emphasis

on female literacy in the age group 15-35 years. It is also accepted that these goals are

sc) fundamental that without their achievement, the other basic goals for child sun.·ival,

protection and development would not be reached, much less sustained. Only basic

education can give people the power to overcome poverty of many kinds - of knowledge,

confidence, comparison, creativity and material resources . . Now-a-days primary education is recognised all over the world as the most

important level of education. It is not necessary for everyone to be highly educated but

primary education is indispensable for each and every person. Primary education helps

a child to develop his personality - moral, mental, physical and social. By acquiring

reading and writing capabilities in mother tongue, simple arithmetic and familiarity with

necessary fundamental knowledge and techniques for good citizenship, a child can learn

the proper utilisation of his faculties as an indivldual human being.

While participating in the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" all the member

countries of the South Asia have accepted the fact that the child has a right to education

and the State's duty is to ensure that primary education is free and compulsory, to

encourage different forms of secondary education accessible to every child and to make

36

higher education available to all on the basis of capacity. School discipline shall be

consistent with the child's rights and dignity. The State shall engage in international

cooperation to implement this right. 1

The member countries have ratified the· resolution taken in the Convention on the

Rights of the Child:

Bangladesh 3.8.1990

Bhutan 1.8.1990

India 11.12.1992

Maldives 11.2.1991

Nepal 14.9.1990 "

Pakistan 1'2.11.1990

Sri Lanka 12.7.1991

This ratification has helped to create a climate in which programmes for children can

grow substantially.2

3.1 Constitutional Provisions

In the Article 17 of the Constitution <)f the People's Republic of Bangladesh, it is

mentioned thus:

1

2

Convention on the Rights of the Child, p.9, 20 November 1989.

Links for Children in South Asia, (Kathmandu, December 1992), p.l.

37

"The State shall adopt effective measures for the purpose of a) establishing a uniform, mass oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such stage as may be determined by Jaw; b) relating education to the needs of society and producing properly trained and motivated citizen to serve those needs, and c) removing illiteracy within such time as may be determined by law.3

The Constitution of Sri Lanka in its Chapter on Directive Principles of State Policy and

Fundamental Duties,

"the State is pledged to establish in Sri Lanka a Democratic Socialist Society of which one of the objectives is the complete eradication of illiteracy and the assurance to all persons of the right to universal and -equal access to education at all levels" .4

The 1962 Constitution of Pakistan accords a special place to compulsory and

universal primary education in its chapter on Basiq Principles of Policy. In these words:

"Illiteracy should be eliminated and free compulsory primary education should be

provided to all". In its article 37, the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan states, "The State shall

remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsqry education within minimum possible

time and make technical and professional e<{ucation generally available and higher

education equally accessible to all on the basi~ of merit". The question of legislation of

compulsory education has remained under the active consideration of the provincial

governments since the time of independepce. Besides in 1967, the West Pakistan

Assembly passed an Adult Education Act under which it was made obligatory for all

3 See, Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, (Bangladesh, Dhaka).

4 The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, (Colombo,

Department of Government Printing, 197&).

38

teachers to teach in adult literacy centres during sumQ}er vacations and all illiterate adult

failing to attend literacy classes· were made liable to heavy fines. In addition to this the

Sind Primary Education Act providing for compulsory primary education was made

applicable to the entire area of West Pakistan (now Pakistan) through an Ordinance in

June 1962. None of these unrealistic coercive provisions were actually implemented and

illiteracy in the country continued to spread unhindered at ever-accelerating speed.5

The universalization of primary education was declared free in Nepal on 24

February 1975, the day of coronation of His Majesty King Birendra. Later in stages,

primary school text books from grade I to III wera provided free of cost to all the

students enrolled in schools. The Government considers primary education as one of the

objectives of its development plans. Besides the provision of free primary education is

considered as to be the one of the "basic needs of the people". Along with this the

"•

constitution of 1962 stated that any measure institutf'-d for the welfare of children and

women would be treated as a measure of public welfare, reflecting a concern for the well-

being of children in general.6

Article 45, in the Indian Constitution provides universal and free education to the

children including girls of 6-14 years old within 10 years when the Indian Constitution

was promulgated in 1950. This has been conveyed to the State Governments by the Union

s Asia Pacific Programme of Education for All: National Studies, Pakistan, (UNESCO, Bangkok, 1991), p.4.

6 Towards Universalisation of Primary Education in Asia and Pacific: Country Studies, Nepal, (UNESCO, Bangkok, 1991), p.4.

39

Government to implement it within 10 years. The target date had to be revised repeatedly

and is now slotted for 1995.

Even though the majority of the South Asian countries have made constitutional

obligation of providing free and compulsory primary education to all, however, they have

failed in making it a successful one in the true sense of the term. Thus, constitutional

provisions are not enough, they have to be backed by proper implementation.

3.2 Assessment of Universalization of Primary Education

In order to assess the success of universalization of primary education

programmes, it is mostly examined in the following three models: 0

i) Universal provision of schools

ii) Universal enrolment of the age-group

iii) Universal retention or completion of the enrolled children

However, the successive educational policies of the South-Asian countries have

considerably satisfied the first condition of providing educational institutions in this

region. Some of the policy makers who were of the belief that provision of facilities will

ensure universalisation of primary education, is no more a reality. What we need at this

point of time is to ensure active participation and change of attitude of the people so that

we can bring a satisfactory change in the existing condition of primary education in this

region. The change of attitude of the parents do not take place overnight, and in this

connection we have to motivate the parents to send their children to the schools so that

40

0

they will be able to bring changes in the ascriptive status of themselves and their families.

Over the last three decades, the developing world has made enormous educational

strides. Even though total number of school age children doubled between 1960 and 1990,

the proportion enrolled in primary schools has climbed from under half to more than three

quarters.

In total, over 90 percent of children in the developing world now start school­

showing that the institutional capacity and the initial motivation already exist for the

achievement of near-universal primary education. But in many countries the poor quality

of the education on offer, combined with limited job opportunities and the need for

children to help their families in fields and homes, means that large numbers drop out

from school before completing even one or two years. In South Asia, for example more

than 95 percent of children enrol in grade I of primary school, but only about SO percent

reach grade V. The greatest educational priority for the 1990s is therefore to ensure that

all children not only start school but remain there! long enough to acquire literacy,

numeracy and basic attitudes and skills which will help them improve their circumstances

and to cope with the many changes that lie ahead.

At the moment, in spite of formal commitme11ts by governments, it must be said

that this task is being given too little priority. In somo countries, an acceleration towards

education for all is beginning, but in most regions, the achievement of this goal looks

unlikely.

41

3.3 Expenditure on Education

Expenditure has traditionally been a neglected sector in these South-Asian

countries. The educational ineffectiveness can be attributed. to the paucity of funds in this

region. Given the impoverished condition and the severe financial constraints have kept

the level of education at such a low level. In order to overcome this what is needed at this

point of time is the redressal of the system and s~tting up new priorities.

Now, analysing the existing pattern of government expenditure in various sectors,

it is clearly seen that mostly the priority is given tow&rds the development of military

base rather than investing in human resources. The South-Asian average shows that 2

percent of the O;ptral government expenditure is in the health sector and in education it

is 3

Table 2

Central Government Expenditure in SQCial Sector (1986-1992)

(in percentage)

Country Health Education Defence

Bangladesh 5 11 10 Bhutan 5 11 NA India 2 2 17 Maldives NA NA NA Nepal 5 11 6 Pakistan 1 2 28 Sri Lanka 5 8 9 South Asia 2 3 18

Source: The State of the World Children 1994, UNICEF 1994.

42

percent, whereas the expenditure in the defence sector comes to 18 percent.

If we look into the priorities set by the governments of the respective member

countries of the South-Asian region, excluding Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives,

the rest of the member countries spend more on defence rather than in social sectors.

For example, India ordered 20 MIG-29 Fighter aircrafts from Russia at a cost, that

could have provided basic education to all the fifteen million girls out of School. So also

Pakistan ordered 40 Mirage 2000 fighters and three Tripartite aircraft from France at a

cost that could have provided safe water for two years for all 55 million people who lack

safe water, family planning services for the estimated 20 million couples in need of such

services, essential medicines for nearly 13 million people without acce~ to health care

and basic education for the 12 million children out of primary school in 19927• What

is needed at this point of time is the trade-off between arms and human development.8

As a proportion to GNP, very little amount is being invested in primary education

in these countries. Underinvestment in primary education has been noted as one of the

. important factors responsible for the future of the programme of universalization of

primary education in South-Asia. Besides the level of economic growth in these countries

have failed to maintain the pace at which the member countries started investing in

primary education. For example, the share of expenditure of primary education in the

total expenditure in education declined from 57 percent in 1974 to 45 percent in 1990,

7

8

Human Development Report 1994, (UNDP, 1994), p.54.

Maqbub-ul-Haq, Tuesday, Dec.28, 1993, The Economic Times.

43

in Bangladesh, in Pakistan from 41 percent in 1975 to 36.5 percent in 1990.9

However, expenditure on primary education per student is trivial in many

developing countries, relative to

i) the needs of the primary education system;

ii) in comparison with other trends of education;

iii) compared to developed countries.

Compared to the world average of $ 324 per student in 1985, very few developing

countries invested even half of the world average. For example in case of Bangladesh

it comes to $ 16.4, in India it is $ 29.9 and in Pakistan it is $ 32.8.10 However, since

the purchasing power of the currencies varies significantly between several countries,

international comparisons need to be made with caution.

3.4 Comparative Study of Primary School Enrolment Ratios

Basically the enrolment ratios are expressed in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio and Net

Enrolment Ratio. Gross enrolment ratio is defined as the total enrolment in the primary

schooling system regardless of age expressed on a percentage of the population in the

officially defined primary school age group. Whereas Net enrolment ratio is defined as

the number of pupils in the primary school age group (6-11) expressed on a percentage

9 J.B.G. Tilak, External and Internal Re.tource Mobilisation for Education for All, (New Delhi, December 1993), p.4.

10 Ibid, p.30.

44

of total population in that age group only.

From the table it is clear that the South-Asian average is totally dominated by the

huge size of the Indian population under age 15. However, the gross enrolment ratio for

boys was 77 percent of the particular age group during 1960 which has improved

considerably to 97 percent in the period 1986-91. Also there has been a significant

Table .3

Enrolment Ratios On percentage)

Country 1960 (Gross) 1986-91 (Gross) 1990 Net enrolment Male Female Male Female Total 1991 .. Male Female

Bangladesh 80 31 78 68 77 67.8 58.0

Bhutan 5 31 20 25 22.8 16.2

India 83 44 109 83 99 91.5 67.8

Maldives 87

Nepal 19 3 112 57 82 80.1 43.9

Pakistan 39 11 47 26 42 37.2 20.6

Srilanka 107 95 108 105 107 100 100

South Asia 77 39 97 73

Source: i) State of the World's Children, 1994, UNICEF. ii) Human Devdopment Report, 1994, UNDP. iii) Status and Trends, Education for All - 1995,

UNESCO, Paris, 1995.

45

change in the enrolment ratio of the girl child from 39 percent to 73 percent over the

same period. However, the growth of the gross enrolment ratio for boys has been 25.97

percent over the period 1960-91 and for the girls it has been 87.17 percent. This shows

a great change in the case of female enrolment ratio in the South-Asian region.

In the South-Asian region, excluding Sri lanka and Maldives, Bangladesh, India and

Nepal come second in terms of enrolment ratio and Pakistan and Bhutan show a very

poor trend in terms of enrolment. Bhutan and Pakistan are clubbed together as they show

a very poor performance over the period 1960-91. Bhutan shows 5 percent enrolment in

1960 for boys which has gained much momentum in 1991 showing 31 percent, whereas

for females it is only 20 percent in 1960 and 47 percent in 1991, showing a very poor .. performance in providing universal primary education on the contrary. However, for

women it has increased from 11 percent to 26 percent over the same period showing only

42 percent enrolled for both male and female.

The middle level countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh showing enrolment of

82 and 77 percent respectively for the year 1990, have improved a lot during the period

1960-91. In case of Bangladesh, the female enrolment ratio has improved from 31

percent to 68 percent over the period 1960-91 and in case of Nepal it is from 3 to 57

percent over the same period. However, Bangladesh has failed to do any significant work

in improving the male enrolment ratio during this period, but the achievement of Nepal

is from 19 to 112 percent.

The case of India is somehow different and even high the enrolment ratio has

reached 99 percent in 1990 for both male and female, the significant change has taken

place for female from 44 percent in 1960 to 83 percent in 1991.

The net enrolment ratio which gives the picture of the enrolled students of that

particulate age-group, shows the gloomy situation in the South-Asian region. Excluding

Sri Lanka, which has 100 percent net enrolment ratio for both boys and girls, all other

members countries are yet to achieve any satisfactory result. India is next to Sri Lanka,

which has around 91.8 percent enrolment ratio for the boys whereas in case of girls, it

is as low as 67.8 percent. Bangladesh has a bettt~r net enrolment ratio that is around 67.8

percent for boys and 58.0 percent for females. In case of Pakistan, the enrolment ratio is .. as low as 37.2 percent for boys and 20.6 percent for girls. Among the three most

populous countries of this region, the male-female disparity is the lowest in Bangladesh

and highest in India. This is shown in the bar diagram No.3. However, the male-female

disparity does not exist in case of Sri Lanka and highest in Nepal.

In order to overcome this gender disparity in this South-Asian region, it is

necessary to initiate certain programmes which can accelerate the enrolment ratio in this

region in general and of girls in particular. If the objective is to have universal primary

education in this region, the necessary condition of universal enrolment has to be fulfilled.

47

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

DIAGRAM NO.3

Gender Disparity in Primary School Net Enrolment Ratio

BangladestBhutan India Maldives Nepal PakistanSrilanka

.. Male B Female

4S

3.5 Comparative Features or the Completion Rates

Even though, the South-Asian countries have gained some success in terms of

enrolment ratio, the success rate of completing the course of primary education is very

low. The comparative features of devel'oping countries, has been shown earlier depicting

53 percent in 1988-90 for the South-.Mian region.

Countty

Bangladesh

Bhutan

India

Maldives

Nepal

Pakistan

Sri lanka

South Asia

Source: i) ii)

Table 4

Comparative stud3t of the Completion Rates

Completion Rates in percentage

35

35

49

95

27

50

89

50

Goal for 2000

60

80

80

95+

70+

80+

95+

80

State of World's Children, 1994. UNICEF South Asia Consultations on achieving the goals of the 1990s for Children and Development 1992, Kathmandu.

49

100

80

60

40

20

0

DIAGRAM 1\JO. 4

PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPLETION RATES

Percentage

Bhutan S.Lanka . India Maldives Nepal Pak. Bangladesh

.. Achieved in 1990 - Goal for 2000

so

Now making a countrywise analysis of the completion of the primary school, we

will be able to know the true picture of the status of primary education in this region.

For the South Asian region, the completion :rate is only 53 percent of the totally

enrolled children in grade I. The grade I enrolment rate is around 85 percent of the

particular age-group in the year 1991 and the completion rate is 53 percent, showing a

great waste in the cycle of primary education.

We have put Srilanka and Maldives in category I due to the reason that they have

a very successful trend of completion rate of 89 and 95 percent respectively, which is

comparable to any developed part of the world. The objective of putting India, and

Pakistan in category II is due to the reason that, they show around 50 percent completion

rates. In case of Pakistan despite the completion rate very close to the South-Asian

average, it has a very poor enrolment ratio. The Government of Pakistan, however, has

fai~ed to provide educational facilities to the ma<Jses for which it has a very poor

enrolment ratio. The completion rate is very low in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. While

analysing the enrolment ratios of these countries, barring Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal

have impressive figures. The low level of completion highlights the wastages in these

countries at the primary level. The obvious reason W<1uld be the socio-economic condition

of the parents which compels the children to drop out while pursuing the primary

education.

However, the goals set for the South-Asian countries to achieve 80 percent

completion rate around 2000 A.D. in the Colombo summit, has to be followed by proper

51

educational policies so that this can be made a successful programme.

The declaration of the 1990 the SAARC Year For The Girl Child has however

highlighted the issues of status of girl child in thls region. Constituting 50 percent of the

total population, these children are neglected like anything and the future does not

promise any bright result unless we bring some changes in their status. In this respect the

objective is to find out the hurdles in the way or improving the status by universalizing

girl's education in this region.

A mere glance at the statistics of the Sot.tth-Asian region makes it apparent that

despite constitutional commitments, the universalisation of girl's education at the primary

level is still a long way from realisation. Individually or combined, poverty and gender .. discrimination constitute the basic barriers in universalisation of primary education for

girls.

3.6 Adult Literacy

Literacy is an essential component of human development. It is recognised as a

pre-condition for the individual's participation in the process of national development. The

focus on adult literacy stems not only from the ne«l to empower productive adults so that

they can enhance the quality of their own lives and contribute better to the society, but

from the visible impact that adult literacy has on attitudes to all forms of education and

to development.

52

Table 5

Comparative Study of the Adult Literacy Rates

Country 1970 1990 1992 2000 Male Female Male Female Total Goal

Bangladesh 36 12 47 22 37 45

Bhutan 51 25 41 65

India 47 20 62 34 52 70

Maldives 98 99 98 99

Nepal 23 3 38 13 27 68

Pakistan 30 11 47 21 36 65 0

Sri lanka 85 69 93 84 89 95

South Asia 44 19 59 32 48

Source: i) State of the World's Children 1994, UNICEF. ii) Statistical pr?file of children in South Asia, 1992.

The programme of universalisation of primary education in its broad objective

brings the illiterate population under its consideration and the objective is to analyse the

existing situation in South-Asia and fonnulate policies to give education to this adult

population. In the South Asian region, there is a big gap between the male-female literary

rates. The overall picture in 1970 shows less than fifty percent, i.e. 44 percent of the total

male population to be literate and only 19 pereent of the female population. However,

53

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

DIAGRAM NO. 5

GENDER DISPARITY IN ADULT LITERACY RATES

Percentage

Bhutan S.Lanka India Maldives Nepal Pak. Bangladesh

.. Male B Female

5"4

over the period 1970 to 1990, the male literacy rate: has reached 59 percent and female

literacy rose to 32 percent.

In case of Sri lanka and Maldives, the rate of adult literacy is quite satisfactory and

in rest of the member countries, it is in a very sorry state of affair. From the figures it can

be concluded that the negligence of the primary education in the earlier period have

yielded such problems of illiteracy in the member countries. Over this period, we have

not been able to evolve a viable, community based a11d well-coordinated system of adult

and non-formal education. A mass mobilization has to be achieved for combating

illiteracy and policy declarations, legal enactments and even financial allocations, by

themselves, cannot generate the neceSsary momentum to awake and involve the people 0

in a process which failed to influence them at the right age.

It appears that with the passage of time, the organization and the agencies, mostly

aided and financed by the governments of the respective countries, are trying to do too

many things in a short span of life. Instead of building on the experience of the structures

which have been organised to promote literacy, they are trying to chase new concepts and

adopt modem approaches on an adhoc and short-term basis. This is being done without

measuring the impact of the sophisticated experiment~ conducted on a limited scale on

the long range objectives of achieving universalliteraoy by the nation in the favourable

future.

However, the historical analysis of the development of the education system in the

South Asian countries during the British colonial period was totally inimical to the

55

existing indigenous form of educational system. When the foreign and western form of

educational system was enforced on the masses, the majority of the population failed to

accept the new educational reforms and remained outside the system. This has brought

in such a state of affair in the case of adult education.

In order to accommodate these neglected sections of the population, the

governments of the member countries ~ave initiated different types of non-formal

education system to make these people literate. Non-formal education refers to any

organised educational activity operating outside the structure and routine of the formal

school to provide selected types of leantings to sub-groups in the whole population,

especially out of school youths and adults. ..

Mostly the programmes are design~ to meet specific needs and aspirations of the

particular target groups. Learning process takes anywhere, anytime and in any form

outside the schooi.Mostly the programme focusses on practical, functional and often job-

oriented activities. This is mostly carried out on a part time activity which is less costly,

because highly qualified instructors and well equipped buildings are not needed. This

programme involves the community so as to win the confidence of the masses and

believes in participatory development process. The basic objective of the concept of non-

formal education stems from social justice, equalisation of educational opportunities,

democracy, reduction of disparities and adaptation to social and cultural patterns of the

country.

56

0

The effective management of non-formal education is closely related to the

motivation of all those who implement different programmes at the grassroots level and

the beneficiaries have to be more active and motivated to successfully achieve the

objectives of a specific programme. As there are no compulsions, no achievement

certificates, no rigid timetables and programmes are tailored to the needs of the learners,

non-formal education needs effective motivational techniques and whole-time support

from the community.

Continuing education is regarded as a life-long process, responding to the needs

of individuals for self-development in different settings. In most developing countries and

in South Asia in particular, more than 75 percent of the population lives in rural areas.

The focus of continuing education in these C<luntries, therefore, is the rural population and

the women who constitute more than 60 per~nt of the illiterate population in rural areas.

Continuing education is primarily a program-"e supportive of universalisation of primary

education and literacy activities and secondly, it goes beyond literacy and enables youths

to apply their learning and improve their skills for improving their own quality of life and

that of their community. As support to UPE, continuing education has been used as a

means to help children complete primary education and to ensure that whatever learned

is retained and not lost.

There is an urgent need to evolve ct systerp wtucft can motivate the neo-literates

to improve their literacy levels and pqrsue certain well-designed post-literacy activities

which may permanently place them in the stlect COPlpapy of the literate. However, in this

!t7

region we treat continuing education and non-formal education as identical concepts and

look upon all these new approaches as the recognition of the right of the children, men

and women of all ages to have the opportunity to meet their learning needs, seek self­

reliance, equality and effective living through education at any stage in their lives. This

mode of learning implies that life long education should be available to the poorest of the

poor and to the women who should have equality of educational opportunity along with

men.

3. 7 National Activities Related to APPEAL

Since the official launching of "Asia Pacific Programme of Education for All

(APPEAL) by the Director General of UNESCO on February 23, 198711 , all the member

countries of this South Asian region, have been actively planning programmes and

activities to bring into sharp focus, the three principal activities of the APPEAL and to

motivate the entire region to accelerate their efforts for the achievement of the goals by

the year 2000. A chain of meetings and workshops were organised at different levels

during 1987-88 and the aim of all these meetings has been to seek solutions to some of

the most critical problems undermining our efforts for both attainment of universal

primary education by the year 2000 and the establishment of national non-formal

education capable of eradicating illiteracy in the respective countries within a reasonable

11 APPEAL: Pakistan, (UNESCO, Bangkok, 1991), p.52.

58

time frame.

At the national level, National Coordination Committees for APPEAL have been

formed in all the South Asian countries in order to plan, promote, coordinate and monitor

APPEAL activities. The objectives set for these committees are:

i) to provide schooling facilities for each and every child of the age group 5 to 9

years

ii) mobilise all the resource persons and sufficient financial resources to offer

educational opportunities suited to the needs and aptitudes of the illiterate adults

in the 15 to 45 years age group and to offer a second chance to those who could

not get education at the right age

iii) establish a system of continuing education by which the newly acquired reading

and writing capabilities of the neo-literates can be preserved and strengthened.

Past progress towards the goals of universal primary education and 100 percent

literacy has been slow and disheartening. The APPEAL Committee can generate a

momentum which may enable us to reach the destination of UPE by 2000, if not, a high

literacy rate of 80 percent.

In this respect the first target should be universalisation of primary education

within the next five years. With quantitative expansion at the primary level efforts should

be made to bring about qualitative improvement also. With the enhancement of quality

and standard of primary education the drop out rate, a cancerous problem afflicting the

59

primary school system will certainly fall and the holding power of schools will increase.

The sector in which we have not even found the direction is the adult and non-formal

education sectors. There has to be a political will to reconstru~ energise develop and

sustain this system continuously to provide literacy and useful skills to 75 percent of the

population which is enveloped by the darknesss of the ignorance and illiteracy because

of the apathy and indifference of the respective governments.

In order to learn from the experience of various successful programmes undertaken

in these member countries, it is quite essential to shed some light on this topic. In the

South-Asian region, there are a number of successful programmes which are undertaken

by taking the existing operational constraints into consideration, in order to bring 0

universalisation of primary education in this region. In this respect we have to impress

upon that the country, with its present low literacy rate, will have no avenues of economic

development, scientific and technical self-reliance but to remain underdeveloped.

Accepting the need of universalisation of primary education in this region, both the

private and government sectors have to work hand-in-hand to expand literacy and non-

formal educational activities on an extensive scale.

3.8 Some of the Successful Programmes Undertaken in South-Asia

3.8.1 Bangladesh: "Each One, Teach One"

•Each one, teach one' was a system introduced in 1980 in Bangladesh in an

attempt to eradicate literacy. A secondary ~rtificate was given to a boy or girl unless he

60

or she had "adopted" an illiterate boy or girl, or even an adult and taught him or her the

basic learning needs and skills. The 'each one, tech one' system was discontinued after

a few years. The possibility of re-introducing that system with the additional theme that

each literate family should teach one illiterate person as well is under considerationP

Satellite Schools: Apart from the primary education !1ystem, a satellite school concept has

been developed in Bangladesh. These satellite schools would surround a "mother school".

Bangladesh has access difficulties. There are many rivers, rivulets and highways and

children who are 5 - 7 years old often find it difficult to reach school on their own. So

satellite schools would be set up around "mother" schools to eliminate geographical

barriers. The satellite school is already functioning and the experiment has radiated ...

positive indications. Another batch of 200 such satellite schools will soon become

operational. An attractive feature of the system is that a voluntary teacher would be

employed by the community itself. He/she would be teaching a non-graded class I and

class II. These satellite schools would act in future as feeder schools for the primary

schools.13

3.8.2 Bhutan: "Teaching the Blind"

A school has been opened for blind children in Bhutan which gives the maximum

12 Future Strategies for Universalizing Girl's Education in South Asia, (Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, 1990-91), p.49.

13 Ibid, p.49.

61

learning and teaching experience aimed at fitting them back into society. The curriculum

has not been designed exclusively with the view that it is for blind students. It is argued

that, after all they are not blind mentally. Therefore, a common curriculum which will

keep them at par with other children has beeQ selected. But the methods, the medium and

the approaches have been specially designed to cater to the immediate needs of blind

students.14

Extended classrooms: The extended classrooms is a one-teacher classroom, opened

whenever there are not enough children to form a school in the proper sense. In the

extended classroom, there are children of different ages and levels - some at the primary

level, some at the 2nd and 3rd level. The extended classroom has multigrade teaching and ..

prepares the children according to the level. Once the teacher has prepared them, there

are schools where these "prepared" children can be absorbed. Instead of asking the

community to send their children to schools, which could be at some distance, the

authorities thought of an alternative: why should not the teacher go into the community

and make sure that the children receive basic learning in their environment? The

extended one-teacher classroom has met with an appreciable degree of acceptance and

success.15

14

15

Ibid, p.49.

Ibid, p.50.

62

3.8.3 Pakistan: The Mosque School

The mosque has traditionally been a seat of learning in an Islamic society. In the

Indo-Pakistan sub-continent in the pre-British period the "Maktabs" and "Darul-ulooms"

were the educational institutions of the highest standard. During the British rule, these

institutions lapsed into inactivity and isolated themselves from the mainstream having the

desire integrate the mosque with the elementary system of education in the country. The

educational planners perceived the pivotal role of the mosque as the vehicle of basic

literacy and religious education at the time of the formulation of the 5th and 6th five year

plans, covering the period 1978 to 1988. The 6th plan alone targeted on the opening of

43 thousand mosque schools from 1983 to 1988. However, around 21 thousand mosque .. school, welt supported and looked after by local communities have started functioning in

the country. The "mosque school" is establishing itself on a viable alternative to formal

primary school, both for boys and girls, in rural localities and urban areas where no

school exists.16

Mohalta schools: Like the mosque school, "Mohalla school" functioning informally in

village houses and serving the needs of girls of all ages, is another institution having its

roots in the history. These institutions continue to hold its own role in rural communities

despite the proliferation of regular girls schools. Pious, venerable and knowledgeable old

leaders who can read and write, but do not go out, voluntarily undertake to teach the Holy

Quran, the basics of Islam, homely etiquette, cooking, selected skills for home

16 APPEAL: National Studies, Paki.r;tan, (UNESCO, Bangkok, 1991), p.13.

63

management along with rudiments of literacy, to young girls in a settlement on a locality.

The government planned to establish 5 thousand "mohalla schools" in rural areas where

separate primary schools for girls did not exist and it was decided to integrate "mohalla

school" into formal education by the provision of equivalent courses of study and vertical

movements of girls wishing to continue their education. The recognised curriculum of the

"Mohalla School" includes the basic religious instructions components, learning of

household skills and elements of reading and writing. 17x

Nai Roshi School (New Light Schools): The Uteracy for Mass Education Commission

(LAMEC), of the Government of Pakistan launched its "Nai Roshi" or "drop-in" school

programme in 1986, with three objectives in view: to offer a second chance to drop outs .. and first chance to those of the 10-14 years age group who never joined a school, to

provide free education with flexible timings and non-formal environment in "open" school

life literacy centres and to provide employment to the unemployed education youths with

their villages or regions, by trainJng and engaging them in these schools. LAMEC plans

to open 22 thousand schools duripg 1986-90 and of these 5580 will be in urban areas and

16,420 in rural areas. By the end of August 1987, according to I.AMEC records, more

than 15 thousand "Nai Roshi" schools had been opened. 18

17

18

Ibid, p.15.

Ibid, p.16.

64

3.8.4 India : Operation Blackboard

Operation blackboard is a phased drive to bring an improvement in physical

facilities in all primary schools in the country. It has been launched to ensure provision

of minimum essential facilities in primary schools. Operation blackboard envisages:

i) two reasonably large rooms that are usable in all weathers,

ii) necessary toys and games materials: blackboards, maps, charts and other learning

materials,

iii) an additional teacher, preferably woman, in all single teacher schools.

The plan is to cover all primary schools run by government, local bodies and .. panchayati raj institutions in the villages or municipal areas covering 20 percent of

community development blocks in 1987-88, 30 percent in 1988-89 and 50 percent in

1989-90. In selecting the blocks, states have been advised to see that no district is left out

and preferences in selection of blocks is given to educationally disadvantaged blocks

having a concentration of SCs and STs and minorities.19

~strict Primarv Education Programme (DPEP): Th~ Eight Five Year Plan (19~2-97) departs from the earlier plans in the sense that the district would be the unit of planning

ofuniversalisation of primary education instead of the State. District specific plans would

be developed by the State governments on projects with specific activities, clearly defined

19 Education for All: Indian Scene, (Ministry of Human Re$0urce Development, New

Delhi, 1993), p.39. .

65

responsibilities, definite time schedules and specific targets. Each district project would

be prepared within the major strategic framework and would be tailored to the specific

needs and possibilities in the district.

Apart from effective UPE, the go(\ls of each project include the reduction of

existing disparities in educational access, the provision of alternative systems of

comparable standards to the disadvantaged groups, a substantial improvement in the

quality of school facilities, obtaining a genuine community involvement in the running

of schools and building up local level capacity to ensure effective decentralisation of

educational planning. The overall goal of the project is reconstruction of primary

education as a whole in selected districts instead of a piecemeal implementation of

schemes. Such an integrated approach is expected to achieve synergies among different

programme components. Broadly districts are divided into three categories:

i) High literacy districts, in which acces.~ and enrolment are almost universal and

community awareness of the need for education is already high,

ii) districts in which total literacy campaigns have been successful leading to an

enhanced demand for elementary education, and

iii) low literacy districts in which the provision of education facilities is

unsatisfactory, the delivery system inadequate and community awareness low.20

The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) launched in 1993 seeks to

operationalize the strategy of district level planning. To begin with, the projects are being

20 Ibid, p.49.

66

0

formulated in 43 districts in the eight States of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Haryana,

Maharashtra, Kamataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The objective is to gradually extend the

coverage to all districts which satisfy one of the twin criteria for coverage. The attempt

would be to start the programme in atleast 110 districts in the Eighth Plan with an

estimated outlay of Rs. 195 million, of which Rs. 172 million is proposed to be drawn

from external sources. 21

Total Literacv Campaign: The emergence of Total Literacy campaigns has provided an

important alternative avenue of non-formal education for children in the age group 9-14;

the efficiency of this avenue can be related to the Intense social mobilization. Non-formal

education as a major government sponsored effort, is comparatively new to elementary

education, having started in the Sixth Plan (1980-85). Following the National Policy on

Education (1986), the scheme of non-formal education was revised. NFE has been -visualised as a child centered and environment oriented system to meet the diverse

educational needs of the comparatively deprived geographical areas and socio-economic

sections of the society; it also seeks to provide for organizational flexibility, relevance of

curriculum, diversity in learning activities to relate them to the learner's needs and

decentralised management. Thirty nine NGOs are engaged in experimental and innovative

projects of NFE. Two innovative projects of NFE stand out:

i) the Shiksha Karmi project which seeks to tackle the problelll of teachers

"absenteeism" in remote villages in Rajasthan state by substituting primary school

21 Ibid, p.SO.

teachers with a team of voluntary education workers or "Shiksha Karmis" selected

v by the community,)

ii) an interdisciplinary, action-research project (PROPEL), Promoting Primary and

Elementary Education. is an experiment to liberate the creative energies of the

rural masses for an integrated local effort towards development. Conducted by the

Indian Institute of Education, Pune, PROPEL covers 137 contiguous villages,

about 18,000 households and 110,000 population. "Transparency" in all

educational operations is the core of this community mobilisation project which

has been selected by UNESCO as a "show-case" project for Asia.22

3.8.5 Sri Lanka: The Open School

In the case of Srilanka, there are two major factors that have influenced the

percentage of literacy. One is the socio-cultural religious factor wherein Buddhism is the

predominant religion, followed by Hinduism. Both these religions place a very high

priority on learning with the result that the concept of learning soon became a part of

people's psyche. Legislation which gave high priority to education and allied cultural

activities also played a major role. So a tradition of education was encouraged, both by

cultural factors and "benevolent" legislation in which a lot of emphasis was placed on

social development and education.

22 Ibid, p.52.

68

The Ministry is committed to a policy of expansion of non-formal education based

on the philosophy of continuing and recurrent education. Implementation of a proposal

contained in Education Proposals for Reform will lead to establishment of an island wide

network of open school. The open school provides a variety of courses including personal

enrichment courses, vocational courses and courses facilitating re-entry into the formal

education system. The drop-outs from the formal system and the disadvantaged who have

never gone to school are offered opportunities for further development. Different t-ypes

of non-formal education programmes are offered using the facilities of a cluster of

schools. One important function of the open school is to function as a support centre for

the large minority who have school to enter workforce.23

0

3.8.6 NEPAL: The Seti Project

An innovative approach was initiated by the Seti Project in 1982 to assist out of

school girls aged 6-12 under the Chelibeti programme. The programme is launched

especially in remote areas where girl's enrolment is rleatively low. The Office of the

Women's Education Project unit under the Ministry of Education and Culture has been

specially set up to take care of the promotion of women's education in the country. A

women's Education Committee is being constituted in each district under the leadership

of a Women's Organisation. This Committee is expected to increase girl's enrolment in

23 Towards Universalization of Primary Education is Asia and lhe Pacific, Sri Lanka, (UNESCO, Bangkok, 1984), p.48.

69

the concerned district. A total of 5 percent of the girls enrolled receive scholarships and

another 5 percent get school dress free of cost. This scheme is expected to increase the

number of girls in schools.24

Analysing the status of primary education in South Asia, it is realized that mere

provision of schooling facilities do not ensure proper participation. What is needed at this

point of time to undertake various target specific and result-oriented programmes so that

it can be possible in this region. The succes5ful programmes undertaken in this region

provides the necessary insights to the member countries to formulate new policitS to

make it a successful programme.

24 APPEAL: National Studies, Nepal, (UNESCO, Bangkok, 1991), p.14.

70