One of the major challenges facing primary education is resource constraints and poor quality outcome. Even as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) helped in the creation of schools in every corner of the country, poor enrolment and shortage of teachers have failed to realise the objectives of the mission.
According to the 2016-17 government data, nearly 28 per cent of India’s public primary schools and 14.8 per cent of India’s upper primary schools have less than 30 students.
The average number of students per class in the elementary schools is just about 14 while there were 1,19,303 single-teacher schools, the majority of them being primary schools in classes I to V.
Primary schools, as is evident, are increasingly becoming unviable for the government and economically suboptimal.
What’s the way out then?
The draft National Education Policy (NEP), which is awaiting Centre’s nod, has suggested the establishment of school complexes to address the issue of resource constraint and ensure an all-round quality education for the children. A school complex will typically consist of one secondary school together with all other schools offering lower grades in its neighbourhood, in a radius of five to ten miles.
How will it improve education standard?
The school complex will aim to:
1. Share key material resources such as libraries, science labs, sports facilities, specialised subject teachers across schools in the complex.
2. Better integrate education across all school levels, from early childhood education through class XII, as well as vocational and adult education.
3. Develop a critical mass of teachers, students, supporting staff, equipment and infrastructure for efficient resource management, functioning and coordination.
4. Build vibrant communities of teachers, school leaders
Benefit to students:
1. Sharing of resources among schools will significantly improve support for children with special needs.
2. More topic-centred clubs and academic, sports, arts, crafts events across school complexes
3. Better incorporation of art, music, language, physical education, and other subjects in the classroom through the sharing of teachers in these subjects.
4. Better student support, enrolment, attendance, and performance through the sharing of social workers, counsellors and School complex management Committees.
The first education commission set up in 1964-66 has proposed a similar model of school integration. The idea, however, did not found favour with the government of the time. It remains to be seen if the Centre would now agree to the proposal, given that between 1964-66 and 208-18, there has been a four-fold rise in the number of schools in the country.
The drafting committee of the new NEP has also remained silent on the financial implications of implementing the school cluster systems.