Snakes and Ladders - ERU Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

each of these inputs is no doubt valuable, the problem seems to be that these
inputs are not organically interconnected.
o While integrated strategies have been tried out in some areas across the country
(model clusters, joyful learning approaches), the challenge before us today is to
make effective practices a central part of the entire schooling system.
o It is worth noting that the focus, at least in DPEP and SSA, has shifted to
retention. Though an improvement from the earlier focus on enrolment, this is
insufficient. Moving from retention to ensuring learning outcomes necessitates a
qualitative leap in the way primary and upper primary education is managed.
o Teaching time remains a problem area. Interactions with children revealed that
the time spent in classroom transaction, especially given high teacher-student
ratio / rotation of teachers teaching in the school, reduces the actual time devoted
to teaching. A large proportion of the time of children is spent copying down
from the board, or self-studying, while the teacher is busy with another group.
- The teacher is the fulcrum around whom effective schooling system revolves. While this
appears to be a cliché, the real task before us today is to break this down into doable steps, for
instance:
o Making teachers accountable to measurable learning outcomes. This implies that
we need to agree on how learning will be assessed on a continuous basis. This is
of particular importance in the context of the no-detention policy being followed
at the primary level in most parts of the country and the upper primary level in
some areas. Pushing children from one grade to the next without ensuring
learning not only defeats the very purpose of schooling, but, as voiced by people,
is actually cheating the poorest. There is growing evidence to show that those
who can so afford are already taking recourse to private tuitions or private
schools.
o Effective advocacy for ensuring learning outcomes and making teachers
accountable for it implies not only dealing with the general public, but more
importantly with teacher unions. It is important to revisit the recurring
recommendation (made since the 1960s) that primary school teachers be hired for
a specific village school by the Panchayat and their service be made non-
transferable.
Educational Resource Unit Page 94 April 2003