Corruption in Education system in India – A UNESCO Report...!!!

India’s education system is mired in corruption and a high rate of teacher absenteeism in the country was a key factor for it according to the new global study. The UNESCO’s International Institute of Educational Planning study on corruption in education released recently says that 25% teacher absenteeism in India is among the highest in the world, second only after Uganda that has a higher rate. The global average of teacher absenteeism is about 20%.

Teacher absenteeism does not just affect quality of education; it is also a huge drain on resources resulting in the wastage of 22.5% of education funds in India the study said. Politics in teacher appointments and transfers is a major reason for teacher absenteeism according to a professor at National University for Education Planning and Administration.

The study identifies the absence of well established criteria for teacher recruitment a uniform policy on promotion, remuneration and deployment as some of the main reasons identified for teacher absenteeism. However the report found married teachers to be more regular at job than unmarried teachers.

In Bihar two of every five teachers were reported absent the figure in UP was reported to be one-third of the total teachers. However in states like Gujarat and Kerala the figure was lower than 15% the report based on several small studies.

Teachers also believe highly in private tutoring a practice identified by UNESCO as unethical. It does not complement learning at school and leads to corruption the report said. The practice of ghost teachers and involvement of teachers in mismanagement of schools were other gray areas identified in the Indian education system.

Another indictment of the sorry state of Indian education was the view held by students that cheating in examinations is their traditional right. In India universities cheating is now well-established. The fees for manipulating entrance tests ranges between $ 80 to $ 20,000 for popular programmes such as computer science, medicine and engineering the report said...!!!

Education and Rural Women...!!!

India dreams of becoming a superpower by 2020, but quite ironical is the fact that the country whose population has crossed one billion mark, has literacy rates quite comparable with the underdeveloped countries (and in some cases even less than these countries). The literacy rates for male and female (according to 2001 census) stands at 75.85 percent and 54.16 percent respectively. Various programs initiated by the state like Total Literacy Campaign, the District Primary Education Program and National Program of Nutritional Support to Primary Education have done little to attain the goal. Further, the gap between the rural and urban areas and that between female and their male counterpart is quite substantial.

While the male literacy rate in urban areas is about 86 percent, rural female literacy rate is just 46 percent (2001 census). Several plausible reasons explain this difference. The first and foremost of course, is the way the parents perceive the female education. Since the very beginning the role of female is confined to domestic work and looking after children. The tradition of settling at husband’s place after marriage, does not offer enough incentive to parents for spending on girls’ education. A boy’s education is far more important as it enhances the chances of his being employed. Another reason is the prevalent trend of early marriage in rural areas. In most villages, girls’ education, rather than being seen as an incentive is seen as a liability. It is difficult to find a groom for an educated girl.

These are not the only reasons responsible for the low level of female education. Though one cannot deny that gender inequality is, by and large, responsible for the situation, but several other factors also work in this direction. Very often, the parents who are willing to educate their daughters are discouraged by the absence of school within the surrounding area and it is not considered safe to send girls to another village to study. However, this is not true for most of the villages now. But even in villages where there are schools, the standard of infrastructure is abysmally low, be it management of classes, student-teacher ratio, availability of text books, or even furniture, these schools lack in every sense. This discourages the parents to get their children enrolled in these schools. There are incidences of under qualified staff being employed in educational institutions. The meager salaries that are offered by the government do not provide enough incentive to attract the talent to these schools for employment. Grimmer is the condition of scheduled caste female education. The recent figures show that the scheduled caste female literacy rate is dismal 19 percent (2001 census). This shows that the age old discrimination based on caste is still prevalent. This is really disheartening and shows that in spite of numerous schemes being launched by the government, the downtrodden classes still face social stigma and there is a lot to be done for the upliftment of these classes.

However, talking of female literacy, one cannot ignore the achievement of southern states in terms of female education. The states’ performance in terms of social indicators is often proportional to economic growth. But in India’s case rich states like Punjab and Haryana have lower literacy rates as compared to Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Kerala has performed really well since 1990s in fields of health and education, mainly due to the matriarchal pattern of their society. Himachal Pradesh has also managed to do significantly better than other states in relatively shorter span of time. Major credit for this goes to the political action in the state. The success of government’s initiatives often depends on the cooperative action of the community. The illiterate people are often unable to put pressure on the state governments and school authorities, and so, they can easily get away with the blame. Huge amount provided in the budget for expenditure on education does not reach to the grass root level due to the endemic corruption. Thus lack of accountability is often responsible for ramshackle infrastructure of government schools.

Education, under nutrition, and gender discrimination are all interrelated. For example, infant’s health depends on the care taken by mother during pregnancy which in turn depends on her education and also the education in the community. Further, an educated mother is better equipped to help her children in studies. So, there is a need for change in the social attitude of rural people towards women. Also, the standard of government schools’ infrastructure needs to be raised. The salaries of staff should also be raised to make them more committed. Other states should learn from Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu so that the goal of achieving universal education does not remain a distant dream.

 Divya Sharma

Indian Women ....?!!!?

CBSE Equivalence to Madrassa Certificates...!!!

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is ready to grant Madrassa certificates; equivalence to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).This recommendation has been made by the Sachar Committee, which was appointed by the HRD Ministry to review the status of minorities. This suggestion also finds mention in the Prime Minister’s 15-point program for minorities. As per the recommendation, students can also approach a Madrassa board in other states to get CBSE equivalence, if a state does not have a Madrassa board.

A committee appointed in 2007 proposed to recognize ‘Aalim’ degrees offered by Madrassas for admissions into the B.A. course. ‘Fazil’ degrees were also proposed to be recognized for admissions to post graduate programmmes.

This move by the government appears to be political one rather than a genuine one. Madrassas are the centers of Islamic learning.Although some Madrassas teach secular subjects like logic, language(Urdu and Persian), Islamic history, Calligraphy, Geography etc,in general Madrassas offer a religious based curriculum,focusing on the Quran and Islamic texts.Often a religious-based curriculum focuses on the Quran and Islamic texts. But, they do not train students in modern science, technology and value system. The major difference between Madrassas and the normal schools is that the education imparted in Madrassas are not enough to qualify the students to get employment in this modern world and survive. Recently,The Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education (UPBME) banned co-education in madarsas across the state, saying it is against the “spirit of Islam”.

The genesis of Madrassa in South Asia is attributable to the Delhi Sultanate. The original purpose of the Madrassa was to equip the youth for the administrative service of the Sultanate. Since the decline and eventual cessation of muslim rule in India, the graduates of Madrassa do not have job opportunities outside the umma. Apart from a handful of ones who continue their studies in departments of Islamics, Arabic, Persian or Urdu in some of the Modern Indian Universities. The more accomplished of these graduates from dual systems of education get absorbed in Universities, the rest remain content with either teaching in the fast mushrooming Madrassa (Government or independent) or becoming leaders (imams) of the equally fast growing mosques.

Two of the famous Islamic institutions are “Darul Uloom Deoband” and “Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama- Lucknow”. Darul Uloom has a comprehensive syllabus. It consists of 4 stages – primary, middle, high and specialization. In the primary syllabus students are taught Urdu, Persian, Hindi, Geography, Arabic Grammar and Composition. Nadwatul Ulama of Lucknow also brought about certain far-reaching changes in the traditional curriculum of the Qaumi Madrassas of India in response to the changed circumstances and needs of the time. The primary five years cover complete primary education as prescribed for general schools besides giving a sound religious base to its students.

But, there are many Madrassas which are not affiliated to them and which give more importance to Islamic subjects, in some cases completely ignoring secular subjects. There is an absence of a centralized agency to exercise control on all Madrassas. Hence some Madrassas follow their own designated syllabus which is a hindrance for smooth functioning and standardising of quality education. There is a lack of modern teaching methodology in about all big and small Madrassas. Madrassa educated people in general, find it difficult to get established and earn money and livelihood. In order to provide appropriate leadership and guidance, Madrassas must give particular stress to the learning of the English language, which at present is absent. In short, there is lack of ability in its alumni, to cope with the challenges of modern world.

Further, some experts also suggest that a small group of radicalized Madrassas, especially the ones located in Border areas promote extremist form of Islam.According to the task force, there are 905 Mosques and 439 Madrassas along Indo-Bangladesh border on the Indian side.A detailed Indian intelligence report issued some years ago claimed that some Madrassas were functioning as training grounds for anti-Indian elements. The report went on to suggest that muftis, maulvis and imams in these schools may have been replaced by what it calls “highly fanatic agents of ISI”, secretly working for the break- up of India. In May 2001, a ministerial group for the “reform of internal security” headed by the then Indian Home Minister L.K. Advani, released a 137-page report that recommended, among other measures, a close scrutiny of Madrassas.

Under such situations, the decision to grant CBSE equivalence to Madrassa certificates is very unwise and appears to be politically motivated step. Few claim that the present step is a welcome one, as it aims to enrich the Islamic heritage of India by mainstreaming Islamic studies. But, why Government has not thought about supporting and encouraging the Hindu studies? Why are there no such steps towards mainstreaming Vedic Patshalas and Sanskrit Patshalas? Why the traditional gurukula system has almost vanished?

Instead of vote-bank politics, government should concentrate on improving the education system of India. Government should make religion as one compulsory subject in Primary and High schools. Students can study any religion they want. By this, Hindu students can learn Hindu religion and culture and Muslim students can learn Islam along with Maths and Science. Curriculum may be designed such that, at primary level one can study one’s own religion and at High school level they can study comparative religions. Apart from that, Religious schools Hindu, Muslim and Christian can be instructed to have curriculum such that, along with detailed religious studies, modern subjects are included. In this direction, Modernization of Madrassas are necessary to bring them on par with secular schools. Only after this, the equivalent status to CBSE should be provided. Further, such a provision should be provided for Vedic and Sanskrit Patshalas too.

  

Nithin Shridhar