Equity, Access and Success!

Inclusive learning concept is quite new to India and the passage of Right to Education Act along with the Constitutional provisions have paved the way for ensuring access for a large community of marginalised people. With active participation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working hand-in-hand with government schools, quality education is now reaching the remotest corners of the country. But much more needs to be done in the context of the digital divide that has emerged in the Covid lockdown phase.
Striving for More Inclusivity
There is an urgent need to ensure that blended learning becomes more inclusive so that marginalized children don’t get sidelined in education and NGOs are ready to collaborate with government schools to make it happen.
India will have the largest number of young people in the world by 2030 and this can be a boon only if they are properly skill to join the workforce. However, large section of children especially in rural areas are unable to go to school and among those who attend school, the dropout rates are quite high.
With government expenditure on education remaining at 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a long time and the effort to raise it to 6% not yet achieved, it remains doubtful how the nation would be able to take advantage of the demographic dividend. The Covid-19 pandemic worsened the crisis in education sector as large numbers of disadvantaged or marginalised families were unable to provide education for children as they didn't have digital gadgets or internet connectivity.
Inclusive
Education
Inclusive education is a relatively new concept in India and the ratification
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disability
(UNCRPD) by India and the Right to Education Act (RTE),2009 has given new hope
for enabling large sections of people denied the right to education so far. Over the years, India had several programmes
such as Sarva Shiksa Abhiyan and National Literacy Mission to expand elementary
education in the country.
Notably several rural schools and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) played a stellar role using limited technology and providing more activity based learning. But the NGO's face a major crisis as corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding is being donated to PM Cares.
"With changes in Foreign Contributions
Regulation Act (FCRA) and CSR funds committed to other larger projects of the
government, securing funding at this point of time is very difficult.
Partnerships are what can really sustain us whether it is with universities or
schools. We need more support in setting up online education and running
it," according to Manjusmita Bagchi of Ektara, a Calcutta based NGO
working for empowerment of the girl child and women in slums in Kolkatta.
NGO’s and Govt Schools
“Millions of NGOs are there in India and
many of them are not doing something great and hence the need to bring them
under FCRA. But if we can go hand in hand with the Government, then results can
happen. Most of the government schools teachers are paid well compared to
private school teachers but they aren't trained enough,” said Savitha
Ranganathan, Secretary, Mitraz Foundation.
She felt that if government schools improved in quality of education
imparted then rural sector would be benefited. At the end of the day funding is
the most important requirement for NGOs as parental participation, community
participation and the need to fill gaps in formal education are always there,
she added.
“There are large number of NGO's who have worked on Public Private
Participation (PPP) models with government and they could scale up their
activities with the result that government is taking them seriously. Government
schools are located in the best places in urban areas and the best
infrastructure. We need to look at working hand-in-hand with the government and
not create a parallel system,” Manjusmita Bagchi said.
A Niti Aayog report on educational
activities in Siliguri in Sikkim, mentioned NGOs handholding the efforts of
teachers in government schools and using innovative techniques such as role
play to foster learning.
“Our focus is on providing high quality English medium education to girls
living in the slums in Calcutta. Pre-Covid pandemic we had our own education
facility and we ran programs from early childhood to pre-primary to middle
school. We also facilitated sending high school students to other schools in
the city, taking care of finance aid and taking remedial classes. Our emphasis
is to provide high quality education to those who can't afford and to enhance
the capacity of the families to sustain the learning of the child. Capacity
building of families is also a very important part. We work with first
generation learners and most of them are migrant minorities or those who have
come from neighbouring states. We never imagined doing remote classes with
these children. But the pandemic forced us to work with new options,” according
Manjusmita Bagchi.
NGOs should find a niche area to work on. They are already working in rural
areas, for dropouts or some specific purposes. These purposes may define these
NGOs. It is perhaps time for NGOs to
reinvent themselves and overcome funding
and technology problems, according to Dr Varghese Panthalookaran, Professor of
Engineering at Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology (RSET).
Unicef India has also underscored the need to bring literacy to large sections
of underprivileged and has already done
some outstanding work in the lockdown period.
Policy Interventions
The Union Government has launched the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and
Results for States (STARS) with a project cost of Rs 5718 cr of and funded by World
Bank funding to the extent of Rs 3700 cr. The project covers 6 states namely,
Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha.
The STARS project seeks to support the states in developing, implementing,
evaluating and improving interventions with direct linkages to improved
education outcomes and school to work transition strategies for improved labour
market outcomes. The overall focus and components of the STARS project are
aligned with the objectives of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 of Quality
Based Learning Outcomes.
At a global level, in early September, government leaders, business executives
and heads of United Nations organizations and multilateral agencies renewed
their commitment to connect every school and community to the internet by 2030.
At a high-level virtual meeting, Generation Unlimited: Connecting Half the World to Opportunities, they pledged to also reach 3.5 billion children and young people with quality education, including world-class digital solutions, distance learning and relevant skilling
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