EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND RESEARCH: (B) SECONDARY SCHOOL STAGE (M.Ed SEMESTER IV )

SUBMITTED BY : REETIKA VATS

M.ED. SEMESTER IV (STUDENT)

Batch 2018-2020

   

Section  - A

1.  Privatization and Commercialization of education

Privatization of Education

Introduction :The most important task in present scenario is to impart better and quality education. Children are the nation builder of future and to carve them as good citizen we need to provide them with proper education so that they can become pillar of the nation's growth. 

 Some important points which should be taken into consideration regarding privatization of education :

1. Privatization in education has increased the opportunities by increasing the scope of admissions in all levels of education. Due to ownership, level of quality increased in few set-ups to great extent however, this is not true with all private organizations. Most Private institutions are meant for financially strong strata of the society and the poor children are bound to go to government schools. This has widened the gap between the poor and the rich. 

2. Due to policies of various states such as, Shikshan Sewak, Shiksha Mitra, Samvida, Guruji, etc, young talent is not at all interested in government system except NVS/KVS and Excellence schools. Most of the parents of children enrolled in government schools are poor and illiterate. Therefore, there is no one to assist them at home. 

3. Government mechanism is utterly failing in this aspect. Lot of facilities have been provided nowadays to public system but no proper strategies to utilize and maintain it. Due to this, it is turning to be great failure. 

4. Privatization has no doubt increased the quantity of schools but quality is yet to be enhanced.Though the job opportunities have increased but salary has decreased. Job security and satisfaction have lost. There seems no freedom for innovations in teaching as the private schools have their own set rules, methods, which teachers have to follow. Very less chances of upward mobility. Many times, one has to obey the management where most of the members who are not qualified to fit into that position. In this system, buttering has become important.

5. In recent 10 years, the quality of education in government schools has degraded drastically as a result people are opting for private schools. These schools are making education their business which people generally call Commercialization of Education. However, in field of higher education situation has not become so worse. Still various Government Colleges and institutions are first choice for students.

6. On the other hand, due to government's policy of preferring quantity over quality, private schools colleges are growing daily. Getting registration for school is too easy. Influential people own most of such institutions where goal is to extort money in the name of fees for various purposes. Even these institutions have become source of converting black money into white.

7. Private schools at big cities are good but quality at small urban areas like tehsil places is not on par. In addition, in many instance government schools at higher level are performing better than private schools of same area.

8. Education is subject of both State and Central government but more population is covered by state government agencies where lies our main problem. State government has to improve education system in primary and middle school level. Elementary level of schooling is base, which is most important. It is where student develops interest in studies and any specific subject. However, government is ignorant on this part.

9. Another most crucial part is scarcity of trained teachers. As they do not attend regular classes and no training is given to them whereas Government teachers are employed in various non-educational works e.g. elections, census etc. Sometimes due to low remuneration (almost one fourth) of contract teachers, they are disinterested in teaching. 

10. Stress and expenditure of government is more on Public Alluring Schemes such as MDM, uniform/bicycle distribution, Scholarship, haath dhulaai, yoga etc and less on education. Passing students till class 8 with no detention policy results in poor performance, as a result private schools are more popular especially, lower and middle schools. 

11. At the school level, private schools have edge over government schools only in case of state owned schools but KVS/NVS/Excellence schools are on par with them. Children admitted in Private Schools are studying at three places. School, Home and in Coaching Classes. In private schools, children inducted are from good family background they get good support of parents and hence perform better.

12. The teachers and children both have much mental pressure to achieve high score in these schools. On the other hand, teachers are underpaid but are expected to give their best by hook or crook. Children do not have time for themselves to spend on outdoor games and hence confined to gadgets. Teachers have tremendous work pressure and job insecurity so they have to work hard.

Conclusion  : So ultimately seems private schools are better than public schools and no doubt, some of them are. In state owned schools, it’s just reverse they do not have proper infrastructure and basic amenities to provide learning environment. Poor management, scarce resources, lack of will power of teachers deteriorating the quality.

So finally, we have to make our foundation very strong that is from elementary school system to higher learning institutions. For this, we can adopt certain measures like-

• To pay proper wages to the teachers.

• There should be no Guruji/Samvida/Shiksha mitra and many more such post, which are not permanent and low, paid.

• Proper monitoring over the teaching learning practices in the schools to ensure the quality of education.

• Teachers in government schools should really toil to bring the name up so that people will get encouraged to send their ward in government schools.

Finally very strong will power to bring change from the rudimentary level.

Commercialization of Education: 

Introduction : Commercialization of education means advertising the product (schools, play schools, university) in a way that appeals to the consumer (student and parent). The money put in advertising and infrastructural investment in keeping with the advertisement, is then remitted to the consumers. Thus, if consumers seek better education and educational facility, they have to spend bigger bucks. When a student is reduced to a mere consumer, then what is the fate of millions of poor yet deserving students. Every child has a right to not just education but also an opportunity to get the best. 

The goal of education is to harness the potential of a child, direct and channelize this potential in the right way. Education has to have an inherently moralistic module in order to achieve its real goals and not just commercial ones. In the modern fast growing competitive world on need not state the significance of education for the dignified life of an individual as well as that of a nation. How one can afford to forget the effectiveness of education in changing society. 

Commercialization of education has been a big challenge before the fundamental right to education in India. Demands for the qualities education, opportunities in abroad, growing consciousness about the education in India comparativeness and governmental inability to cope up with the rising demands has resulted into widespread of education and thereby educational institutions in the hands of private persons. 

Effects of Commercialization 

(I) Positive Aspects:  

1. The increasing demand for better quality higher education in India can be met only by Private Institutions complementing the Universities established by the State. The proportion of students opting for higher education in India is increasing at a rapid rate and the only feasible way out is the privatization of the educational system.  

2. The Government with the Constitutional obligation to  provide free and compulsory Primary Education, has increased the investment in Primary Education, as a result of which, the investment in higher education has proportionately decreased. In order to meet the growing needs of the student population for higher education in the country, it is an imperative for the Government to privatize higher education. 

3. In case of Private Universities, there would be no political intervention and this would be beneficial for the Universities in terms of being independent. The Honorable Supreme Court held that in professional institutions, as they are unaided, there will be full autonomy in their administration, but the principle of merit cannot be sacrificed, as excellence in education is in national interest. The Universities would try and implement new techniques, which would have otherwise been impossible without the permission of the State.  

4. Private Colleges that are affiliated to the Universities are independent as far administration is concerned. In case of Colleges established by the State, there may be unethical practices. There are innumerable cases which involve unethical practices in Government Colleges in India and many of them in the recent past. Private Colleges affiliated to Universities would run the risk of being stripped of their affiliation if they are caught engaging in such unethical practices by the relevant authorities.

(II) Negative Effects  

1. With the advent of privatization, there has been an enormous growth in the number of private schools. This rapid growth has no doubt contributed to a quantitative increase in the number of schools providing education but this has been at the cost of quality, as the Government does not exercise sufficient control over 'unaided schools'.  

2. Most Private schools although adhering to standard admission procedures like conducting entrance tests, interviews, etc. tend to admit students by charging an exorbitant amount of capitation fee. 

3. The State has been supporting the education sector by means of providing funds, establishing schools, etc. since independence. The question that arises is- what is the need to so rapidly change the policy, when for such a long time the State funding has carried on without any impediment?  

4. With privatization, there is the risk of commercialization of education. Although a competitive atmosphere would be created, some schools would concentrate on profit making rather than on improving the standard of education. 

5. Schools which are privately owned and administered would exploit the teachers, professors, etc. by paying them amounts which are not in consonance with the amount specified by various regulating agencies of the State .

6. Issue like fee control should be attended very carefully.  A suitable framework in respect of specific issues may be imposed by legislation for the benefit of poor and weaker section of society.  For the better conclusion and directives about education system government should form a committee of judges, eminent principals, teachers and experts not the industrialist like Birla and Ambani.

Conclusion : The development of any nations depends mainly on the standards of its educational system education is the most powerful and effective instrument for inducing radical changes in the behaviour of students. It is a powerful instrument of nation’s social economic and cultural development. The teacher occupies pivotal position in the system of education. Teaching has been one of the oldest and most respected professions in the world. India is a developing country and it is humbly submitted that it is better to establish all professional institution under the govt. sector then only it is possible to study all type of courses for poor and weaker section of society. Treating the education system as a market place and opening the route for foreign institution in this manner will harmful for Indian education system. And unfortunately despite huge public discontent, media intervention and many court cases the government have not been able to regulate the fee structure and donation in these institution even the court have only played with the term such as payment seats, management quotes etc. without addressing the basic issue of fee structure. So again in my view it should be stopped till the effective and transparent solution about the fee structure and other complexities. The government must take care of public interests specially the poor and weaker section and act to protect public services like education from the predatory elements that preach the ideology of the market place as the solution to every issue.

                        

SECTION - B

2.  Progress of Secondary Education in India during Five-Year Plans

After independence four important bodies examined the problems of secondary education. Tara Chand Committee, 1948, suggested the multipurpose type of secondary schools without discouraging the uni-purpose schools. The University Education Commission 1948-49, which was appointed under the chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, recommended that ‘the standard of admission to university courses should correspond to that of the present intermediate examination, i.e. after twelve years of study at school and intermediate college’ and remarked “our secondary education remains the weakest link in our educational machinery and needs urgent reform”.

Many sound views and opinions were expressed to bring about reforms in the pattern of education, but they did not result in any substantial gains.

The independence raised the hopes of educational reconstruction. The administration also became alive to the new tasks which the education had to fulfill. Every citizen who had some thinking power felt worried about the defects in the prevalent system of secondary education and wanted reorientation and reorganization of education keeping in view the needs of independent India. Accordingly, measures were taken in the five year plans for the reorganization and expansion of secondary education.

Due to constitutional provision of imparting free and compulsory education to all the children within the age group 6 to 14, during second five year plan period, the number of elementary schools and the enrolment therein increased considerably. So necessity arose for the expansion of secondary education. Private bodies, voluntary organisations, as well as government took the initiative and as a result of which large number of secondary schools were established in different parts of the country.

At the beginning of the first five-year plan there were 202, 884 secondary schools with 52,32,009 students in India. The government of India realized the magnitude of the problem of secondary education and according to the suggestion of the Central Advisory board of Education appointed a full fledged Commission to examine the prevailing system of secondary education and to suggest measures for its reorganization and improvement.

As a matter of fact, large number of students completes their academic career at this stage. They either enter into the public life, or undertake teaching work in primary schools or go to universities for higher education. Thus, secondary education exercised considerable influence on the standard of education both at the primary and university level. Keeping all these considerations in view the Government of India appointed the Secondary Education Commission on September 23, 1952, under the chairmanship of Dr. A. Lakshmanswami Mudaliar, Vice-Chancellor of Madras University.

Recommendations of Mudaliar Commission (1952-53):

The landmark in the reconstruction of India’s secondary education is the Secondary Education Commission report 1952- 53. The recommendations made in the report have set the pace for reform of education in this field. Secondary education forms the basis for higher education as well as for large number of vocations which the students undertake in their future life.

• If the system of secondary education will be properly organised it will not be difficult to deal effectively with different problems confronting the country. The role of secondary education in the plans of national reconstruction in general and in the programmes of educational reorientation in particular is of utmost importance.

As this stage is apparently last in the career of an average Indian, conditions should be more attractive to lure better talents into the fold of education. But it is being followed the old traditional system of education purely academic in nature. It was Mudaliar Commission, who took into account the existing defects in the secondary education and made certain valuable recommendations. In-spite of the recommendations, it has not been possible to effect a complete reorganization of secondary education.

Defects in the Existing System:

1. Lack of definite aim

2. Over – crowded syllabus

3. Education imparted in the school is isolated from life

4. Traditional method of teaching fails to develop in students the power of independent thinking

5. System of education is narrow, one sided and fails to train the whole personality of the students

6. No scope for vocational education

7. Non-existence of multipurpose schools

8. No scope for the teachers for self-expression

9. Overcrowded class and no personal contact between teacher and taught

10. No opportunity for supplementing the education given in the school

11. Education is too bookish,  mechanical stereotyped, rigidly uniformed to cater to the different aptitudes of the pupils or to the pupils of different aptitudes

12. Does not develop those basic qualities of discipline, cooperation and leadership

13. English is the medium of instruction and compulsory subject of study, which considerably impedes the progress of pupils.

14. The dead weight of examinations has tended to curb the teachers initiative and discourage all spirits and experimentation.

Conclusion :  Taking into consideration the existing defects, the Commission gave certain valuable recommendations regarding aims and objectives, organizational pattern, teaching personnel, curriculum and various other aspects of secondary education.

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