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Guidelines were issued in 1998 but there has been no serious effort to regulate pre primary education. Schools run by local bodies do not have pre primary education which is expected to be provided under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). The Committee had very heated discussion on the need or desirability of regulating pre primary education. The Committee has recommended a set of basic regulations, based on the Guidelines of 1998 but feels that this subject needs a more detailed study and debate before any regulations are prescribed.
The Committee feels that an Expert Committee should go into these issues immediately. 5 The RtE Act increases Government control in elementary education and this could result in administrative malpractices. The Committee felt that there should be adequate checks and balances to reduce the opportunities for misuse of authority, particularly in the context of requirement of all unaided schools to obtain recognition. The Committee has recommended that all applications for recognition should be examined not by Education Department but by committees consisting of retired teachers and Government officials, and educationists; and grant of recognition or otherwise should be based on the report of these independent committees.
The Committee has also recommended that the existing practice of annual inspections by Education Inspectors should discontinue as it no longer serves any useful purpose. The Committee has recommended that academic committees consisting of educationists should be given responsibility of academic supervision and guidance of elementary schools.
The Committee has also recommended that reputed schools and other education institutions should also be associated in academic supervision. Every elementary school should have the benefit of such supervision at least twice a year and the report of such supervision should be forwarded to CRCs and DIETS for providing suitable training and other academic assistance to teachers.
The RtE Act puts enormous responsibility on local bodies for successful implementation of free and compulsory elementary education to all children within their jurisdiction. While District and Taluks Panchayats, and Municipal Corporations in Gujarat are well equipped for this, most of the municipalities are not. The Committee was informed that out of 165 Municipalities and Municipal Corporations only 19 are providing elementary education and such municipalities, are called ‘authorized municipalities’.
The remaining 146 have resolved that they are not in a position to take this responsibility and the State Government has therefore entrusted this responsibility to the concerned District Panchayat. The Committee was informed that the main reason for the refusal of unauthorized municipalities to manage elementary education was that State Government provided only 95% of expenditure and the remaining 5% was to be borne by the local body. Since these municipalities did not have financial resources, they opted not to provide this service.
The Committee was firmly of the view that ULBs cannot avoid this responsibility and recommended that as in the case of District Panchayats, State Government should fully reimburse to ULBs the expenditure on elementary education. The Committee has also recommended that even though the financial position of Municipal Corporations is stronger, this is not their core function and they should also be provided full grants and not 85% as per the present practice.
The Committee was of the view that primary education is not covered under 74th Amendment and that local bodies discharge this responsibility as an agent of State Government and are therefore entitled to full reimbursement of expenditure. 8 The Committee studied the Bombay Primary Education Act 1947 and Rules made there under in 1949, and found that most of the provisions of the Act and Rules are no longer relevant.
The Committee also found that while the Gujarat Panchayts Act 1961 provided for constitution of Education Committees, the Bombay Municipalities Act did not have such provision. The Committee has faithfully retained all the provisions of RtE Act in so far as they pertain to State Governments, and also adopted with very minor modifications the draft model rules framed by Government of India. An important feature of the rules drafted by the Committee is that it entrusts responsibility on GCERT to lay down guidelines for training of teachers, procedures for continuous and comprehensive evaluation and benchmarks for learning outcomes.
The Committee has also recommended periodic external evaluation of pre and in service teacher training programs and institutions, and quality of education. In conclusion, I will like to thank all members of the Committee who contributed by their knowledge, experience and wisdom; and all officers of State Education Department who provided logistic and administrative support in this long and laborious exercise. The Committee members hope that Government will find the report useful in creating a legal framework not merely for providing free, but also quality education for all.
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