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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | How much does she know? by Rukmini Banerji

How much does she know? by Rukmini Banerji

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published Published on Nov 14, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 14, 2011

On November 11, 2011, a big campaign was launched to make citizens of India aware of the Right to Education Act. The campaign has the potential to engage citizens in demanding their rights. Hopefully, the effort will also push the government at different levels to prepare to provide the “rights” as envisaged by the law.
 
At the core of the law is a “guarantee” — a guarantee for quality, free and compulsory education for all children in the 6-14 age group. But how is this goal of “quality” defined? How will the awareness campaign explain this goal to parents and children? Is the vision only about infrastructure, appropriate ratios of teachers, children and rooms? There have been heated debates centred on the provision of adequate inputs to schools and even hotter debates on the issues that private schools face under the law. But hardly any public discussion on intended outcomes.

For those who have faith in the transformational power of education, the objective of RTE goes far beyond inputs and infrastructure. The Act refers to “age appropriate mainstreaming”. In spirit, this goal implies that efforts have to be put in place to guarantee that every child (whether currently out of or enrolled in school) reaches grade-level skill and knowledge appropriate to his or her age — all the way up to the age of 14. In simple terms, this means that a child in Class 8 should be able to confidently handle the content and competencies expected of her in that grade. This ought to be the central message of the RTE communication campaign. (“Aathvi ki bachchi, aathvi ki padhai. Iski guarantee hum detey hain.”)

So where are we now? What is the level of learning of children? How capable are teachers of teaching? How well do parents understand the challenges not just of schooling but of learning?

On children’s learning, the status is well known. For six years, for every rural district in India, ASER (the Annual Status of Education Report) has shown that basic reading and basic arithmetic levels are woefully low. Over half of all children in Class 5 cannot fluently read Class 2-level text. One out of every three children in Class 5 cannot do numerical subtraction problems (like 71 minus 29) that children are expected to do in Class 2. A recent study, “Inside Primary Schools” (Bhattacharjea, Wadhwa, Banerji), tracks 30,000 children from 900 government schools over 15 months. The data shows that children do learn over the course of the year but much slower in comparison to what the textbook demands.

Here is a concrete example from Rajasthan. Children were first asked to read simple two-letter words and then asked to do the reading task. In Class 2, only about 17 per cent of children could correctly read the two-letter words. Fifteen months later, 34 per cent of the same children could read words. Reading five simple sentences was difficult for almost all children in Class 2 (less than 5 per cent could do it). Fifteen months later, only 11 per cent could do the reading test. The data shows that a majority of children in Class 3 still cannot cope with Class 1 content. The faster and higher the curriculum moves, the bigger the gap between expectations and reality. Today, the big decision is whether we need to move slower — lower our unrealistic curriculum expectations for children. Or, move much faster in order to equip the school system to deliver the expectations that our policy documents and curriculum promise.

At the core of any education system are teachers. What is the current evidence on the capacity of our teachers to deliver teaching? “Inside Primary Schools” assessed close to 2,000 government school teachers on a number of basic tasks. Here are some findings: over 65 per cent of surveyed teachers were well qualified with BAs or MAs as well as teaching qualifications. Yet, less than 60 per cent could correctly explain how to solve a simple percentage problem. For example: “38 children are enrolled in a class. Out of these 23 are present. What percentage of children is absent?” (This kind of problem can be seen in Class 4/5 textbooks). Most teachers could pinpoint mistakes that primary school children made in writing or in simple arithmetic, but did not know what to do to help children correct them. When asked to create their own “word problems” in arithmetic or summarise a chapter from a Class 4 textbook, less than half could do so in a meaningful way. The evidence shows that a critical block in the system is teachers’ ability to effectively teach what the current curriculum demands. We need to equip teachers with content knowledge and communication skills. Qualifications and degrees are not enough.

What about parents and families? Two out of three children in the 30,000-children sample of “Inside Primary Schools” had mothers who had never been to school. Over 40 per cent children came from families which had no print material at home. Only 30 per cent of families had any adult women who could read. From ASER 2010’s survey of almost three lakh rural families, we know that half the mothers of school-going children have not been to school themselves. Most Indian parents support schooling, but at least half do not know how to support children’s learning.

So as we start the journey of educating parents and citizens, teachers and children about the Right to Education, we have a lot to do. Curricular expectations, teachers’ capability to teach and parents’ ability to support, all have to be aligned. It is imperative that the big vision is clear to all — a child confident with what is required at the grade level for her age. The campaign needs to assure citizens that the school system is re-inventing itself to effectively deliver the teaching-learning that is required. “Business as usual” is not going to get us to the RTE objective. Finally, even illiterate parents must know that they have the right to demand learning, not just schooling.

The prime minister has written a letter to all schools in India. There he talks of education as a “magic wand”, education giving “a new life” and opening a “new world”. He urges children to be curious and to ask questions. For all of us adults too, it is equally important to think about how a law will become a reality, and what each of our roles needs to be.

We too need to ask questions and seek answers to ensure that every child in India will be in school and learn well.

The writer works with Pratham and ASER Centre

The Indian Express, 15 November,2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/how-much-does-she-know/875819/


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