2010

BANDA EDUCATION
REPORT CARD

Dr. Rakesh K Singh

Consultant
rakesh.isidelhi@gmail.com

Aide et Action, New Delhi

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
No.
LIST OF TABLES 3
LIST OF CHARTS 3–4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5–7
INTRODUCTION 8 – 10
Objective 8
Methodology 9
Duration 10
Indicators/Variables 10
KEY-DATA: ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN BANDA 11 – 29
Enrolment Details 11 – 15
School-based Indicators 16 – 19
Teacher-related Indicators 19 – 21
Financial Profile 22 – 23
Incentive Schemes Offered 24
Community Ownership & Functioning of Officials 25 – 26
Investigators’ Perception 27 – 29
CHALLENGES AHEAD 30

Study/ Report by
Dr. Rakesh K Singh

Field Survey
Vidya Dham

2
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Gender Parity Index
Table 2 Enrolment in Primary Schools (%)
Table 3 Enrolment in Primary with Upper Primary Schools (%)
Table 4 Enrolment in Upper Primary Schools (%)
Table 5 Average No. of Rooms/ Classrooms in Schools
Table 6 Student-Classroom Ratio (SCR)
Table 7 Performance Indicators
Table 8 Usable toilet facility for students within school premises?
Table 9 If yes, is there separate toilet for girls?
Table 10 Teachers by Sex-Category (%)
Table 11 Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR)
Table 12 Primary School Teachers by Qualification (%)
Table 13 Upper primary School teachers by Qualification (%)
Table 14 All School Teachers by Qualification (%)
Table 15 Teachers’ Training/ Orientation Programme
Table 16 Recipients of Incentive Schemes by School and Class-
Categories
Table 17 Recipients of Incentive Schemes by School and Class-
Categories (%)
Table 18 Structure of School Management Committee

LIST OF CHARTS
C-1 Sample Distribution
C-2 Sample Distribution (school category-wise)
C-3 Class-wise Enrolment by Sex-Category
C-4 Enrolment by Sex-category (%)
C-5 Class-wise Enrolment by Class-Category
C-6 Enrolment by Class-Category (%)
C-7 Enrolment by Disability (%)
C-8 Schools by Management Category
C-9 Enrolment by Management Category

3
 LIST OF CHARTS
C-10 Perceived Reasons for Dropouts
C-11 Number of Schools in Schools
C-12 Schools by Building Type
C-13 Schools by Building Type (%)
C-14 Computers in Schools
C-15 Teachers by Sex-category, Qualification and Type
C-16 Qualification of Male Teachers (%)
C-17 Qualification of Female Teachers (%)
C-18 Qualification of Total Teachers (%)
C-19 Para/ Contract Teachers by Sex-Category (%)
C-20 Trained Teachers by Sex-Category (%)
C-21 Total Teachers by Sex-Category (%)
C-22 Teachers’ training/ Orientation programme
C-23 Average Receipt and Expenditure: Primary Schools
C-24 Average Receipt and Expenditure: Upper Primary Schools
C-25 Average Annual Recurring Budget
C-26 Average Annual Per Student Cost
C-27 School Management Committee in Place
C-28 Average Annual Visits of Education Officials
C-29 Maintenance of School Registers (Govt. Schools)
C-30 Maintenance of School Registers (Private Schools)
C-31 Timely Arrival of Teachers (Government Schools)
C-32 Timely Arrival of Teachers (Private Schools)
C-33 Provision of Mid-Day-Meals (Government Schools)
C-34 Provision of Mid-Day-Meals (Private Schools)
C-35 Quality of Food under Mid-Day-Meals
C-36 Seating Arrangement for Children (Govt. Schools)
C-37 Seating Arrangement for Children (Private Schools)
C-38 Ramps for Disabled Children (Government Schools)
C-39 Ramps for Disabled Children (Private Schools)

4
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Based on school level data from a random sample of around 118 schools (primary, primary with
upper primary and upper primary schools) from eight (8) blocks of Banda district of Uttar Pradesh,
this report is an honest effort to assess the development level of elementary education in Banda
district of Uttar Pradesh. The idea is to fill in the data gap on elementary education in Banda.

ENROLMENT & DROPOUTS: Each year a number of children drop out of shools for various
reasons. Schools in Banda, however, though admitting that dropouts do take place in large
numbers in each class category, don’t maintain any record on dropout rates. The value of Gender
Parity Index (GPI) in Banda stands at a healthy 1.05. Except for Class-I and II, its value remains
above unity for all other classes. This is basically against the DISE data trend, which records a
lower GPI value of 0.93 for Banda.

The share of SC and OBC enrolment with respect to total enrolment works out to 27.8 and 53.1
percent respectively. Notably, at all levels, government schools are the main providers of
educational needs of both SC and OBC children. The share of ST and Minority enrolment in the
elementary classes is 1.1 and 3.6 percent respectively. The percentage of Minority enrolment
stands at 41.8 at primary level against 2.18 at upper primary level. Bringing children of
marginalized sections of our society into the ambit of school education, which is one of the main
aims of RTE 2010, still remains a big challenge.

SCHOOL-BASED INDICATORS/ INFRASTRUCTURE: Availability of basic facilities, such as

number of class rooms, pucca building structures, computers, toilets, playground, drinking water,
etc. in schools not only attracts more children to schools but also help in improving retention rate.
Schools in Banda, however, have an average of 3.5 classrooms only. The student-classroom
ratio (SCR) at 50.51 is also quite adverse in Banda. The comparable figure for Uttar Pradesh as a
whole is 41 only. On an average about 53.46 students are sitting in one classroom in primary
schools. This is also against the national average of about 37 students sitting in one classroom in
primary schools.

As against 97.7 percent schools and 91 percent schools having drinking water facility and
common toilets, respectively, in Uttar Pradesh, only about 87.3 percent of the schools in Banda
have drinking water facility and a little less than 86 percent of the total schools have usable toitel
facility within their premises. Again, only about 48.3 percent of schools have boundary

5
wall/fencing, and 52.5 percent schools have playground within their premises. Worse stiil, only
26.3 percent sholls have library within their premises. Medical check-up of schools take place in
31.47 percent of schools. Schools with gardens are a raity – only 9.3 percent schools have this
facility in Banda. Most of the schools are also completely devoid of comuters, thus further
accentuating the digital divide.

TEACHER-RELATED INDICATORS: Availability of teachers in schools is an important variable

for quality education. The survey data suggestes that there are only around 2.90 teachers per
school that imparts elementary education in Banda compared to an average of 2.96 teachers per
primary school and 2.57 teachers per upper primary school. All schools together have only 37.4
percent female teachers in Banda. Around 52.3 percect male teachers and 53.9 percent female
teachers in Banda do have post-graduate degrees. Neraly 52.92 percent teachers are post-
graduate, 34.21 percent are graduate, and just 9.36 percent teachers are treained teachers. The
dearth of trained teachers is a matter of serious conern from the point of view of quality education
in the district.

Classroom transactions can be meaningful only with an optimum Pupil-Teacher Ratio. However,
schools do not have sufficient number of teachers in Banda. This is well reflected by a high pupil-
teacher ratio (PTR) at 59.90. At the primary and upper primary levels also, PTR is as high as
63.06 and 51.02, respectively. In contrast, the comparable all-India figures are much comfortable
at 34 and 31, respectively.

FINANCIAL PROFILE: On an avarege primary schools receive around Rs. 337760/ as School
Development Grant, Rs.35400/- as School Maintenance Grant, Rs. 122750/- as TLM/Teachers
Grant as Rs.588897/- as Other Grants. On the other hand, the corresponding figures for Upper
Primary Schools stand at Rs.269000/-, Rs.176500/-, Rs.115889/- and Rs.51200/- as Schhol
Development Grant, School Maintenance Grant, TLM/teachers Grant, and Other Grants,
respectively. There is close corespondence between avarage receipt and avarage expenditure of
elementary schools in banda, reflecting the fact that most of the funds received are being utilised
as well. nderPRI

The average annual recurring budget of government primary schools and upper primary schools
stands at Rs.536527/- and Rs.538209/-, respectively. On the other hand, the average annual per
student cost works out to be Rs.3731/- and Rs.5801/- respectively, for government primary and
upper primary schools in Banda.

6
INCENTIVE SCHEMES: Only 3.7 percent of SC and 2.3 percent of OBC students benefit under
the Free Uniform Scheme in upper primary schools as against 45.7 percent of SC and 45.7
percent of OBC students in primary schools of Banda. Free text is available to nearly 87.5 and
86.9 percent, respectively to SC and OBC students in primary schools as against 97.7 and 89.9
percent, respectively to SC and OBC category students in upper primary schols. Strangeley, ST
students both at the primary and upper primary levels have hardly got any benefit under the free
uniform or free text schemes. Nevertheless, nearly 55.8 and 79.9 percent ST students at the
primary and upper primary levels do avail free scholarship scheme.

FUNCTIONING OF OFFICIALS & COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP: The frequency of visits of

BRC/CRC functionaries and DEO/ BEO to schools in Banda is dissatisfactory. The annual
average visits of BRC and CRC functionaries to primary and upper primary schools have just
been 5.6 days and 5 days, respectively, as against the visits of BEO and CEO of only around 1.9
days and 1.8 days to the same school groups.

The evidence from the field, especially with regard to constitution of SMC and the structure of
School Management Committee (SMC) do not give thumps up to RTE. SMCs in elementary
schools of Banda are almost absent – just 2.9 percent of the surveyed schools have reported
existence of SMCs.

CHALLENGES AHEAD: Basic physical infrastructural facilities like water, electricity, classrooms,
toilets, etc., which are very important determinants of the learning environment, need to be
adequately and urgently provided in all the schools. Special emphasis should be on creating
more class-rooms, ensuring hygiene, toilet and drinking water facilities, and boundary-wall.
Shortfall of trained teachers is a big challenge. On the other hand, given the emphasis on
improving girls’ enrolment, which is critically dependent upon the presence of female teachers,
there is a need to increase the proportion of female teachers in educationally backward district
like Banda. RTE calls for constitution of school management committees comprising local
officials, parents, guardians and teachers in all schools. Therefore, constitution of SMCs, which
are conspicuous by their absence from the majority of schools in Banda, must be accorded top
priority. The monitoring and supervision aspect of the schools also needs to be strengthened and
streamlined.

7
INTRODUCTION

For successful implementation of any educational programme, effective monitoring, coupled with
up-to-date and reliable school level information, is essential. For this reason, the Government of
India has regularly been publishing District Report Card, an annual disaggregated database on
elementary education in India since the last decade or so. The Government of Uttar Pradesh
through State Council of Educational Research and Training also generates similar data and
reports from time to time for the same purpose. However, due to the large size of our education
system, the data so collected do have certain limitations as associated with information channels
affiliated to many Government organizations. Due to lack of coordination among trained staff at
local or district level as well as lack of accountability at various levels, gaps in data in such reports
becomes an issue at times and it is difficult to believe in data contained therein. Therefore, civil
society organisations as watchdogs do have a special role to fill in such gaps for the betterment
of education system in our country.

Aide et Action is an international NGO specializing in social development, with an emphasis on

education. The organization currently reaches to over 4,500 communities in 20 countries across
Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean, directly and in partnership with local
NGOs. In India, Aide et Action is working across 18 states and 2 union territories with the help of
32 local level NGO partners, 14 directly implemented projects and around 112 skill based training
centers across the country for livelihood generation. AeA has been supporting partner agencies
and governments enhancing quality of education. Improving school environment, teaching
learning processes, addressing educational needs of children with disabilities, enhancing
capacities of communities to manage education of their children etc are some of the strategic
interventions to create a lasting impact. Innovations like back to basics (B2B) for enhancing basic
competencies among children and people for education movement (PEM) are aimed at
strengthening quality of education. The programme also focuses on community based planning,
mobilisation and participation to achieve its objectives. Advocating for the cause based on
empirical evidences from the field is also an integral part of the programme.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this report by AeA is to assess the accurate development level of
elementary education in Banda district in UP by select educational development indicators such
as profiles of students, teachers, infrastructure, etc. and sharing the same with government
departments at the district, state and national levels. It endeavours to fill in the data gap on
elementary education in Banda, which is one of the most backward districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Needless to say, it is designed as a tool for summary analysis of main educational parameters
within Banda.

8
METHODOLOGY

The report is based on school level data collected from a random sample of around 118 schools
(primary, primary with upper primary and upper primary schools) from eight (8) blocks of Banda
district of Uttar Pradesh. The selection of sample primary, primary with upper primary and upper
primary schools was made according to their existing proportion in a particular block in Banda.
The details about the samples selection is given below in the table:

C-1

C-2

9
The main instrument for data collection was interview schedule and it was through conversation
with principals/ head-masters and other relevant school authorities that the enumerators could fill
up the schedules The definitions and concepts followed in the preparation of Banda Education
Report are the same as used in the DISE data capture formats.

SPSS was used to make quantitative analysis of data wherever required.. Accordingly, tables and
charts have also been prepared with adequate explanation of the same.

The primary data used in this report has also been supplemented by relevant secondary data /
information and reports collected from the concerned authorities. This included SSA district
reports, SCERT reports, and other related documents from non-government agencies on
elementary education in the districts.

DURATION

The report has been prepared over two and half months, among which the first month was the
time utilized for field survey. The study was initiated in October 2010 and field survey was over by
November 2010. This followed data-entry, analysis and submission of draft report by mid-
December 2010.

INDICATORS/ VARIABLES

The analysis of education trends in the district is based on the following indicators/ variables:

• Basic data on enrolment (boys and girls), and teachers (males and females) classified by
school category
• Incentive schemes (free uniform, free text books, scholarships, etc) classified by category of
students
• Teachers’ details by professional qualification
• Teachers Training / orientation programme during academic year 2008-09
• Schools by category, infrastructure and type of building
• Sex-wise enrolment of students with disabilities in primary and upper primary classes
• Number of class rooms by school categories
• Performance indicators in terms of school category, enrolment distribution: total, scheduled
castes, scheduled tribes, Other Backward Class, Minority, percentage of girl’s enrolment
• Financial profile by school categories
• Function of officials (BRC/ CRC)

The outcomes of the study are illustrated in the next section.

10
 KEY DATA: ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN BANDA

ENROLMENT DETAILS

In accordance with the Constitutional commitment to ensure free and compulsory education for all
children up to the age of 14 years, provision of universal elementary education has been a.
salient feature of national policy since independence. Recent Government data suggests that not
only the number of schools/ sections imparting elementary education in India has increased, but
enrolment ratios, both gross and net, have also registered significant improved over the years. A
point of concern however has been the enrolment of girls. At the national level, the Gender Parity
Index (GPI), reflecting the enrolment of girls, has remained less (less than 1) for elementary
schools than those of boys for obvious reasons. The average of 624 districts in 2007-08 indicates
1
a GPI of 0.93 in primary classes and 0.89 in case of upper primary classes . Surprisingly for
Banda, GPI stands at a healthy 1.05. Except for Class-I and II, its value remains above unity for
all other classes. This is basically against the DISE data trend, which records a lower GPI value
2
of 0.93 for Banda .

Table-1
C-3

Based on data from 118 sample schools

1
State Report Cards 2007-08: Elementary Education in India –Where Do We Stand, National University of Educational
Planning and Administration, New Delhi
2
District Report Cards 2007-08: Elementary Education in India –Where Do We Stand, National University of Educational
Planning and Administration, New Delhi

11
The share of SC and OBC enrolment with respect to total enrolment works out to be 27.8 and
53.1 percent respectively. Notably, at all levels, government schools are the main providers of
educational needs of both SC and OBC children. The share of ST and Minority enrolment in the
elementary classes is 1.1 and 3.6 percent respectively. The percentage of Minority enrolment
stands at 41.8 at primary level against 2.18 at upper primary level. Bringing children of
marginalized sections of our society into the ambit of school education, which is one of the main
aims of RTE 2010, still remains a big challenge.

C-4

Based on data from 118 sample schools

C-5

Based on data from 118 sample schools

12
 C-6

Based on data from 118 sample schools

Enrolment of disabled children in elementary schools has been one of the prime focus areas of
the New Education Policy of the Government of India. Unfortunately, it stands at a dismal 0.4
percent of total enrolment for Banda district. The percentage of enrolment of disabled children
stands at 0.21 at primary level against 0.84 at upper primary level.

C-7

Based on data from 118 sample schools

C-8

Based on data from 118 sample schools

13
 C-9

Based on data from 118 sample schools

The enrolment details of primary, primary with upper primary, and upper primary schools (sex-
category and class-category wise) are given below:

Table 2: Enrolment in Primary Schools (%)

Boys Girls Total SC ST OBC Others Minority Disabled
Classes
Class-I 50.19 49.81 100.00 28.53 0.00 52.18 14.96 4.33 0.12
Class-II 50.73 49.27 100.00 29.31 1.88 50.88 13.27 4.66 0.30
Class-III 47.96 52.04 100.00 31.18 1.46 49.94 13.04 4.38 0.23
Class-IV 49.06 50.94 100.00 28.54 3.40 49.78 13.80 4.47 0.34
Class-V 48.29 51.71 100.00 29.02 0.42 53.82 13.91 2.83 0.03
Class-I to Class-V 48.87 51.13 100.00 29.59 1.47 51.02 13.74 4.18 0.21

Table 3: Enrolment in Primary with Upper Primary Schools (%)

Boys Girls Total SC ST OBC Others Minority Disabled
Classes
Class-I 66.29 33.71 100.00 42.70 0 44.94 11.24 1.12 0.00
Class-II 71.08 28.92 100.00 51.81 0 40.96 2.41 4.82 0.00
Class-III 62.30 37.70 100.00 41.80 0 52.46 4.92 0.82 4.10
Class-IV 69.03 30.97 100.00 39.82 0 43.36 15.04 1.77 0.00
Class-V 72.73 27.27 100.00 35.23 0 54.55 9.09 1.14 0.00
Class-VI 67.46 32.54 100.00 45.24 0 30.16 23.02 1.59 0.00
Class-VII 69.84 30.16 100.00 34.92 0 54.76 6.35 3.97 0.00
Class-VIII 77.91 22.09 100.00 41.86 0 32.56 19.77 5.81 0.00
Class-I to Class-VIII 69.15 30.85 100.00 39.14 0 44.42 13.93 2.52 0.60

Table 4: Enrolment in Upper Primary Schools (%)

Boys Girls Total SC ST OBC Others Minority Disabled
Classes
Class-VI 42.17 57.83 100.00 22.55 0.00 61.41 13.84 2.21 0.66
Class-VII 46.93 53.07 100.00 19.78 0.12 64.21 13.33 2.56 0.97
Class-VIII 45.11 54.89 100.00 23.39 1.11 55.79 17.97 1.73 0.90
Class-VI to Class-VIII 44.63 55.37 100.00 20.27 0.37 60.70 16.48 2.18 0.84

14
Each year a number of children drop out of shools for various reasons. Schools in Banda, though
admitting that dropouts do take place in large numbers in each class category, were adamant not
to provide the investigators with dropout figures. In fact, on conditions of anonymity, several
headmasters/ teachers informed that schools have specifically been asked by the district
education officials not to show any dropouts in their records. This is indeed a matter of serious
concern. Unless we have actual data on dropout rates of children, univeralization of elementary
education will always remain a distant dream. Under RTE Act 2010, all children aged 6-14 have
the right to free and compulsory education. In the absence of data on out-of-school children,
which also includes data on dropouts, the implementation of new education policy becomes
difficult.

C-10

Nearly 41 percent of the respondents, which included teachers and VEC/ SMC members,
perceived ‘not interested in study’ as the most important reason for dropouts. Household work
requirement (28 percent) and financial reasons (17 percent) have emerged as other important
reasons for school dropouts in Banda. Significantly, Migration of parents (who are forced to take
breaks depending on the seasonal migration between cities and villages) and thereby that of the
children are also fast emerging as an important factor for school dropouts.

15
 SCHOOL BASED INDICATORS

Availability of basic facilities, such as number of class rooms, pucca building structures,
computers, toilets, playground, drinking water, etc. in schools not only attracts more children to
schools but also help in improving retention rate. It is believed that not only the number of schools
and schools with buildings has increased but the average number of Class rooms has also
increased across the country. This is essential for smooth teaching-learning transaction.
Irrespective of the type of school, schools imparting elementary education across 624 districts in
3
2007-08 had an average of 4.31 classrooms, compared to 3.7 in 2004-05 . On an average,
schools in Banda have 3.5 classrooms only.

Table 5: Average No. of Rooms/ Class Rooms in Schools

Average Average No. Average No. of
No. of of Class Additional Rooms
Rooms Rooms Required

Primary School 4.7 3.5 0.9

Primary with Upper Primary
School 6.0 5.5 3.0
Upper Primary School 5.0 3.0 0.5
Total 4.8 3.4 0.8

C-11

The distribution of schools by type of building shows that 92.4 percent schools have pucca
(permanent) buildings as compared to 4.2 percent having partially pucca, 2.5 percent having
kuchcha and the rest 0.8 percent running in tents. This is a significant improvement to DISE
4
figures at the All-India level (71.73 percent primary schools having pucca building, 7.50 percent
having partially pucca and another 3.51 percent having kuchcha (temporary) building). This

3
State Report Cards 2007-08: Elementary Education in India –Where Do We Stand, National University of Educational
Planning and Administration, New Delhi
4
ibid

16
shows that SSA has made significant positive inroads in improving school based indicators in
Banda. Nevertheless, efforts are still required to provide pucca building to all schools in the
district.

C-12

C-13

The Student-Classroom Ratio (SCR) at 50.51 is quite adverse in Banda. The comparable figure
5
for Uttar Pradesh as a whole is 41 only . On an average about 53.46 students are sitting in one
classroom in primary schools. This is also against the national average of about 37 students
sitting in one classroom in primary schools.

Table 6: Student-Classroom Ratio (SCR)

School Category Students Classroom Student-Classroom Ratio
Primary 14756 276 53.46
Primary with Upper Primary 833 11 75.73
Upper Primary 4898 117 41.86
Overall 20487 404 50.71

5
ibid

17
 Table 7: Performance Indicators
School Category
Primary Primary with Upper Total
Upper Primary Primary
Schools with boundary 53.2% 50% 37.8% 48.3%
wall/fencing
Schools with playground 46.8% 50% 64.9% 52.5%
within their premises
Schools with garden 10.1% 0% 8.1% 9.3%
within their premises
Availability of drinking 86.1% 100% 89.2% 87.3%
water within school
premises
Usable toilet facility 81% 100% 94.6% 85.6%
within school premises
Electric connection 50.6% 100% 35.1% 44.9%
Library within school 17.7% 50% 43.2% 26.3%
premises
Medical check-up of 27.8 50% 37.8% 31.47%
students?

Table 8: Usable toilet facility for students

within school premises?
Government Schools Private Schools
Reply No. Percent Reply No. Percent
Yes 90 87.4 Yes 11 73.3
No 13 12.6 No 4 26.7
Total 103 100.0 Total 15 100.0

Table 9: If yes, is there separate toilet for girls?

Government Schools Private Schools
Reply No. Percent Reply No. Percent
Yes 73 81.1 Yes 7 63.6
No 17 18.9 No 4 36.4
Total 90 100.0 Total 11 100.0

As against 97.7 and 91 percent schools having drinking water facility and common toilets,
6
respectively in Uttar Pradesh , only about 87.3 percent of the schools in Banda have drinking
water facility and a little less than 86 percent of the total schools have usable toitel facility within
their premises. Again, only about 48.3 percent of schools have boundary wall/fencing, and 52.5
percent schools have playground within their premises. Worse stiil, only 26.3 percent shohools
have library within their premises. Medical check-up of schools take place in 31.47 percent of
schools. Schools with gardens are a rarity – only 9.3 percent schools have this facility in Banda.

6
ibid

18
 C-14

7
The use of computers in primary education may well have increased at all-India level (14.25
percent of schools), as has our children's need to be technologically savvy. However, most of the
schools in Banda are completely devoid of comuters, thus further accentuating the digital divide.

TEACHER-RELATED INDICATORS

Availability of teachers in schools is an important variable for quality education. The survey data
suggested that around 342 teachers were engaged in teaching in 118 schools imparting
elementary education in Banda. The data also suggests that there are only around 2.90 teachers
per school that imparts elementary education in Banda compared to an average of 2.96 teachers
per primary school and 2.57 teachers per upper primary school. However, all-India average
reveals that, on an average, there were 4.5 teachers in a school in 2007-08 that imparts
8
elementary education compared to an average of 3.0 teachers per primary school .

C-15

7
ibid
8
ibid

19
 C-16

C-17 C-18

C-19 C-20 C-21

Table 10: Percentage Female Teachers

School Category Teachers % Female Teachers
Male Female
Primary 145 89 38.03
Primary with Upper 11 2 15.38
Primary
Upper Primary 58 37 38.95
Overall 214 128 37.43

All schools together have 37.4 percent female teachers in Banda. The comparable figure for all-
9
India was 42.72 percent in 2007-08 . Around 52.3 percect male teachers and 53.9 percent female
teachers in Banda do have post-graduate degrees. Overall, neraly 52.92 percent teachers are
post-graduate, 34.21 percent are graduate, and just 9.36 percent teachers are trained teachers.
The dearth of trained teachers is a matter of serious conern from the point of view of quality
education. In other words, there is significant gaps in preparing the teachers for teaching, by
building their capacity through a series of training and orientation programmes.

Classroom transactions can be meaningful only with an optimum Pupil Teacher Ratio. However,
schools do not have sufficient number of teachers in Banda. This is well reflected by a high pupil-
teacher ratio (PTR) at 59.90. At the primary and upper primary levels also, PTR is as high as
63.06 and 51.02, respectively. In contrast, the comparable all-India figures are much comfortable
at 34 and 31, respectively.

9
ibid

20
 Table 11: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR)
School Category Students Teachers Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Primary 14756 234 63.06
Primary with Upper Primary 833 13 64.08
Upper Primary 4898 96 51.02
Overall 20487 342 59.90

Table 12: Primary School Teachers by Qualifications (%)

Post- Graduate Under- Para/Contract Trained Total
Graduate Graduate
Male 53.79 35.17 11.03 28.28 11.72 100
Female 57.30 33.71 8.99 46.07 4.49 100
Total 55.13 34.62 10.26 35.04 8.97 100

Table 13: Upper Primary School Teachers by Qualification (%)

Post- Graduate Under- Para/Contract Trained Total
Graduate Graduate
Male 46.55 36.21 17.24 3.45 12.07 100
Female 43.24 29.73 27.03 0.00 10.81 100
Total 45.26 33.68 21.05 2.11 11.58 100

Table 14: All School Teachers by Qualification (%)

Post- Graduate Under- Para/Contract Trained Total
Graduate Graduate
Male 52.34 35.51 12.15 20.09 11.21 100
Female 53.91 32.03 14.06 32.03 6.25 100
Total 52.92 34.21 12.87 24.56 9.36 100

Out of 342 teachers from 118 schools, nearly 206 teachers (60.2 percent) were nominated for
teachers’ training or orientation programme during the precding year. On an average they could
devoted only around 3.80 days for such training/ orientation programmes. The overall completion
ratio stood at 96.6 percent as against 96.2 percent teachers of primary schools and 97.9 percent
teachers for upper primary schools in Banda.

Table 15: Teachers’ Training/ Orientation Programme

(academic year 2008-09)
No. of Teachers Attended No. of Teachers
Nominated in Days Completed
Primary School 159 588 153
Primary with Upper Primary 0 0 0
School
Upper Primary School 47 194 46
All Schools 206 782 199

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 C-22

wwwIF
ILE OF HERS
FINANCIAL PROFILE

Sarva Sikha Abhiyan (SSA) aims at sustainable financing of all schools in the country so that all
the elementary education interventions ultimately become not only meaningful but also
sustainable. In order to assess the financial profile of elementary schools in Banda, we asked the
surveyed schools to provide us with estimates of their annual receipts under diferent grants (such
as school development grants, school maintenance grants, TLM/ teachers grants and funds from
other sources) and annual expenditure under the same heads. We also asked them to share
10
information on their avarege annual recurring budget during last yeat to arrive at a rough
estimate of their avarege annual per student cost.

The data suggests that on an avarege primary schools receive around Rs. 337760/ as Schhol
Development Grant, Rs.35400/- as School Maintenance Grant, Rs. 122750/- as TLM/Teachers
Grant as Rs.588897/- as Other Grants. On the other hand, the corresponding figures for Upper
Primary Schools stand at Rs.269000/-, Rs.176500/-, Rs.115889/- and Rs.51200/- as Schhol
Development Grant, School Maintenance Grant, TLM/teachers Grant, and Other Grants,
respectively. There is close corespondence between avarage receipt and avarage expenditure of
elementary schools in banda, reflecting the fact that most of the funds received are being utilised
as well. nderPRI
Un

10
Consists of total of salaries paid to teachers, school development grant, school maintenance grant, TLM/teachers
grant, and ‘other grants’ together on an annual basis

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 C-23

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The average annual recurring budget of government primary schools and upper primary schools
stands at Rs.536527/- and Rs.538209/-, respectively. On the other hand, the average annual per
student cost works out to be Rs.3731/- and Rs.5801/- respectively, for government primary and
upper primary schools in Banda.

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 INCENTIVE SCHEMES OFFERED

Provision of incentives in the form of free textbooks, scholarships, etc. for children belonging to
the SC and ST categories and for all girls is very important to address systemic issues of physical
infrastructure. Most first general learners belong to these categories and benefit from this
provisioning.

Table 16: Recipients of Incentive Schemes by School & Class-Categories

School Category

Schemes Primary Primary with Upper Primary Upper Primary

SC ST OBC Others Total SC ST OBC Others Total SC ST OBC Others Total

Free Uniform 1996 0 3424 973 6374 0 0 0 0 0 37 0 69 11 117

Free Text 3820 0 6542 1503 11865 0 0 0 0 0 970 0 2673 428 4049
Free 3721 121 6684 1286 11778 174 0 297 49 520 900 0 2358 420 3678
Scholarships

Table 17: Recipients of Incentive Schemes by School and Class-Categories (%)

School Category

Schemes Primary Primary with Upper Primary Upper Primary

SC ST OBC Others Total SC ST OBC Others Total SC ST OBC Others Total

Free Uniform 45.7 0.0 45.5 36.8 43.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 0.0 2.3 1.2 2.39

Free Text 87.5 0.0 86.9 56.9 81.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 97.7 0.0 89.9 46.8 82.67

Free 85.2 55.8 88.8 48.6 80.9 53.4 0.0 80.3 35.8 62.4 90.6 0.0 79.3 46.0 75.09
Scholarships

Only 3.7 percent of SC and 2.3 percent of OBC students benefit under the Free Uniform Scheme
in upper primary schools as against 45.7 percent of SC and 45.7 percent of OBC students in
primary schools of Banda. Free text is available to nearly 87.5 and 86.9 percent, respectively to
SC and OBC students in primary schools as against 97.7 and 89.9 percent, respectively to SC
and OBC category students in upper primary schols. Strangeley, ST students both at the primary
and upper primary levels hardly get any benefit under the free uniform or free text schemes.
Nevertheless, nearly 55.8 and 79.9 percent ST students at the primary and upper primary levels
do avail free scholarship scheme. The report doesn’t dwelve into what extent these incentive
schemes have contributed to increasing enrolment or reducing drop out, and what level of
incentives would be needed to bring out-of-school children back to school. Perhaps a separate
and more focussed study is required to address such issues.

CHERS

24
 COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP & FUNCTIONING OF OFFICIALS

Quality education calls for community ownership of school based interventions through effective
decentralisation. This is possible only with active involvement of women's groups, VEC members
and members of Panchayati Raj institutions in shaping elementary education at grass roots level.
According to Right to Education Act 2010, therefore, schools shall constitute School Management
Committees (SMCs) comprising local officials, parents, guardians and teachers. It calls for SMCs
to monitor utilization of government grants and the school environment. It also mandates
inclusion of 50% women and parents of children from disadvantaged groups in SMCs.

The evidence from the field, especially with regard to constitution of SMC and the structure of
SMC, if any, do not give a thumps up to RTE. SMCs in elementary schools of Banda are almost
absent – just 2.9 percent of the surveyed schools have reported existence of SMCs. Even the
structure of SMC, wherever it exists, doesn’t conform to the one suggested under RTE. Women
do not comprise fifty (50) percent membership of any of the SMCs in Banda district.

C-27

Based on data from 103 sample schools

Table 18: Structure of School Management Committee

Male Members Female Total Guardian SMC
Members Members Members Meetings
10 2 12 2 5

Based on data from 3 sample schools only

For quality education an effective monitoring system is essential. Monitoring is a mechanism to

identify periodically the bottlenecks in implementing the educational schemes and to take
remedial measures to improve the effectiveness of such schemes. Regular visits of Resource
Centre (BRC) and Cluster Resource Centre (CRC) functionaries and/or Block Education Officers

25
(BEOs) and District Education Officers (DEOs) to schools do contribute towards improvements in
educational standards within a particular region. Unfortunately, the frequency of visits of these
functionaries in Banda is highly dissatisfactory. The annual average visits of BRC and CRC
functionaries to primary and upper primary schools have just been 5.6 days and 5 days,
respectively, as against the visits of BEO and CEO of only around 1.9 days and 1.8 days to the
same school groups.

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Some of the main recommendations of BRC/CRC functionaries and BEO/DEO during their visists
to the schools during the year are described as under:

• School must be opened and closed in time

• Sitting arrangement in the schools to be improved
• Students must get MDM timely
• Quality of MDMs to be improved
• Fill in attendence register timely and maintain records properly
• Keep the school/ toilets neat and clean
• Use the TLM grant quickly
• Parent-teacher meeting to be organised every month
• Plants and greenery to be maintained in the school
• Teachers must go for trainings/orientation programmes/seminars
• Children should get homework
S

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 INVESTIGATORS’ PERCEPTION

An attempt was also made to record and analyze obserbation or perception of invetigators during
their visists to various sampled schools in the district to supplement information / get additional
information from those schools. It was found that the records of both the private schools and
government schools were almost similar so far maintenance of attendance registers are
concerned. Around 88 percent of the surveyed schools were found to have properly maintained
attendence registers and keeping them in almirahs.

Atendance Registers Properly Maintained and Kept in the Almirahs?

Government Schools Private Schools
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Do Teachers Come in Time?

Government Schools Private Schools
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As against 71 percent of teachers in Government schools coming in time, private schools showed
a cent-percent record in timely arrival of teachers. Surprisingly, despite the various efforts
towards universalization of the provision of Mid-Day-Meals scheme, around 8 percent of the
government schools are still not implementing it. Expectngly, none of the private schools are
having any kind of MDM scheme in palce. Quality of food under MDM (in Government schools)
also leaves a lot to be desired. Whereas 7 percent of the schhols are reported to have ‘bad’
quality of MDM, nearly 40 percent of the schools have only “average” quality of MDM at best.

Provision of Mid-Day-Meal?
Government Schools Private Schools

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Quality of Food being Served to the

Children in Mid-Day-Meal Scheme
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The seating arrangement made for children in the school also presents a gloomy picture. Only
about 9.7 percent government schools and 20.0 percent of the private schools are providing
furniture for all students. As many as 79.6 percent of government schools and 73.3 percent
private schools have no furniture at all for students – they sit on the floor.

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 Seating Arrangement for Children
Government Schools Private Schools

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Is/Are there Ramp(s) for the Disabled Children?

Government Schools Private Schools

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With a view to make education more ‘inclusive’, the New Education Policy under the RTE Act has
been amended to include sepecial provisions for disabled students. Construction of ramps in
schools is one of the indicators as to how inclusive education is in a school so far as disabled
students are concerned. Accordingly, at the all-India level, the percentage of schools with ramps
11
increased significantly from 11.49 percent in 2004-05 to 34.43 percent in 2007-08 . This is
expected to help in attracting more physically challenged children to schols. In Banda, nearly 74
percent of the schools are reported to have ramps in place. Unfortunately, however, none of the
surveyed private schools have arranged ramps for disabled children. They must be made more
sensitive towards the cause of disabled children in order to realise the ‘inclusive’ goal of RTE.

11
State Report Cards 2007-08: Elementary Education in India –Where Do We Stand, National University of Educational
Planning and Administration, New Delhi

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 CHALLENGES AHEAD

The education report card for Banda clearly reveals that elementary education in the district,
especially at primary and upper primary levels; is not up to the mark. Over the years
implementation of SSA may have resulted in betterment of a number of education indicators in
the district, but it still has to do a lot of catching up to make the overall education level at par with
the desired level. In terms of compliance with certain infrastructure and teacher norms, the New
Education Policy under the RTE 2010 has set the bar at a very high level, which the district is
unable to touch in the near future. To address the problem of dropouts, policy makers need to
look at the factors that lead children to leave school at various stages.

Basic physical infrastructural facilities like water, electricity, classrooms, toilets, etc., which are
very important determinants of the learning environment, need to be adequately and urgently
provided in all the schools. If education has to be inclusive, infrastructure has to be significantly
improved particularly in schools where there is a concentration of children of weaker sections.
Special emphasis should be on creating more class-rooms, ensuring hygiene, toilet and drinking
water facilities, and boundary-wall. Most of the schools in Banda are completely devoid of
comuters. Computers in the classrooms can be used as direct educational tools for online
learning or can reinforce previously taught skills. For students struggling with specific skills, there
are many games that can be played online to serve as learning interventions.

Shortfall of trained teachers is a big challenge. The average pupil-teacher ratio in a classroom at
present stands at 59.9 in Banda. The RTE Act clearly spells out that this ratio should be 30:1,
which means that many more trained teachers will be required in the coming year. On the other
hand, given the emphasis on improving girls’ enrolment, which is critically dependent upon the
presence of female teachers, there is a need to increase the proportion of female teachers in
educationally backward district like Banda.

RTE calls for constitution of school management committees comprising local officials, parents,
guardians and teachers in all schools. SMCs are to monitor utilization of government grants and
the school environment. RTE also mandates inclusion of 50 percent women and parents of
children from disadvantaged groups in SMCs. Therefore, constitution of SMCs, which are
conspicuous by their absence from the majority of schools in Band, must be accorded top priority.
The monitoring and supervision aspect of the schools also needs to be strengthened and
streamlined.

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