Snakes and Ladders - ERU Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

SECTION FOUR: POLICY IMPLICATIONS
At the outset it is important to reiterate that this qualitative study was undertaken with the
objective of fleshing out the multiple factors that influence the ability of children, in particular
those in diverse poverty situations, to successfully complete primary education,. As discussed in
Section I, the study focuses on children from conception to 11 years – tracking key milestones in
one district each in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. It explores the
synergy between health, education and nutritional inputs in the overall development of these
children and reflects on whether the proximal and distal environment promotes holistic
development of the child. Being essentially qualitative in nature, it is exploratory and illustrative,
seeking to understand context specific factors at each stage of their development. The
recommendations discussed herein, therefore, need to be read in this context.
Institutions:
The school system:
Let us start with schools and learning. An important insight of this study is that a well functioning
and attractive school, with basic facilities and motivated teachers, makes a major difference in the
lives of poor children. Access and quality have thus to be seen as being part of the same
continuum – one without the other is meaningless. This is of particular importance in government
schools that cater to the majority of poor children in rural and urban areas. 80 per cent of the
children in the surveyed villages / slums are attending government schools. What thus do we need
to ensure in order to gear the school system to the meet the needs of these children?
- The shift that we are seeking is that the school system has to gear itself to ensuring learning
outcomes of children. If this is taken as a non-negotiable principle, then the school needs to
function as an integrated whole where a range of inputs / activities converge in order to
realise this objective.
o Creating a learning environment is perhaps the key to enable this shift. For many
years now this is often translated into unrelated inputs by way of infrastructure,
teaching learning material, teacher training, regular supply of textbooks, content
of process of education inside the classroom and community participation. While
Educational Resource Unit Page 93 April 2003