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Perspectives in Education and Education Policy · Chapter 5

Contemporary Concerns I

What to remember

  • Education serves democracy and equity. A democratic school gives every child equal voice and opportunity; equity goes one step further and gives extra help to those who start behind.
  • Education is also an investment. Human capital theory says spending on education raises skills, income and national growth.
  • Literacy, gender, population and migration are linked concerns. Saakshar Bharat (2009) targeted adult women's literacy; population education, gender sensitivity and support for migrant children are part of a teacher's work.

Democracy and education

Democracy is not only a form of government; it is a way of living together. John Dewey described a democratic society as one in which people share interests and interact freely with all groups.

  • Democratic values: liberty, equality, fraternity, justice, dignity and respect for diversity (the values in the Preamble of the Constitution).
  • Education for democracy: teaches rights and duties, critical thinking, tolerance, participation and respect for rule of law.
  • A democratic classroom: children can ask questions, work in groups, take part in decisions, and the teacher uses encouragement instead of fear.
  • Democratic administration of schools: School Management Committees, student councils, Parent-Teacher Associations and the School Development Plan.
  • Constitutional support: Article 21A (free and compulsory education, ages 6 to 14), Article 29 and 30 (cultural and educational rights of minorities), Article 15(4) and 46 (care for weaker sections).

Equality and equity

EqualityEquity
Same input for everyoneDifferent support based on need
Treats all alikeTreats the disadvantaged with extra help
Example: same textbook to allExample: free textbooks, hostels, ramps and remedial classes for those who need them
Formal fairnessReal or substantive fairness
  • Equality of educational opportunity has three parts: equal access, equal participation and equal outcomes.
  • Barriers: poverty, caste, gender, disability, language, distance and child labour.
  • Remedies: reservation, scholarships, residential schools, free meals, bridge courses, special training under RTE, and the 25% seats for disadvantaged children in private unaided schools at entry level (RTE Section 12(1)(c)).
  • The Common School System proposed by the Kothari Commission wants all children, rich or poor, to study in neighbourhood schools of good quality.
  • Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) is the term NEP 2020 uses for groups who need special attention.

Quality in education

Quality means how well an education system meets the needs of learners and society. It has several dimensions.

  • Input quality: teachers, buildings, books, laboratories, funds.
  • Process quality: teaching methods, classroom climate, assessment, school leadership.
  • Output quality: learning outcomes, skills, values and employability.
  • Context quality: relevance to the learner's life and community.

Ways to improve quality: teacher training, activity-based and child-centred teaching, continuous and comprehensive evaluation, low pupil-teacher ratio, use of ICT, strong school supervision, community involvement, and attention to foundational literacy and numeracy. Total Quality Management (TQM) brings the idea of continuous improvement, team work and customer (learner) satisfaction from industry into education. Quality and equity must go together; a good school that excludes poor children is not a good system. The RTE Act speaks of "quality" in terms of norms: pupil-teacher ratio, buildings, working days and teaching hours.

Economics of education

Economics of education studies how resources are used to produce education and how education adds to the economy.

  • Human capital theory (associated with Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker): spending on education and health builds the skills of people and raises productivity, just as machines build physical capital.
  • Education as consumption and investment: it gives satisfaction now (consumption) and income later (investment).
  • Private returns and social returns: private returns are gains to the person (higher earnings); social returns are gains to society (better health, lower crime, citizenship, growth).
  • Cost concepts: direct cost (fees, books), indirect cost (income lost while studying), unit cost (cost per student).
  • Financing: the state, local bodies, fees, donations, loans and community contributions. The Kothari Commission (1964-66) recommended spending 6 per cent of national income on education, and NEP 2020 repeats this goal for public spending.
  • Wastage and stagnation: wastage is dropping out before completing the stage; stagnation is staying in the same class more than one year. Both waste resources.
  • Manpower planning: matching the number of trained people with the needs of the economy.

Literacy and Saakshar Bharat

  • Literacy at its simplest means the ability to read, write and do simple calculations with understanding. Functional literacy means using these skills in daily life and work.
  • National Literacy Mission was started in 1988 and used the Total Literacy Campaign approach through volunteers.
  • Saakshar Bharat Mission was launched on 8 September 2009, which is International Literacy Day. It is the new phase of adult education after the National Literacy Mission.
  • Aims: to raise adult literacy rate, to reduce the gender gap in literacy, and to reduce regional, social and gender disparities. Women, SC, ST, minorities and weaker sections are priority groups. The target group is adults aged 15 years and above.
  • Delivery: Lok Shiksha Samitis at Gram Panchayat level and Adult Education Centres. Four components are basic literacy, post-literacy, continuing education and vocational skills.
  • A later programme, ULLAS (Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram), continues adult literacy for the 15-plus age group on a volunteer basis; check the latest details from official sources.
  • International Literacy Day is 8 September.

Population education

Population education makes learners understand the causes and effects of population change, so that they take responsible decisions about family size, resources and the environment.

  • Main content: population growth and its effect on food, health, housing and environment; family welfare; small family norm; age at marriage; gender equality; migration and urbanisation.
  • It is not sex education; it is a larger social and economic subject.
  • NCERT began a population education project with support from UNFPA in the 1980s.
  • It can be taught through the curriculum, activities, projects, posters, debates and surveys.
  • Related ideas: demographic transition, birth rate, death rate, fertility and the dependency ratio.

Gender and education

  • Sex is biological; gender is a social role given to men and women.
  • Gender bias: stereotypes in textbooks, fewer chances for girls, early marriage, safety concerns, household work.
  • Gender-sensitive teaching: equal participation in the class, equal use of sports and science, gender-neutral language, safe toilets and a safe school.
  • Government measures: KGBV, NPEGEL, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (2015), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, scholarships for girls, free bicycles in some states and the gender-inclusion fund under NEP 2020.
  • Savitribai Phule and Jyotirao Phule started a school for girls in Pune in 1848; Savitribai is known as India's first woman teacher.
  • Gender Parity Index (GPI) compares the girl's rate with the boy's rate; a value of 1 means parity.

Urbanisation and migration

  • Urbanisation is the growth in the share of people living in towns and cities. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another for work, marriage, study or safety.
  • Effects on education: overcrowded urban schools, slum children and street children, child labour, children of seasonal migrants who drop out, language problems, lack of documents, and unequal quality between government and private schools.
  • Responses: seasonal hostels and residential bridge courses, special training for out-of-school children, portability of records and admission without a transfer certificate (RTE Sections 4 and 5), urban education plans, mobile schools, and community support.
  • Positive side: better access to schools, colleges, libraries and technology; mixing of cultures.
  • A teacher should be sensitive to a migrant child's language and home needs and should enrol the child at any time of the year.

Exam traps

  • 1. Equality means the same treatment; equity means treatment based on need.
  • 2. Saakshar Bharat (2009) is for adults aged 15 and above; the National Literacy Mission started in 1988.
  • 3. Human capital theory sees education as an investment, not only a consumption item.
  • 4. Wastage means dropout; stagnation means repetition in the same class.
  • 5. Population education is not the same as sex education.
  • 6. Sex is biological; gender is social.
  • 7. Private return goes to the individual; social return goes to society.
  • 8. The 25% reservation in private schools is under RTE Section 12(1)(c), at entry level only.

One-liners

  • 1. The Preamble's values are liberty, equality, fraternity and justice.
  • 2. Article 21A guarantees free and compulsory education for ages 6 to 14.
  • 3. The Kothari Commission recommended the Common School System.
  • 4. Kothari also suggested about 6 per cent of national income for education.
  • 5. Schultz and Becker are linked with human capital theory.
  • 6. Saakshar Bharat was launched on 8 September 2009.
  • 7. International Literacy Day falls on 8 September.
  • 8. The National Literacy Mission began in 1988.
  • 9. Savitribai Phule is called India's first woman teacher.
  • 10. TQM stands for Total Quality Management.
  • 11. Gender Parity Index of 1 means equal girl and boy rates.
  • 12. Special training for out-of-school children is provided under RTE.

Practice questions

  1. Saakshar Bharat Mission was launched in

    1. 1999
    2. 1988
    3. 2014
    4. 2009
    Answer

    D. 2009

    It was launched on 8 September 2009, International Literacy Day.

  2. International Literacy Day is observed on

    1. 14 November
    2. 8 September
    3. 5 September
    4. 24 January
    Answer

    B. 8 September

    UNESCO's International Literacy Day falls on 8 September.

  3. Saakshar Bharat mainly targets adults aged

    1. 6 to 14 years
    2. Below 6 years
    3. 15 years and above
    4. 35 years and above only
    Answer

    C. 15 years and above

    The mission is for non-literate adults aged 15 and above, with priority to women.

  4. The National Literacy Mission was started in

    1. 1966
    2. 2009
    3. 1995
    4. 1988
    Answer

    D. 1988

    NLM began in 1988.

  5. Equity in education means

    1. giving extra support according to the needs of the learner
    2. giving identical inputs to all
    3. admitting only meritorious learners
    4. charging equal fees from all
    Answer

    A. giving extra support according to the needs of the learner

    Equity is fairness based on need; equality is identical treatment.

  6. Providing free textbooks, ramps and bridge courses to disadvantaged children is an example of

    1. formal equality only
    2. equity
    3. privatisation
    4. selection by merit
    Answer

    B. equity

    Extra help for those who start behind is equity.

  7. The Common School System was recommended by the

    1. Hunter Commission
    2. Sargent Plan
    3. Kothari Commission
    4. Mudaliar Commission
    Answer

    C. Kothari Commission

    The Kothari Commission (1964-66) recommended neighbourhood common schools.

  8. The Kothari Commission recommended spending about what share of national income on education?

    1. 1 per cent
    2. 10 per cent
    3. 3 per cent
    4. 6 per cent
    Answer

    D. 6 per cent

    Six per cent is the long-standing goal repeated in NEP 2020.

  9. Human capital theory in education is associated with

    1. John Dewey and Froebel
    2. Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker
    3. Piaget and Vygotsky
    4. Maslow and Herzberg
    Answer

    B. Theodore Schultz and Gary Becker

    They saw spending on education as an investment in human capital.

  10. Education seen as an investment that raises later income is the idea of

    1. physical capital only
    2. human capital
    3. cultural lag
    4. wastage
    Answer

    B. human capital

    Human capital views skills as productive assets.

  11. Dropping out of school before completing a stage is called

    1. wastage
    2. enrolment
    3. retention
    4. stagnation
    Answer

    A. wastage

    Wastage is dropout; stagnation is repetition in the same class.

  12. Staying in the same class for more than one year is called

    1. promotion
    2. wastage
    3. stagnation
    4. transition
    Answer

    C. stagnation

    Stagnation means repetition.

  13. A gain such as higher earnings to the individual from education is a

    1. social return
    2. public cost
    3. indirect cost
    4. private return
    Answer

    D. private return

    Private returns accrue to the person.

  14. Income lost by a student while studying is a

    1. indirect cost
    2. direct cost
    3. unit cost
    4. social return
    Answer

    A. indirect cost

    Foregone earnings are indirect (opportunity) costs.

  15. The 25 per cent seats for disadvantaged children in private unaided schools are provided under RTE

    1. Section 3
    2. Section 28
    3. Section 12(1)(c)
    4. Section 17
    Answer

    C. Section 12(1)(c)

    Section 12(1)(c) covers entry-level admission.

  16. Article 21A of the Constitution guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged

    1. 6 to 18 years
    2. 14 to 18 years
    3. 3 to 6 years
    4. 6 to 14 years
    Answer

    D. 6 to 14 years

    Article 21A was inserted by the 86th Amendment.

  17. Which of these is NOT an ideal named in the Preamble?

    1. Liberty
    2. Fraternity
    3. Capitalism
    4. Equality
    Answer

    C. Capitalism

    The Preamble names justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.

  18. John Dewey described a democratic society as one in which

    1. rulers decide everything
    2. interests are shared and all groups interact freely
    3. only experts may speak
    4. classes are kept apart
    Answer

    B. interests are shared and all groups interact freely

    This is Dewey's view of democratic living.

  19. A classroom where children ask questions and share in decisions reflects

    1. democratic values
    2. segregation
    3. rote learning
    4. authoritarian control
    Answer

    A. democratic values

    Participation and voice mark a democratic classroom.

  20. Total Quality Management in education stresses

    1. fixed syllabus only
    2. fear of failure
    3. reducing teachers
    4. continuous improvement and learner satisfaction
    Answer

    D. continuous improvement and learner satisfaction

    TQM brings continuous improvement from industry.

  21. Which is an input of quality in school education?

    1. Learning outcomes of children
    2. Trained teachers and classrooms
    3. Classroom climate
    4. Employability after school
    Answer

    B. Trained teachers and classrooms

    Inputs are resources; outcomes are outputs.

  22. Learning outcomes of children are an example of

    1. output quality
    2. input quality
    3. context quality
    4. process quality
    Answer

    A. output quality

    Outputs are results of the educational process.

  23. Population education is best described as

    1. teaching reproduction details only
    2. a subject on family finance
    3. helping learners understand effects of population change and take responsible decisions
    4. training in census work
    Answer

    C. helping learners understand effects of population change and take responsible decisions

    It is a social and economic subject, not simply sex education.

  24. Population education is

    1. identical with sex education
    2. a part of home science only
    3. only for adults
    4. not the same as sex education
    Answer

    D. not the same as sex education

    It is wider and covers resources, migration and family welfare.

  25. Gender refers to

    1. age groups
    2. biological differences
    3. blood groups
    4. socially assigned roles of men and women
    Answer

    D. socially assigned roles of men and women

    Sex is biological; gender is social.

  26. Gender Parity Index equal to 1 means

    1. no girl is enrolled
    2. girls are twice the boys
    3. girls and boys have equal rates
    4. boys are twice the girls
    Answer

    C. girls and boys have equal rates

    GPI = girls' value divided by boys' value.

  27. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched in

    1. 2015
    2. 2001
    3. 1986
    4. 2020
    Answer

    A. 2015

    The campaign was launched in 2015.

  28. Who is called India's first woman teacher?

    1. Pandita Ramabai
    2. Savitribai Phule
    3. Annie Besant
    4. Sarojini Naidu
    Answer

    B. Savitribai Phule

    Savitribai Phule started a girls' school in Pune with Jyotirao Phule.

  29. A child of a seasonal migrant family returns to the village in mid-year. The best action by the teacher is to

    1. admit the child in an age-appropriate class with special training
    2. refuse admission as the year has begun
    3. ask for the transfer certificate first
    4. admit only in the lowest class
    Answer

    A. admit the child in an age-appropriate class with special training

    RTE Sections 4 and 5 allow admission at any time without a TC.

  30. Seasonal hostels are mainly meant for

    1. gifted children
    2. children above 18
    3. urban elite
    4. children of migrant families
    Answer

    D. children of migrant families

    They prevent dropout when parents migrate for work.

  31. A rural girl is stopped from going to school because of household work. This barrier is mainly

    1. linguistic
    2. technological
    3. gender-based
    4. financial only
    Answer

    C. gender-based

    Gender stereotypes and domestic roles hold back girls.

  32. The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is a scheme linked with

    1. adult literacy
    2. girl child savings
    3. school buildings
    4. mid-day meal
    Answer

    B. girl child savings

    It is a savings scheme for the girl child.

  33. Equality of educational opportunity includes

    1. equal access, participation and outcomes
    2. equal height of buildings
    3. equal marks for all
    4. equal fees for all
    Answer

    A. equal access, participation and outcomes

    It has three parts.

  34. Which is a feature of a democratic school?

    1. Banning all questions
    2. School Management Committee involving parents
    3. Selecting students by caste
    4. Strict one-way instruction
    Answer

    B. School Management Committee involving parents

    SMCs allow community participation.

  35. Functional literacy means

    1. ability to sign one's name only
    2. knowing English
    3. using literacy skills in daily life and work
    4. passing Class 10
    Answer

    C. using literacy skills in daily life and work

    Functional literacy links reading, writing and numeracy to life use.

  36. Consider the statements: 1. Equity means identical treatment of all learners. 2. Equality of opportunity includes equal access. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    B. 2 only

    Equity means need-based support; equal access is part of equality of opportunity.

  37. Consider the statements: 1. Saakshar Bharat gives priority to women. 2. It is meant for children aged 6 to 14. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    It targets adults aged 15 and above.

  38. Consider the statements: 1. Wastage means dropout. 2. Stagnation means repetition in the same class. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    C. Both 1 and 2

    Both definitions are standard.

  39. Consider the statements: 1. Human capital theory treats education as an investment. 2. Social returns benefit only the student. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    Social returns benefit society as a whole.

  40. Consider the statements: 1. Sex is biological. 2. Gender is socially constructed. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    C. Both 1 and 2

    Both are correct.

  41. Consider the statements: 1. The 25% reservation under RTE applies to all classes of private schools. 2. It applies at entry level of the school. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    B. 2 only

    It applies only at the entry level class.

  42. Consider the statements: 1. Population education is the same as sex education. 2. Population education deals with only the dropout rate. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    D. Neither 1 nor 2

    It is a wider social-economic subject and covers population change, resources and migration.

  43. Consider the statements: 1. Urbanisation can raise the number of slum children needing education. 2. Migration never affects school attendance. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    A. 1 only

    Migration often disrupts attendance.

  44. Consider the statements: 1. The Kothari Commission supported the Common School System. 2. NEP 2020 also repeats the goal of about 6 per cent public spending. Which is/are correct?

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 only
    3. Both 1 and 2
    4. Neither 1 nor 2
    Answer

    C. Both 1 and 2

    Both are standard.

  45. The Preamble's words 'liberty, equality, fraternity' belong to the ideals of

    1. dictatorship
    2. feudalism
    3. monarchy
    4. democracy
    Answer

    D. democracy

    They are democratic ideals.

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