Policy and Planning Towards Rural Education

Relevance: Sociology: Paper II: Rural And Agrarian Transformation & G.S paper II: Governance

According to the World Bank figures compiled from officially recognized sources, the rural population was reported at 66.46 percent (2017) of the total population in India. Hence rural India needs to be accorded top priority to ensure sustainable growth and development of the country. The level of education is not only a reflection of the level of development attained by the society but, in turn, it also gives impetus to the growth and modernization of the society. As a result, promoting rural education becomes one of the prime objectives of the Government.

Status of education in India (Rural vs. Urban)

• As per the Census of 2011, the literacy rate in the rural areas was around 68 percent while it was 84 percent in urban areas.
• Furthermore, only 59 percent of rural women were estimated to be literate as compared to nearly 80 percent of urban women who were literate, in 2011. As per Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2016-17, the total number of schools in India was 15.3 lakhs out of which nearly 12.97 lakh schools were in rural areas. Total enrolment in schools from rural areas was 25.13 crore.
• The National Achievement Survey 2017 (NAS 2017) of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, tried to assess the attainment of competency-based learning outcomes.

• • A surprise finding of NAS 2017 with respect to learning outcomes in Rural vs Urban areas is that the learning outcomes are similar in rural and urban school-going population and in fact, even higher for rural students over urban ones, for class 8^th in Mathematics, Science and Social Science subjects.
• In terms of school infrastructure, while there are marginal differences in the availability of drinking water facilities and toilets, the urban-rural divide is evident in terms of the provision of electricity. Similarly, urban areas tend to have more schools with libraries and classrooms in good condition.
• The rural regions perform better in terms of gender parity, as evident in the ratio of girls’ enrolment to total enrolment.
• While the pupil-teacher ratio is almost equivalent, rural regions have more than double the number of single-teacher schools than urban areas.
• The Government of India has now taken determined steps to correct the rural-urban imbalance in literacy rates which affect the overall development of the economy.
• The Ministry of Human Resource and Development of the Government of India works through two departments:
  • Department of School Education & Literacy
  • Department of Higher Education.

Since education is a subject of Concurrent List, therefore the Central Government and the State Governments work together for the betterment of the education sector.

Government Initiatives for Rural Areas

1. Jahawar Navodaya Vidyalaya
   • The Ministry of HRD is running Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayasin various states across the country (except Tamil Nadu) and provides free and quality education to talented rural children, comparable to the best in a residential school system for class VI to XII.
2. Samagra Shiksha
   • It subsumes three of the earlier centrally sponsored schemes i.e. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) and has been recently launched as an Integrated Scheme for School Education extending from pre-school to class XII.
   • The Samagra Shiksha Scheme supports the states for strengthening the school infrastructure in rural areas.
   • It focuses on the improvement of quality of education by providing support for different interventions like in-service training of teachers and school heads, grants for the library, sports and physical activities, support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and digital initiatives, remedial teaching for academically weaker students etc.
3. Revamped Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) Scheme
   • The revamped scheme of KGBV under Samagra Shiksha will provide the facility of at-least one residential school for girls from Classes VI-XII in every educationally backward block which does not have residential schools under any other scheme.
   • In a nutshell, though Samagra Shiksha Scheme covers both the urban and rural areas, the emphasis will be primarily on rural areas.
4. Mid-Day Meal Scheme
   • One of the objectives of this scheme was to attract children from disadvantaged sections. Around 9.12 crore children were benefitted from the hot cooked nutritious food in 11.35 lakh schools during 2018-19.
5. Revamped Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) Scheme
   • The objective of EMRS is to provide quality and free of cost middle and high-level education to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) students especially the ones in remote areas.
   • By the year 2022, every block with more than 50 percent ST population and at least 20000 tribal persons, will have an Eklavya Model Residential School.
6. Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative
   • The Department of School Education and Literacy launched the Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative (SVI)for construction and repair of separate toilets for girls and boys in every school which was completed within a year in 2015.
7. Digital Initiatives
   1. The recent launch of Operation Digital Board aims to introduce digital boards all over the country in government and government-aided schools. Some of the initiatives taken are:
   2. e-PATHSHALA- NCERT books are now available in a digital version for free.
   3. Diksha-is a digital platform for teachers to enable the capacity building of all categories of teachers.
   4. MOOCs on SWAYAM Platform-It is an integrated platform that offers online courses covering from school to Post Graduate level. The online courses are being used not only by the students but also by the teachers and non-student learners, in the form of lifelong learning.
   5. SWAYAM PRABHA (Kishore Manch) DTH TV Channels- have been launched for transmission of educational e-contents through 32 National Channels i.e. SWAYAM PRABHA DTH-TV.
   6. National Digital Library of India (NDL)- is a project to develop a framework of virtual repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility.
8. The ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ Programme
   • Higher education, as per the AISHE 2018-19 Report (All India Survey of Higher Education), 60.53 percent of colleges are located in rural areas.
   • It shows that we have enough colleges in rural India but they are lacking in quality. The “Transformation of Aspirational Districts” Programme aims to expeditiously improve the status of Higher Education in 117 aspirational districts from across 28 states.
   • During the first phase of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), central assistance to States has been provided for the creation of a Model Degree College in each of the 60 educationally backward districts.
   • During the second phase of the RUSA, central assistance would be provided for the opening of the new Model Degree Colleges (MDCs) in ‘Aspirational Districts’ identified by NITI Aayog and in unserved & underserved districts in North Eastern and the Himalayan States.
9. NISHTHA
   • National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA)has been launched to build capacities of 42 lakh elementary school level teachers, principals, block resource centre coordinators, and cluster resource centre coordinators.
   • The basic objective of the ‘NISHTHA’ Programmeis to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students.
   • A vision of Draft New Education Policy (NEP) to increase Supply of Good Quality Teachers in Rural Areas
   • To ensure that truly excellent students enter the teaching profession- especially from and in rural areas, the draft NEP envisions creating special merit scholarships which will also include guaranteed employment in their local areas upon successful completion of their four- year integrated B.Ed. programs.
   • To further encourage outstanding teachers to be deployed to rural areas, incentives like housing will be provided for teachers to take up teaching jobs in rural areas, especially in those rural areas with the greatest current teacher shortage.
   • Note: 
     • Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) is a program run by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)under NITI Aayog to foster curiosity and an innovative mindset in young students across India to encourage research and innovation in schools across the country. The vision of the initiative is ‘To create one million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’.
   • Unnat Bharat Abhiyan & Swachch Bharat Summer Internship
     • Under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, each Higher Education Institution will be linked with at least 5 villages to engage the faculty and students of these Institutions in understanding rural realities; to identify technologies, innovative methods to solve problems of rural people; and to allow Higher Educational Institutions to contribute in devising systems for smooth implementation of various Government programs.
     • Swachh Bharat Summer Internship (SBSI)aims at engaging the college youth with Swachhata work. Candidates are required to undertake 100 hours of swachhata related activities in and around nearby villages.

Conclusion:

The massive effort in recent times to revamp and expand the education system in India has far-reaching implications, not only is the thrust on infrastructure, but also on quality and unique solutions through technology to improve delivery systems of education.

According to the World Bank figures compiled from officially recognized sources, the rural population was reported at 66.46 percent (2017) of the total population in India. Hence rural India needs to be accorded top priority to ensure sustainable growth and development of the country. The level of education is not only a reflection of the level of development attained by the society but, in turn, it also gives impetus to the growth and modernization of the society. As a result, promoting rural education becomes one of the prime objectives of the Government.