1. MANTHAN TOPIC:
STEPPING STONES
Protecting the Vulnerable: Enhancing the quality of primary education
AN AUTONOMOUS BODY TO PROVIDE QUALITY PRIMARY EDUCATION
TEAM DETAILS: TEAM ARIHANT-A
BITAN BHADRA, BIKASH DASH, SAURAV GHOSH, RONAK MOHANTY, INDRANIL
BHOWMICK.
COLLEGE: KIIT UNIVERSITY

2. PROBLEMS PLAGUING INDIA’S PRIMARY EDUCATION
Roughly 60% children below age of 10 do not receive primary education.
Inadequate Teacher Qualification and Support.
High rate of student and teacher absentees.
High rate of dropouts.
Low salary do not drive good quality teachers towards the government controlled primary
education system. Instead they concentrate on private schools.
Teachers who are not local have linguistic problems.
Each teacher teaches at various classes. Teachers teaching in rural areas are found to be
teaching classes 1 to 8 at some instances. This compromises quality.
More students prefer private schools whose education quality not monitored.
Bad pupil-teacher ratio.
Lack of schools or schools with lack of infrastructure in rural areas.

3. NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION
NCPE
RECRUITING
TEACHERS
SETUP
SCHOOLS
REASERCH
AN AUTONOMOUS BODY CALLED NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR PRIMARY
EDUCATION OR NCPE UNDER NCERT TO PROVIDE QUALITY EDUCATION TO ALL
CHILDREN UPTO CLASS 10.
Education imparted till class 10 instead of current standard class 8.
Board will be CBSE.
Three main functions of NCPE: recruitment of teachers and staff, setup schools, research on
various issues in the field of primary education.
Fees to be decided by commissions and should be at par with best private institutions of the
country.
Besides normal schools, it can setup “special schools” for students from economically weak
backgrounds. Special schools will teach free of cost.
In normal schools also, free education to students from weak economic backgrounds.
Free education to physically challenged children.

4. TEACHERS AND STAFF
Recruitment of teachers through all India standard examination.
Teachers to be selected and posted in local quotas, i.e. teachers for local schools to be
people residing nearby.
Teachers’ and staff salary to be decided by pay commissions and should be at par with best
private institutions of the country.
Number of teacher selection should be decided on the basis of required pupil-teacher ratio.
Different exams for teachers for different classes. They are to be selected as per eligibility
criteria set for the respective classes.
Process of promotions leading to principal or other posts.
Other staff recruited as per demand where and when required.
Teacher’s are answerable for performance of students. In case of repeated bad performance
of students, teachers can be sacked.

5. DISTRICTSTATECENTRAL
NCPE
INDIA
NCPE
STATES
NCPE
DISTRICTS
HIERARCHY OF OPERATIONS
NCPE India is the main body which controls NCPE states who in turn controls
NCPE districts which have the NCPE schools under it.
NCPE India conveys syllabi and courses down to states and districts and in
turn to each school.
NCPE India guides states who in turn guides districts who guide their schools
in turn.
NCPE India forms time bound frame of teaching and various activities.
NCPE India decides and organizes various events.
NCPE India regulates teaching standards.

6. TASK OF NCPE INDIA AND ITS DEPARTMENTS
NCPE India to be presided by a board of directors which include best educationists from
around the country.
Decide course content and style of education.
Develop better techniques of pedagogy.
Maintain good pupil-teacher ratio across the nation.
Strive to make education more friendly.
Research on causes of dropouts or other contemporary problems and find solutions.
Strive to integrate classroom coaching with e-learning and make children computer
educated.
Help students avail scholarships.
Manage finances of the whole system.
Prepare report on working of system and keep different government committees and
commissions informed.
Rigorous training of teachers and assessing their quality before sending them to their jobs.
Occasional meeting of teachers and discussing various issues.
A teacher is answerable for poor performance of pupils. In case of dissatisfactory results for
repeated periods of time, a teacher should be sacked. An internal monitoring department in
each district NCPE and connected to NCPE India to monitor performances of students and
teachers.
The monitoring body to monitor attendance of students and teachers.

7. BASE LEVEL OPERATIONS
NCPE districts have control over the schools and looks after them.
NCPE districts have various departments for various tasks like finances, course control
etc.
One of the important departments is the local Department.
LOCAL DEPARTMENT
The local department will have required number of sub-departments.
It looks after the local demography and recognize regions having less children enrolled
in schools and where schools need to be setup.
Check local demography records and find children not enrolled in schools and take
necessary measures to urge them to join school.
Pays special attention to attendance of students.
Prevent dropouts by taking necessary steps.
It ties up with local NGOs and co-work to provide free books, pens and other logistics
to students of special schools.
It ties up with local industries who actively take part in improving local schools.
Along with NGOs, industries and other organizations arrange events for students.
Conduct extra curricular workshops and training in schools under it.
Arrange for sports and other activities in schools.
Consist of monitoring bodies to monitor the whole system.

8. SCHOOLS
Apply methods advised by NCPE.
Follow curriculum as prescribed by NCPE.
Maintain a library consisting of each prescribed book for each student so
that students need not buy books always. They can just borrow for a year.
Sports and other extra curricular departments need to be present.
Encourage students in various events.
Take necessary actions to motivate students and keep them interested.
Organize carrier counseling for students passing out.

9. FUNDING OF THE SCHOOLS AND THE SYSTEM
Main funds required for the system are for the following:
schools
•Setup of schools.
•Maintaining infrastructure of schools.
•Logistics
salaries
• Salary of teachers and staff
 FUNDS GENERATION AND ALTERNATIVES
Fees collected from students.
A different system of minimal tax from people called education tax.
A different system of education tax on all industries.
Central and state government contributions.
Industries and companies are required to tie-up with local NCPE schools and help in their functioning.
Industries may opt to own one or more special schools and control its total finances and in return not pay
education tax or pay a lesser amount.
NGOs or organizations can similarly own a special school.
UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, and WORLD BANK contributions.
HERE ARE SOME OPTIONS OF FUNDS. THE PLANNING COMMISION AND BUDGET
COMMISIONS IN EACH YEAR WILL HAVE TO PONDER AND DECIDE ON HOW AND IN WHAT
WAY TO IMPLEMENT THEM TO KEEP THE SYSTEM RUNNING.

10. MERITS OF THE SYSTEM
Huge number of staff is itself a new form of employment.
Quality education provided by researching on pedagogy techniques and making
teacher’s accountable for performance of students.
Local departments strive to bring all children of the district under this system. So
literacy rate will show better figures.
Better pupil-teacher ratio and teachers teach only a certain range of classes
according to their qualification. This ensures quality of teaching standard.
Different activities for children help in overall growth.
More students’ access to education will better harness the potential of country.
The biggest price is an educated nation.

11. CHALLENGES AND MITIGATION
Problem to manage such huge system.
Local authorities may be reluctant in checking performance of teachers or taking actions
against them in case they don’t deliver expected results.
Industries managing schools should be kept under close monitors so that they perform
their duties efficiently.
Huge finances required: Finances need to be managed efficiently and each year’s
income and expenditure need to be calculated efficiently and accordingly budget
planned.
Corruption: Malpractices by finance department may draw unnecessary or surplus
funds. Or funds may not reach intended people. There need to be implemented measures
to curb this menace.
All directions of NCPE India may not be implemented. So, there need to be some system
of ensuring that all of the recommendations and directions of NCPE India are
implemented.
There may arise malpractices and partiality in appointment of teachers. This should be
avoided by taking necessary measures.
All linguistics or regional languages may not be aptly taught or dealt with effectively.
Proper tie-ups with industries and NGOs at all levels with proper clauses may not be
efficiently carried out. Local departments need to handle this job tactfully with precision
and efficiency considering all aspects of the system.

12. REFERENCES:
The Times of India
Wikipedia: the online encyclopedia
Government of India. (1951). First Five Year Plan, Government of India, New Delhi.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=316
NCERT (1998a) Sixth All India Educational Survey, National Tables, Volume I,
Educational Facilities in Rural Areas, NCERT, New Delhi.
http://www.educationforallinindia.com/page101.htm
UNESCO statistics and figures.
Indian statistics : http://www.indiastat.com
Primary Education in India: Key Problems :
http://dise.in/Downloads/Use%20of%20Dise%20Data/Ajay%20Deshpande,Sayan%20Mit
ra.pdf
www.indiaeducationreview.com
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