Women Teachers in Rural India 0
United Nations Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organization, New Delhi.
Indian National Commission For Co-operation With UNESCO Ministry Of Human Resource Development New Delhi
.---
_ _. .-___-
“This report is published with financial support from UNESCO. The views expressed by the authors, the selection of facts presented and the opinions stated with regard to the facts are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO or of the Indian National Commission for cooperation with UNESCO, nor do they commit the Organization or the Indian National Commission. The terms used inthis publication and the presentation of the data therein do not imply the adoption of any position by UNESCO regarding the legal status of countries, territories, cities or zones or their authorities, or of their frontiers or boundaries.
Published
in 2001 by :
United Nations Education,Scientific and Cultural B-5/29, Safderjang Enclave, New Delhi
Organization
Indian National Commission for co-operation with Ministry of Human Rescource Development, New Delhi
UNESCO
SCOPE AND STRUCTURE
OF THE STUDY
The study provides an overall picture of the country vis-a-vis female teachers in schools in rural India with ample analyses of trends, policies and provisions in different parts of the country. Detailed analyses of status and trends have been made for two states-Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Uttar Pradesh had the lowest percentage of female teachers in 1989-90 (18 per cent), while Karnataka has shown one of the largest changes in percentages of teachers in the recent past. The percentage of female teachers in primary education has risen from 27 per cent in 1989-90 to 42 per cent in 1986-87 in Karnataka. These two states provide a wide spectrum for the concerned issue. Primary consultations and discussions were held at state as well as district level in these two states; this provided the perceptions of different stakeholders and feedback from all important players. The report has been divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introductory one providing details of objectives, approach, methodology and scope. The second chapter documents and analyses all the major national policy initiatives and statements vis-a-vis women teachers and girls’ education. All major recommendations and programmatic expressions have been traced for the postindependence period. The third chapter analyses the need and experiences regarding female teachers, the trends seen in their number, their profile, the recruitment and transfer practices and the status of professional as well as physical support services for the country with special emphasis on Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. The analysis also focuses on an rural-urban comparison. The following chapter discusses other major initiatives in primary education that have come in the shape of Non-Formal and Alternative Schooling systems from the perspective of availability of female teachers in rural areas. The next, which is the last chapter, lists main findings and observations, identifies major issues and provides suggestions for the future.
CONTENTS
Preface
vii
Acknowledgements List
of Text
ix
Tables
List of Attachment
xi --_ XIII
Tables
List of Abbreviations
xv
Glossary
xvii
1
Introduction
1
2
National Policy Framework: A Historical Perspective
a
3
Trends, Policy, Provisions and Practices
20
4
Para Teachers, Innovative Schemes and Pre-Schooling
76
5
Main Observations,
Attachment
Critical Issues and Suggestions
Tables
122
References
--
_
109
139
~~
._^ “_..
.-._ ~.
PREFACE Teachers are essential players in promoting quality education, whether in schools or in more flexible community-based programmes, they are advocates for, and catalysts of change. No education reform is likely to succeed without the active participation and ownership of teachers. It is universally recognized that, the “mother is the first school and first teacher of the child”, yet systemic gender disparities persist and women are denied access to the whole educational structure, both in rural and urban settings. Achieving Education for All goals therefore requires setting priorities, specific measures to ensure basic education of quality for ‘all, regardless of gender, location, language or ethnic origin. One of the priorities emphasized at a high-level consultation meeting on basic education for girls and women at Nagarkot, Nepal in August 1997 was to increase the number of female teachers to create a stimulating, participatory learning environment. Following this, UNESCO PROAP sponsored a study on female teachers in a rural primary school. These studies revealed that apart from country specific issues, there are a number of common problems and features for mutual learning. The India study was undertaken in collaboration with UNESCO PROAP, UNESCO, New Delhi and Dr. Jyotsna Jha (Consultant) The study put forth arguments in favour of having women teachers and also to include the perspectives of community demand and management. The in-depth study analyses policy framework, trends in number and recruitment policies and practices, support measures for professional development, improved functioning and the alternative experiments bring out a number of important observations and put forth several critical issues. This publication, I am confident will bring changes in attitudes, values and behaviour. Gender issues will be mainstreamed throughout the education system, supported by adequate resources and strong
.-
-.._-._ -I__
--...---.-.--
_.-.-. .-__^__l..l_l
_.
political commitment. The publication would deem to have served its purpose if it results in trans-generational change in all areas of gender discrimination specifically in basic education.
Director UNESCO New Delhi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The undertaking of this study and the production of this report would not have been possible without active help, support and contributions in particular fromn Ms. Jyotsna Jha and Ms. Meenakshi Bhardwaj from several sources. The study focuses on understanding of various aspects linked with the number and functioning of women teachers in India’s primary education system. The study relies substantially on consultation and feedback received from a number of persons from different parts of the country. We are grateful to all those who gave us their valuable time and support. The names that deserve special mention are Ms. Vrinda Sarup, Mr. Sharadindu, Dr. I.l? Sharma and Dr. Rashmi Sinha from Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Parthasarathy Raju and Mr. TM. Kumar from Karnataka, Mr. Rajiva Sinha and Mr. Ghatak from West Bengal and Mr. Mahendra Mishra from Orissa. In addition, we express our gratitude to all the functionaries of DPEP Department of Education and SCERT/DSERT who helped us in accessing information from various sources. Our thanks are due to all teachers, administrators, parents, community representatives and children with whom we interacted during our field visits. Without interacting with them, we would have failed to understand the finer nuances of the issue. It is not possible to include names of all the individuals who have contributed in some form or the other but names that do not find a mention here are by no means less important. The NCERT and NIEPA were the two main libraries that were used for this purpose. We are also grateful to Mr. Dhir Jhingran, Mr. Amarjeet Singh and Ms. Shalini Prasad of the Elementary Education Bureau, Department of Elementary Education and Literacy for providing us with additional materials and reports. Ms. Anita Nuna extended support in accessing certain reports and Ms. Vitika Dikshit
provided support in reviewing some of the materials. Our own team members including Ms. Leena Pal, Mr. Deep Vishvakarma, Md. Riyaz and Mr. Unachigi deserva mention for their active role, sincerity and dedication.
Director UNESCO New Delhi
LIST OF TEXT TABLES
3.1
Growth of Female Teachers in Primary Schools (1950-51 1998-I 999)
3.2
State-wise Percentage of Women Teachers from 1989-90 to 1998-99
3.3
Percentage of Female Teachers: Rural-Urban Scenario (1986; 1993)
3.4
State-wise Teachers in Place in DPEP Districts
3.5
District-wise Teachers in Position with Rural/Urban Bifurcation: Uttar Pradesh
3.6
District-wise Teachers in Position with Rural/Urban Bifurcation: Karnataka
3.7
Estimated Number of Female Primary Teachers According to Qualifications, Training and Stage at which Teaching - 1993
3.8
Estimated Number of Female Primary Teachers According to Academic Qualifications, 1993
3.9
Estimated Number of Full-time Female -Primary Teachers According to Tenure of Service and Management, 1993
3.10 Estimated Number of Full-time Female Primary According to Tenure of Service, 1993
to
Teachers
3.11 Primary/Elementary Teacher Education Programmes and Recruitment Qualifications for Primary Teachers 3.12 Admission Karnataka
to Pre-Service
Teacher-Training
3.13 Number of Students in Teacher-Training and Other Institutions
Institutions
Colleges, Universities
3.14 Physical Facilities in Primary Schools (1986 and 1993)
.^_-_
__-____ -.-l_
in
3.15 Female Representation (1997)
in Project Management
under DPEP
4.1
Number of NFE Centres in 1986 and 1993
4.2
Non-Formal
4.3
NFE Centre Programme
4.4
Coverage of Shiksha Karmi Project (upto October 1999)
4.5
Coverage, Target Group and Recruitment Practices in Selected Alternative Schooling Programmes
4.6
Teacher Profile, Training and Honoraria in Selected Alternative Schooling Programmes
4.7
Proportion of Female Teachers and Percentage Enrolment in Alternative Schooling under DPEP
4.8
Number of Balwadi and Anganwadi Centres, Percentage of Female Teachers and Ratio of Girls’ Enrolment
4.9
Number of Independent Pre-Primary Schools, Percentage of Female Teachers and Ratio of Girls’ Enrolment
Education Centres in Karnataka
and Haryana
under
the DPEP
of Girls’
4.10 Number of Pre-Primary Classes Attached to a School, Percentage of Female Teachers and Ratio of Girls’ Enrolment ’ 4.11 Educational
Qualifications
of Anganwadi
Workers (AWWs)
LIST OF ATTACHMENT
TABLES
1
Growth ti the Numberof Pdnary SchoolTeachers and Percentage ofFemale Teachers ti Kamatika 4996-67 to 199738)
2
Es&a&d
3
DistiwiseNumberofTeachers Pradesh)1982-83 ti 1989-90
Out..fSchoolChiHl~n,1996,Kamataka in Pdnaq
Schools (Jmr
Dist&twiseNumberofTea&ers (Jm~rBasjcSchoolshUUar Pradesh)1990-91 ti 1999-2000 D&z&wise Pen=entageofFemak 698243 to 1999-2000)
Teachersti
UtirPradesh
D~~~~Perren~geofFanakT~~ersandGjl%'En~~ent Ratio ti TotalEnmInentti UUarPradesh Q982-83 b 19992000) 7a
San&nofTeachers,Teachi?g-LeamhgEqu~ment~rSchools and AddtinalRooms Consticted as perOBB Norms
7b
DetailsofTh~TeachersSanct%nedtoPtiarySchoolswith Enmhent Exceeding 100, under Expanded Operation Bkckboad Scheme @son 22 Malrh 2000)
7c
Details of Phasewise Pmgress Achi?ved under CentilIy SponsotiSchemeofOperatinBhckboa~ason29 Febmary 2000 Qtamataka)
7d
Yearwise AppohQnent Pmdesh)
8
AtimativeSchoolingP~grammehUUarP~deshunderDPEP Manh 2000
under Operatbn
Bhckboati
(l-r
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AS
Alternative
Schooling
Aww
Anganwadi
Workers (pre-school instructors)
B.Ed.
Bachelor of Education
BEP
Bihar Education Project
BPSEB
Bihar Public Service Examination
BRC
Block Resource Centres
BSG
Block Steering Group
BTC
Basic Training Certificate
CRC
Cluster Resource Centres
CT
Certificate
DEEC
District Education Establishment
DSCERT
Directorate of State Council of Educational Research and Training
DIET
District Institute of Education and Training
DPEP
District Primary Education Programme
FGD
Focus Group Discussions
GOI
Government
IASE
Institute of Advanced Studies in Education
ICDS
Integrated
LJ
Lok Jumbish
MHRD
Ministry of Human Resource Development
MPK
Mahila Prashikshan Kendra (Women’s Training Centre)
MS
Mahila Sanmakhya
MSK
Mahila Shikshan Kendra (Women’s Education Centre)
MSV
Mahila Shikshan Vihar (Women’s Education Centre)
MTs
Master Trainers
Board
of Teaching Committee
of India Child Development
Services
NCERT
National Council of Educational Research and Training
NCTE
National Council of Teachers’ Education
NFE
Non-Formal Education
NGOs
Non-Governmental
NIC
National lnformatics
NPE
National Policy on Education
PMOST
Programme of Mass Orientation
POA
Programme of Action
RP
Resource Persons
SC
Scheduled Castes
SCERT
State Council of Educational Research and Training
SIEMAT
State Institute for Educational Management and Training
SKP
Shiksha Karmi Project (Education Workers’ Project)
SKY
Shiksha Karmi Yojna (Education Workers’ Project)
SOPT
Special Orientation
SSA
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Movement for Education for All)
SSK
Shishu Shiksha Kendra (Pre-School Centre)
ST
Scheduled Tribes
TLM
Teaching-Learning
UEE
Universalization
UPBEP
Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Project
UPE
Universal Primary Education
VEC
Village Education Committee
WID
Women in Development
WRITE
Women’s Residential Institute for Training and Education
WTF
Women Teachers’ Forum
Organizations Centre of School Teachers
of Primary Teachers
Material of Elementary Education
GLOSSARY Adyapika Manch
Literally meaning Women Teachers’ Forum, this was the name given to such a forum evolved under the Lok Jumbish at Rajasthan in India.
Angan Pathshalas
Courtyard schools for young girls.
Balika Shivir
Girls’ Camp.
Dais
Nurses, midwives, women servants.
Lok Jumbish
Literally meaning Collective Movement, the name of a primary education programme being run in Rajasthan State in India. The programme has started many innovative practices in the sector.
Mahila Samakhya
Literally meaning Women’s Collective-this is the name of a women’s empowerment programme operational in several selected areas of certain states in India.
Mata Samitis
Mothers’ Committees.
Panchayat
Panchayat is a traditional word in Hindi referring to five elders in a village who mediate conflict - the word is used for the three tiers of local self - administration brought in by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in India - the highest being the district panchayat followed by block panchayat and gram (village) panchayat.
Prehar Pathsalas
Schools of convenient
Pucca
Permanent structure.
Sathins
Women Development Workers.
timings.
.
1 INTRODUCTION 1 .I. Background
It is highly ironical that a woman who as a mother, has always been regarded as the first teacher of the child has herself been left uneducated. This is primarily due to the fact that on one hand, educational structures were inadequate and insensitive to women’s needs and irrelevant to their daily lives, and on the other, poor women were denied access to educational structures by the isolation of their lives and their endless struggle for survival, and the pressures of their work in and outside their homes. Girls have a much lower access to education than boys do; the gender gaps are large and persistent. The reasons are many and they differ from one country to another, from one culture to another. The majority of the world’s school dropout children are girls and in most parts of the world, girls are underrepresented at every school level. As an attempt to address this unequal situation great stress is being given to increase the number of teachers in schools to provide the girls with role models with whom they can identify in their formative years. No single influence on the child whether positive or negative, can ever be as profound as that of the teachers in the schools. The overall picture of girls’ and women’s education is one of limited opportunity, many obstacles and questionable quality and relevance. It is a reflection of their position in society, their subordinate status and their lack of control over even the simplest aspects of their own lives. Poverty, the distance of schools and school-related factors are certain constraints, which are common across cultures. For instance, in certain cultures, a girl’s chances of going to school may be directly dependent upon the availability of separate school facilities for girls and the presence of female teachers. Numerous studies have shown that girls’ enrolment rates improve and drop-out rates reduce significantly with female teachers in schools. Women have always
2
Women Teachers in Rut-al India
been teachers, yet it is only in the last one hundred and fifty years that teaching has been a paid profession for women. The Gender and Development frame has evolved from the women’s movement’s struggle over the past four decades. The Women in Development (WID) approach gained strength during the 1975-85, International Decade for Women. For the first time governments and international agencies acknowledged that development policy, based on the assumption that the process of development affects women and men in a similar manner, required reworking. It helped integrate women’s perspectives into development policy. Building gender awareness into all the nuances of education has been a focal point for interventions into the system. It is imperative that education, if it is to fulfil its potential as a decisive intervention towards social equity, must move beyond the domain of literacy. It should create an environment where women are enabled to come together to explore their situations, recognize and affirm their own strengths and capacities, and act to bring about change. A direct spin off was envisaged in enhanced awareness and emphasis on girls’ education. Till 1960, all efforts were focused on provision of schooling facilities for primary education, which is the most formal method of providing basic learning. Since the 197Os, countries and regions have charted out education strategies towards achieving Universal Primary Education (UPE). It is believed that if UPE is to be achieved, more primary teachers would be required, in particular, more women teachers would be needed if girls were to have a fair chance in schooling, and also to develop an appropriate gender perspective among all studentsboys or girls. Universalizing access to basic education through reduction of the current disparities between the boys and girls has been the subject of discussion at various international forums over the last decade. The World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990) organized in response to the widespread concern over the deterioration of education systems during the 198Os, had made “universalizing access and promoting equity” one of its central
Women Teachers in Rural India
3
objectives. The need to reduce the current gender gap in education was clearly stated. The moral imperative for equitable access to educational opportunities was also emphasized in the Plan of the Action of the World Summit for Children (September 1990). It also effectively broadened the scope of basic education to include early childhood development, primary education, non-formal learning for youth and adults, and learning convened through the media and social action. The crucial role of teachers in the attainment of Education for All was underscored at the World Conference (1990). However, it was emphasized in subsequent meetings at the Education for All: Summit of Nine High-Population Countries (New Delhi in 1993) and at Bali in 1995. The training of teachers was identified as the most important strategy and the biggest challenge in the struggle to improve the level and quality of education. One of the priorities for action emphasized in the Delhi Declaration (Meetings of E-9 Countries, 1997) concerns the improvement of the quality and relevance of basic education, attributing a special role to the teacher as the key to improving effective classroom teaching and learning. Subsequent high level meetings among the South Asian countries highlighted the need for specific measures to increase the number of women teachers in rural areas as well as for improvement in the quality of their functioning. 1.2. Objectives
With this background, the present study reviews the national policy framework and undertakes an assessment and review of the specific policies, programmes and strategies for enhancing the number and capabilities of female teachers in rural areas that exist in different parts of India. The assessment of policies, provisions and practices has been done in view of the trends that have been observed in the number of female teachers in rural areas in recent years. The study, therefore, focuses on: 9
,___-_.--...-.----------
Analysis of trends in the number of female teachers in rural schools in India, especially during the 1980s and 1990s;
._._. -.
. - ..-_
.
Women Teachers in Rural India
4 9
Review of the existing policies, programmes and strategies that are/have been operational at national as well as state levels for increasing the number of female teachers in rural India;
9
Review of the existing provisions and practices that are/have been operational at national as well as state levels for equipping the female teachers to function more effectively in rural India;
9
Review of the Non-Formal and Alternative Schooling programmes vis-a-vis availability of female teachers in rural areas;
9
Identification of the limitations of the present policy, programmes and practices, for the purpose of increasing female teachers and equipping them for challenges in rural areas;
Based on the review and analyses, the study aims at making recommendations and suggestions for improvement in the present policy and approach towards women teachers in primary schools. The suggestions are expected to be focused, and linked to the actual situations that exist in the field so that the number as well as functioning of women teachers can be improved. 1.3. Approach
and Methodology
The study analyses the existing policies, programmes, strategies and practices from the perspective of certain identified indicators. These include: 9
Recruitment, placement and promotion policies/practices being followed in general and in specific programmes
9
Specific provisions to support female teachers to function better in terms of transport, quarters, presence of toilets/ drinking water in schools, etc.
9
Specific provisions to support the female teachers to function more effectively in terms of academic performance in the classroom (teacher- training, academic support, etc.)
Women Teachers in Rural India
5
9
Any other specific provisions with explicit or implicit goal of encouraging the number or functioning or female teachers in rural India
9
The perception of State functionaries/educational administrators/NGOs/community/female and male teachers regarding need/impact of having female teachers in schools vis-a-vis girls’ participation and retention
The following of ihformation:
methods
were applied for collection and analysis
9
Analysis of the policy documents, plan papers, schemes, records, reports and studies related with the topic (the documents available both in and outside the public domain were accessed and analysed)
9
Interviews and consultations (managers, educational administrators, teacher-training experts, researchers, teachers, parents, students, community representatives and NGO representatives)
9
Focus Group Discussions (teachers)
Both quantitative and qualitative information has been collected and analysed to provide a complete picture. The study team consisted of two Principal Investigators and six Research Assistants. The Research Assistants provided support in collection of secondary information from published and unpublished sources, while the Principal Investigators themselves conducted the Interviews, Consultative Interactions and Focus Group Discussions. Both secondary and primary sources have been used for collection and analysis of information. Most of the quantitative information for the country and state levels has been collected from published sources. The information for the district level has been collected from unpublished but authentic government sources. The qualitative information has been collected by use of multiple means of published and unpublished materials, and through field consultations,
-.l--
.-..--..-_-_
6
Women Teachers in Rural India
The draft report was presented at a national seminar attended by policy planners, teacher trainers and educational scientists. The seminar witnessed lively debate and discussion ,on some of the issues. Many suggestions were made and some of these have been incorporated after assessing their relevance before finalizing the report. 1.4. Scope and Limitations
of the Study
The study provides an overall picture of the country vis-a-vis female teachers in schools in rural India with ample analyses of trends, policies and provisions in different parts of the country. Detailed analyses of status and trends have been made for two states-Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Uttar Pradesh had the lowest percentage of female teachers in 1989-90 (18 per cent), while Karnataka has shown one of the largest changes in percentage of teachers in the recent past. The percentage of female teachers in primary education has risen from 27 per cent in 1989-90 to 42 per cent in 1986-87 in Karnataka. These two states provide a wide spectrum for the concerned issue. Primary consultations and discussions were held at state as well as district level in these two states; this provided the perceptions of different stakeholders and feedback from all important players. One district was visited in each of these two states in order to hold interviews, consultations and FGDs. These districts are Bangalore Rural in Karnataka and Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. Both the districts are average in terms of educational development and were identified in consultation with local researchers and administrators. Some consultations with teachers and educational administrators were also held in two other states of Orissa and West Bengal. These added to the information on experiences and perceptions available from other sources. The study should not be seen as an impact study of different schemes for all parts of the country considering the limited spread of the work. One of the major limitations of the study was the state of information availability in public domain. For instance, the published information of the Education Department at the national as well as
Women Teachers in Rural India
7
the state levels do not generally bifurcate those for rural and urban areas. Hence, the periodic All India Education Survey, carried out by NCERT remains the only published source for extensive information including teachers, facilities, profile of teachers, etc. Similarly, the information regarding recruitment practices for teachers, which has been changing rapidly in certain countries, is not available in public domain at national level. Although considerable information, otherwise not available in public domain, was accessed, which helped in partially overcoming the limitation, the information access remained a constraint, especially in view of the tight time frame of four months within which this report has been prepared. 1.5. The Structure
of the Report
The report has been divided into five chapters, This chapter is the introductory one providing details of objectives, approach, methodology and scope. The second chapter documents and analyses all the major national policy initiatives and statements vis-a-vis women teachers and girls’ education. All major recommendations and programmatic expressions have been traced for the post-independence period. The third chapter analyses the need and experiences regarding female teachers, the trends seen in their number, their profile, the recruitment and transfer practices and the status of professional as well as physical support services for the country with special emphasis on Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. The analysis also focuses on an ruralurban comparison. The following chapter discusses other major initiatives in primary education that have come in the shape of NonFormal and Alternative Schooling systems from the perspective of availability of female teachers in rural areas. The next, which is the last chapter, lists main findings and observations, identifies major issues and provides suggestions for the future.
2 NATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
:
The availability of women teachers in rural areas in India has been an area of concern and debate since pre-independence days. Many consider that the problem of universal elementary education in India is essentially a problem of girls’ education. Gaps in participation in schooling persist in India between girls and boys, this being generally more marked in rural areas. This gap is due to a mix of cultural and economic constraints and it was felt that one measure to reduce this gap could be through making more female teachers available in rural areas. As early as 1882, the Education Commission had made recommendations to financially support rural girls for teacher training through residential programmes. During the post-independence period, various plan and policy documents have reaffirmed the need to encourage hiring of more women teachers at primary level and also for improvement in working conditions as well as support measures to enable women teachers to function more effectively. The efforts to sensitize the educational system across the country begins with the understanding, that opportunities for the girl child and women are far less than for men, both within the home and in the wider community. Role expectations of the girl child need to be transformed through the content, form, and methodology of education. This led to the major recommendation on Teacher Education in the First Five-Year Plan (1951-56), which stressed on training of teachers, especially women teachers for basic schools and also re-training of teachers of the purpose of educational re-organization, Improvements in their pay scale and conditions of service were also recommended. The Second Five-Year Plan emphasized the need to provide greater educational opportunities to girls. In 1957-58 a centrally sponsored scheme was introduced to accelerate the enrolment of girls in primary schools. States were given assistance for one or more of the following schemes:
Women Teachers in Rural India
0 0 0
free accommodation for women teachers in rural areas appointment of school mothers condensed courses for adult women stipends for women for teachers’ training
0
stipends for high school students to take up teaching
0
constructionof
l
9
hostels for secondary schools for girls
The Government of India under the Chairmanship of Durga Bai Deshmukh on 19 May 1958 appointed the National Committee on Women’s Education. The objective of the committee was to suggest special measures to bridge the gap in women’s education at primary and secondary levels and to examine the problem of wastage of girls at primary level, problems of adult women who have inadequate education and need continuing education. Also to look into the possibility and methods of encouraging a larger number of women to go into vocational trades by providing suitable vocational training as part of formal education or through special courses designed for adult education, The major recommendations with regard to training and employment of women teachers were: 0
0
0
0
0
State Governments should be requested to take vigorous measures to increase the output of women teachers and to employ them in increasing numbers so that the existing proportion of women teachers is substantially raised in the near future. Immediate steps should be taken to set up additional training institutions for women teachers in all such areas of the country where a shortage exists at present. The average training institution for women should be of a fairly small size and an attempt should be made to start at least one such training institution for women primary school teachers in every district. Training schools for primary school teachers and girls’secondary schools should be developed together as a combined institution wherever possible and specially in rural areas. A determined effort should be made to locate training institutions for women primary school teachers in rural areas.
10
0
Women Teachers in Rural India It will be desirable to exempt all women trainees in training institutions for primary school teachers from payment of tuition fees. A sufficient number of scholarships should be instituted in all training institutions so that all women trainees in need may receive adequate financial assistance to cover their expenses, other than tuition fees while under training. Suitable pupils, particularly from rural areas, who wish to become teachers may be selected during the last two years of their middle or secondary school course and given free secondary education and even special scholarships, if they are prepared to work in rural areas. In selecting women candidates for training, special consideration may be given to: - the background of candidates. - adult women, particularly widows and others who may have to maintain themselves; and - Cram-Sevikas who might be released from social welfare projects. Government should take immediate steps for provision of hostels in all training establishments. Rented accommodation may be provided as a transitional measure. Voluntary organizations conducting training for women should be assisted for construction of hostels either by a grant-in-aid, or a loan which would cover the total cost and be interest-free, if possible. Steps on the lines indicated above for hostels should also be adopted in so far as the provision of staff quarters for training institutions is concerned. Although residence in hostels should ordinarily be compulsory for trainees, women, who have unavoidable responsibilities at home, may be exempted. In training institutions for women teachers, arrangements should be made for creches for the care of the children of trainees, whenever necessary
Women Teachers in Rural India
11
Adequate provision for instruction in fine arts and home crafts should be made in training institutions for women teachers. Preparatory classes, for training of adult women with inadequate educational qualifications through condensed courses should be attached to all training institutions for women teachers. Coaching classes should be organized for women who have obtained less than the required percentage of marks in some subjects. Their progress should be examined after coaching and if found satisfactory, they should be admitted to regular training institutions. Part-time courses for preparation of women teachers should be organized, wherever possible. Every training institution for women teachers should set up a placement centre, which would assist its trainees in securing employment. Arrangements should also be made under which a placement centre would give a grant or a loan to a trainee to enable her to attend an interview. Demand and supply lists of women teachers should be maintained by all Education Departments and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Education. Part-time employment of women teachers should be encouraged as far as possible in order to enable women to manage their responsibilities at home as well as to do some teaching work. The practice, followed in some areas, of discharging untrained teachers at vacation time should be abandoned generally in case of all teachers. If that is not possible, it should be abandoned in respect of women teachers at least. Provision should be made for giving compulsory training in the local dialect to all such teachers as an integral part of their professional education. Further, on 31 October 1961 a Study Group on the Training of Elementary Teachers in India was appointed by the Government of India on behalf of the All India Council for Elementary Education, under the chairmanship of Shri Raja Roy Singh. The Group recommended that each State/Union Territory Administration should immediately set up a study group to:
^.“...--_-_-______.-_-- -
-.“...-“l_ll_llll_-_.
Women Teachet-s in Rural India
12
Work out de tailed estimates of additional enrolment in elementary schools up to 1975 and additional teachers required annually; vlssess the size of the existing backlog of untrained teachers and prepare a detailed scheme for c/earing it; Examine the possibilities institutions;
of expanding
.the capacity of existing
Determine additional training places, which need to be created so that, by 1967-68, the output on the basis of a two-year course should match the annual requirements; Assess the requirement of teachers of special categories, e.g. women teachers, teachers of remote areas, teachers for tribal areas, etc.; and Work out the estimate of the cost and the phasing of the whole programme. The study groups were to start functioning immediately and complete their work by March 1963. Plants prepared by the study groups were to be combined for developing an overall plan of teacher education for the country. As the Education Commission, chaired by Prof. Kothari, 1964-66 pointed out, the destiny of the country is being shaped in the classrooms, and, it is the teachers who hold the key position in determining the course of interaction that takes place in schools and classrooms. It is evident, therefore, that the teachers personality should be well-balanced since the teachers have a unique position in the complex web of relationships among several players in the field of education, in the classroom, in the institution and in society at large. Thus, an analysis, especially of the status of female teachers and their professional preparation needs a close examination in this context. The National Committee on Women’s Education, which was appointed during the Third Plan Period to review the development of women’s education recommended that: 0
priority
should be given to women’s education
in future
Women Teachers in Rural India l
0 0
discrimination between boys and girls should be curbed government should encourage states to launch various programmes for girls’ education proper facilities and protection should be provided to women teachers serving in rural areas
The problem of inadequate availability of women teachers was to be tackled by giving scholarships to local girls to complete their education. The recommendations of the National Committee on Women’s Education set up in 1959 and reconstituted in 1964 were used as guidelines during the Third Plan Period. Special emphasis was laid on creating suitable conditions for encouraging parents to send their daughters to schools, educating public opinion, increasing the number of women teachers who could take up teaching and inducing women from urban areas to accept posts as teachers in rural schools. Promising female students at the post-secondary stage were to be assisted with scholarships and stipends to train as teachers in order to meet the shortfall of teachers. In return they were to be under an obligation to serve for a prescribed period. The year 1974 was a milestone in India’s concerns for women. That was the year of the revealing publication of a first ever status report on women: ‘Towards Equality’. Since then it was expected that opportunities for women in education and employment would be on the increase. The Sixth Five-Year Plan stated that the plan of UEE would be specially directed towards higher enrolment and retention of girls in schools. This would require besides others “appointment of women teachers where necessary, in rural areas so as to encourage girls’ education” and “to start Balwadis/creches attached to schools to free girls from sibling care and enable them to attend schools.” The Seventh Plan laid stress on enrolment and retention of girls at the elementary stage, especially those belonging to rural areas, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections. Voluntary agencies were encouraged to run early childhood education
14
Women Teachers in Rural India
centres as adjuncts of primary and middle schools. There was further expansion of the ICDS programmes to cover all indigent groups of population, especially those living in rural areas. The ICDS is seen as providing school readiness amongst preschools and early stimulation, nutrition and health care to children in the age group O-3 years. Besides, ICDS centres and Anganwadis also provide the necessary support structure to relieve school-age girls from sibling care. Furthermore, promotion of vocational and technical education for girls was boosted by setting up more women’s polytechnics and by opening access to all technical institutions to women. It is seen that teaching-learning is an interactive process wherein the role of the teachers is less of a didactic, authoritarian vendor of information, and more of a facilitator, promoter and supporter of the learner’s process of self-growth. The National Policy rightly iterated that a system of education could not rise above the level of its teachers. UEE has been accepted as a national goal and universal access, universal retention and universal achievements are the broad parameters. In order to achieve this goal, concerted efforts have been made. While Universalization of Elementary Education is the national goal, it is a fact that no strategy can succeed without addressing itself to specific gender and regional dimensions. Realizing the importance of this aspect National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986 state that: “Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women. In order to neutralise the accumulated distortions of the past, there will be a well conceived edge in favour of women. The National Education System will play a positive, interventionist role in the empowerment of women. It will foster the development of new values through redesigned curricula, textbooks, training and orientation of teachers, decision-makers, administrators and the active involvement of educational institutions. n The National Policy on Education (NPE, 1986) as revised in 1992 was a landmark in the field of policy on women’s education in that it recognized the need to redress traditional gender imbalance in educational access and achievement.
15
Women Teachers in Rural India
The Policy is committed to a “well-conceived edge in favour of women.” It recognizes that the empowerment of women is possibly the most critical precondition for the participation of girls and women in the educational process. The NPE acknowledges that inequalities in gender relations have to be addressed as a necessary precondition of equality in education, and makes a commitment to the promotion of education as an agent of basic change in the status of women. The link between education and women’s empowerment was posited as being central to an equity-oriented education policy. It also recognized that enhancing infrastructure alone would not redress the problem. Hence, new guidelines for policy makers and educationists were charted. However, the rural-urban divide did not receive adequate attention. For operationalizing the recommendations of NPE (1986), the following parameters of women’s empowerment have been laid down on POA (1992): Enhancing self-esteem and selfxonfidence
of women;
Building a positive image of women by recogriizing contribution to the society, polity and the economy; Developing the ability
their
to think critically;
Fostering decision-making and action through collective processes; Enpbling women to make informed choices in areas like education, employment and health; Ensuring equal participation in developmental processes; Providing information, knowledge and skill for economic independence; Enhancing access to legal literacy and information relating to their rights and entitlements in society with a view to enhance their participation on an equal footing in all areas. For the achievement of the above mentioned parameters at the school level, it was stated in the POA (1992) that “all Teachers and Instructors will be trained as agents of Women’s Empowerment.” Further, the National Perspective Plan for Women 1988-2000 brought
16
Women Teachers in Rural India
out by the Ministry of HRD in 1988 recommended that the number of women teachers should be increased so that the interaction between the teacher and the taught, something essential for good education, increases. This would help draw and retain more girls in schools and also instil confidence amongst their parents. It would be more effective if teachers from the same area are employed. In single teacher schools the teacher must be a woman, whereas in the case of two teacher schools, at least one teacher must be a woman. Women’s education has always been a priority area and NPE envisages the entire educational system to work for women3 education and empowerment. It has been emphasized that gender concerns must be built into all educational processes. Emphasis has been laid on enrolment and retention of the girl child in formal and non-formal schooling, recruitment of rural women as teachers and removal of gender bias in the curriculum. Though substantial progress has been made in providing access to education to the children in the country, the goal of UEE still remains elusive. Similarly, though gaps in access and retention have been narrowing down over the years, a disproportionately large number of non-enrolled and dropouts are from the poor households, girls and members of SCand ST.The strategies of UEEhave hitherto emphasized, mainly access in terms of construction of classrooms and appointment of teachers. This has been inadequate and needs to be augmented by besides others, addressing the more difficult aspects of access, particularly access to girls, disadvantaged groups and out-of-school children. The Non-Formal Education (NFE) programme was launched with the specific purpose of reaching the sizeable number of out-of-school children in rural areas. While reiterating the guidelines regarding NFE in the National Policy on Education, 1986 and its Programme of Action (POA), the Eighth Plan envisaged that NFE would be developed 1. The NFE Guidelines have been revised again- in 2000 and are being discussed in Chapter IV.
Women Teachers in Rural India as a complementary system to formal elementary education system. It stressed the importance of making necessary investments in the qualitative improvement of NFE and reiterated that the advantages of NFE lay in its flexibility and adaptability to the needs of an important minority of children. Increase in the number of women instructors, supervisors and administrators was envisaged as the aim of NFE in the Eighth Plan. The NFE Scheme was revised on the above lines in 1993 and the ratio of Girls’ Centres to total Centres was increased from 25 per cent to 40 per cent. Under the Non-Formal Education (NFE) programme, 90 per cent assistance is given to centres exclusively for girl students of secondary and higher secondary schools with the objective of boosting retention of girls. However, the functioning of the scheme was severely criticized for inadequate honorarium, lack of support system and compromise with quality. Some of the major strategies that were adopted for revitalization and expansion of NFE in the Ninth Plan were: 0
Substantial enhancement supervisors.
in remuneration
0
Provision of a minimum of two instructors of whom should be a woman.
of instructors
and
for NFE centres, one
0, Delegation of power for appointment of instructors panchayats and Village Education Committees.’
to village
In view of the adverse rate of participation and retention of girls in India and other developing nations, the provision for a female teacher has been considered critical. It is generally believed that the presence of a female teacher generates confidence among, parents leading to a positive change in the rate of girls’ participation in education/schooling. This belief was reflected in several schemes and policies adopted for elementary education at both national and state levels in India. Operation Blackboard is one of the main examples of a national programme implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the states, that gave emphasis to recruitment of female teachers. The scheme propagated and supported the concept that every school must have at least two teachers and one of them should be a female.
-----__
18
Women Teachers in Rural India
Besides this several central and state level initiatives have been in operation from the early 1980s. While the designs of these projects vary substantially, all of them address the same objectives. A number of national priority schemes and social mobilization programmes have been taken up in the form of Teacher Education, District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and other externally funded projects. Since gender disparities are conspicuous in India, most programmes have specific components for ameliorating the condition of the girl child. Special programmes have been taken up to improve upon specific deficiencies in the educational system, since UEEcannot be achieved without specifically addressing its gender and regional dimensions. The Bihar Education Project (BEP)in Bihar and the Lok Jumbish (LJ) in Rajasthan, the first two programmes that emphasized a holistic approach to basic education, gave a central place to the issues of women’s empowerment and involvement of teachers at all levels. The goal of the women’s development perspective in these programmes has been to create conditions for a substantially higher participation of girls in primary education. From the beginning, the principal strategy for achievement of this goal has been to enable women to bring about a change in their self-image and to change the perception about women in family and society. This is to be achieved through environment building, formation of women’s collectives at village level, providing an institutional support system, introducing a perspective of gender equity in the content and process of education, and making continuous efforts to make the management system better adjusted to the indispensability of gender equity in the approach to social development. These two programmes also emphasized building a positive social image of teachers along with their professional development. The focus was given to the issue of insisting with the village community and administration to give due respect to teachers. Lok Jumbish attached a good deal of importance to ensuring greater involvement of women teachers, understanding them, appreciating their problems and empowering them. The Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Project
Women Teachers in Rural India
19
(UPBEP)also emphasized girls’ education and gender sensitization all stakeholders to realize an attitudinal change.
of
The District Primary Education Programme, which was shaped on the experiences of state-specific BEI?LJand UPBEP,also gave adequate importance to girls’ education and gender concerns in its design. The programme was to be implemented primarily in low female literacy districts and the focus was given to the following elements: l
Increase in participation rates of girls and significant lowering of gaps in enrolment and retention rates between boys and girls
l
integrate Q gender perspective in design and implementation of a// strategies and interventions, and increase the number of women inklved in programming at a// levels.
l
Other initiatives operational in the basic education sector such as Janshala also eniphasizes gender concerns. The recently introduced Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) too recognizes girls’ education as one of the major challenges. The review of policy statements, plan provisions and programme formulations in the post-independence period clearly reflects that there has been an explicit and overt emphasis on improving the girls’ education scenario in the country. The role of female teachers has also been explicitly recognized and suggestions have been made for measures that would increase their number and improve both their functioning and accountability. The analysis also suggests that there has been a shift from the welfare approach to development where girls’ education is seen more as an issue of long-term investment. Inclusion of gender concerns reflects a shift from welfare to that of empowerment, which is essentially linked to the issue of equity at all levels, The next chapter examines the trends in the number visa-vis the recruitment practices and the support provisions that exist in the states. In a federal set-up, where education, though now a concurrent subject, has been traditjonallly a state subject, the national policy statements can only provide the framework which may or may not always be followed by the state governments.
_-
TRENDS, POLICY, PROVISIONS AND PRACTICES Field interactions reinforced the earlier findings that the presence of women teachers makes parents feel more comfortable regarding their daughters, this being more relevant for girls in upper Classes IV and I/. There was also an agreement among the educational administrators and teacher trainers in different states regarding two observations - i) women teachers perform better in classrooms, especially in Classes I and II, where building teacher-child relationship is more critical; ii) women teachers are preferable to men teachers because they do not indulge in local politics. However, the community and administrators were also united in raising the issue of women teachers coming late to schools and their preference for urban/ roadside postings. It was interesting to note that children were generally more comfortable with women teachers in all the schools where interactions were held. This was true for both girls and boys. They were also candid in citing the reasons ‘- “they are more sympathetic”, “they make us understand well”, “they are more affectionate”, “they do not snub us if we ask questions” and so on. It may be added that children were comfortable even with male teachers wherever they possessed these qualities. The presence of at least one woman teacher in every school needs to be promoted also because it provides one of the very few atypical roles being performed by women. In rural areas where children get to see women performing only typical, stereotyped roles, it becomes important to have a woman teacher for both boys and girls. Girls obviously see them as their role models and were unequivocal in expressing this during the field interactions. The girls in schools with no female teachers had problems in identifying with male teachers in this respect.
._
.-_”
^_._.
-
-...
“.
-
21
Women Teachers in Rural India
With the above experiences in view, this chapter analyses the trends witnessed in the number of female teachers for formal schools for all the major states in general and in rural areas in particular. Large inter-state variations are seen in these trends. The recruitment of teachers is a state subject in the federal Indian set-up and the policies are also at large variance from one state to the other. This chapter provides an overview of policies in some of the states and anlyses these in detail for Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. The chapter also discusses the status of teacher education and existence of several facilities, as these directly and indirectly, have an impact on the number and functioning of women teachers. 3.1. Trends
in Number’
of Female
Teachers
There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of female teachers as well as their relative representation in the postindependence period in India. The total number of female teachers increased about eight times from a mere 82,000 in 1951 to 658,000 in 1998-99 (Table 3.1). The growth in the number of female teachers has been higher than that for all teachers and as a result the share of women teachers has grown form 15 per cent to 35 per cent. It may, however, be mentioned that the increase in the number of total teachers at the primary stage has been slower as compared to upperprimary and secondary stages. This reflects a difficult situation for primary teachers who continue to handle large and multi-grade classrooms, especially in rural areas. Though some of the states have made serious efforts to place a higher number of women teachers in primary schools, there is a large variation across states. Kerala, followed by Punjab and Haryana have the highest percentage of women teachers among the bigger states (Table 3.2). On the other hand, the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Orissa have the least representation of women teachers. Karnataka and Maharashtra are the two states that have shown the maximum rate of growth in the number of women teachers during the 1990s. The share of women teachers in Maharashtra rose from about 39 per cent in 1989-90 to more than 50 per cent in 1998-
22
Women Teachers in Rural India
99 and in Karnataka, it increased from as low as 27 per cent to about 44 per cent in the same period. The smaller states present an encouralging trend and the share of women teachers has been increasing in almost all the states with the exception of Tripura. Table
3.1: Growth
Primary
uirr. Male
1950-51 1955-56 196061 1965-66 1970-7 -I 1975-76 1980-8 1 1985-86 1990-g 1 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95; 1995-96* 1996-97* 1997-98* 1998-99*
of Female Teachers in Primary (1950.51 to 1998-l 999)
456 574 615 764 835 955 1021 1094 1143 1152 1137 4110 1181 1187 1205 1229 1246
School Teachers
Female
82 117 127 180 225 283 342 402 473 492 514 513 533 553 585 643 658
Total
538 691 7412 94.4 1060 1238 1363 1496 16’16 1644 16!jl 1623 1714 1740 1790 1872 1904
Schools
(in thousands) % of Female Teachers
15 17 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 31 32 31 32 33 34 35
*Provisialnal Source : Selected Educational Statistics, 1999-2000, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The distribution
of female teachers in urban and rural areas has,
state/uT Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka
1988-90
199091
1993-84
37 ."V RE; LW
28.54
43.5E
32 29
17.34
19.86
40
19.13
41.51
27.63
28.43
20.17 17.61 61.48 37.99 41.71 35.41
20.17 18.94 61.44 38.02 47.71 35.41
41.49 31.93 47.15 41.87 44.31 42.2
22.65 19.46 63.6 40.44 44.22 36.39
40.9E 32.26 47.45 42.44 46 44.15
23.51 19.36 64.6 36.3 49.76 23.79
40.55
40.55
37.52
40.18
37.45
46.45 48.17 31.17
29.88 cc 0” “L).OLt 23.6
46.07 48.58 48.39
39 23.41 36.97 46.91 27.47
27.02 cm 7. 0L.I i 21.79 38.53 22.41 37.94 44.5 27.81 --i.e---“e..
40.03 22.65 36.94 45.Ud --. 27.29
4i.48
46.21
198495
1987-98
1888=99
33.23
42.53
29.44
28.59
26.22
24.37 18.97 65.56 44.88 47.49 39.93
24.97 21.83 68.06 46.57 49.08 39.93
24.97 19.00 67.33 46.97 51.33 39.93
16.79 22.81 68.85 48.96 34.04 23.47
34.53
34.53
37.2
37.20
37.77
45.96 48.03 4c
41.12 68.02 24
41.47 c9 “2.“” c* 27 04 I
41.62 68 67 28 4
47.25 27.36
46.17 f?fT V”. A&I” 29.80
43.08 45.58 47.4 47.67 45.92
48.19 30.51 39.3 48.29 31.47
47.67 30.56 42.9
49.99 31.93 43.83
50.31 34.41 45.43 47.44 40.32
40.00 35.36 39.58 25.52 41.20
CO V"
7a I"
. . . Con td.
Table
3.3 : Percentage
of Female Teachers
: Rural
n
Urban
Scenario
(1988;
1993)
% of Girls Enrolkd
Kashmir Karnataka
Urban Rural Urban
1991 21032 1991
1696 37727 8808
-14.82 79.38 342.39
1787 29494 8149
2498 38275 6562
39.79 29.77 -19.47
74.82 16.24 61.7
74.34 26.99 65.54
-0.48 10.75 3.84
45.6 40.03 47.42 45.68 46.79 37.69 48.42 43.95 46.9
46.54 45.41 48.04 47.89 46.54 41.36 48.9 46.09 47.69
”
0.94 5.38 0.62 2.21 -0.25 3.67 0.48 2.14 0.79
...Contd
...Contd. I
9479
9362
-1.23
44319
39301
-11.32
60.82
65.64
4.82
48.68
48.7
0.02
617
2742
344.41
5877
11390
93.81
71.87
72.91
1.04
49.58
-0.08
129203
133005
10.65
91.81
12.62
36.54
49.5 41.45
40915
46828
14.45
56.34
59.26
2.92
43.76
45.71
1.95
77.87
73155
93791
28.21
24.14
25.87
1.73
44.17
46.65
2.48
1177.43
41329
40467
-2.09
63.14
8287
20.14
17.47
6.38 7.97
46.6 46.17
0.66
46.57
0.40
761
6898 1855
69.52 25.44
47.26
44.85 111.39
232
-87.49
36.17
46.44
10.27
45.74
48.19
2.45
12.95 223.08
6199 618
7851
26.65
35.96
42.77
23.79
80.1
81.18
49.67 50.21
-0.01
765
6.81 1.08
49.66
117
4038 378
823
1216
47.75
2318
2031
-12.38
36.15
34.07
-2.08
46.96
46.55
624
242.86
1
85.07
1 62.99
1 59.72
1 -3.27
149.48
50.89 198.33
978 4811
1810
1616
'5713
i
18.75 1 25.01
1 29.21
1 4.20
(47.62
57745 6344 33162 4931 2397 360 3575 Mizoram
Orissa
IRural
1
79505 15023 58986 13680 3472
179
-79.19
60 32411
49728
53.43
Urban
1767
3653
106.73
7334
15159 2266
28.48 118.09
39384
67648
Rural
11799
Rajasthan
Urban Rural
1039 25064
39778
58.71
8340 44640
66472
48.91
14.36
19.18
4.82
24.79
Urban
3039
8079
165.84
18239
23056
26.41
45.61
4.46
37.58
57.73
2031
4.32
44.27
Rural Urban
Tarnil Nadu ' Rural 'Urban
466 2
735 5
150.00
25844
34168
32.21
3424
7245
111.59
0.79 -0.41
470
Urban Rural
Punjab
Sikkim
51
4.91
2669 6
87326 28119
48 89409 26878
31.41
29.44
50.07 33.76
700.00
83.33
52.08
30.42
33.15 67.44
2.39 -4.41
66.9
-31.25
48.36
2.73
45.74
0.54
47.98
...Coctd.
. ..Contd. Tripura
Rural
1 1869 1
Urban Uttar Pradesh
I
West Bengal A&N Islands
&
gzi 41.27
66346
93726
Urban
9218
18831
Rural
40724
47154
15.79
Urban
7732
10641
37.62
~ 41.33
50.01
8.68
45.28
47.12
29.86
1 34.88
1 5.02
146.63
1 48.07
1
1.44
63.9
1 89.06
125.16
146.57
1 46.03
1
-0.54
Rural IRural Urban
Dadar
209
Rura!
Urban IChandigarh
2742
58
Rural
1
104.29
172
275
59.88
5
28
460.00
4
-55.56
9 1 35
134
121
172
55 I
282.86 42.15 266.67 133.33 275.00 106.04 100.93 46.15 220.00 27.98 149.59
Source
: Fifth All India Education
Survey,
NCERT, 1991
Sixth All India Education
Survey,
NCERT, .I 998
64 1
16.36
1.84
28
Women Teacners in Rural India
however, been unequal and the aggregate picture does not show the skewed distribution against the rural areas. Only 24.45 per cent of the total number of teachers in primary schools were women in rural areas of the country in 1993 as against more than 60 per cent of teachers being women in urban India (Table 3.3). Female teachers outnumber their male counterparts in urban areas of all major states, with their share varying between 50 to 95 per cent. On the other hand, their representation in the rural areas varies between one-fourth to one-third in most states. It can be seen that the difference in the share of female teachers in rural and urban areas is very high even in those states which have overall a high representation of female teachers such as Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra. The rural-urban gap is least in Kerala where the share of women teachers in rural areas was also high at 65.64 per cent as against 72.91 per cent in urban areas. An analysis of the trends observed between 1986 and 1993 reveals that the rural-urban gap in the distribution of teachers has remained almost static. It is interesting to note that despite a negative growth rate in the total number of teachers, the share of female teachers has improved in urban areas. The share of female teachers in rural areas was about 23.5 per cent in 1993 as against 21 per cent in 1986 and that in urban areas was 30.25 per cent in 1993 as against 55.5 per cent in 1986. The states, however, show a mixed trend with the rate of growth in the total number of teachers being higher in rural areas as compared to urban areas in some states such as Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Maharashtra and the contrary being true in other states. Karnataka and Orissa are two states that have shown a higher growth ‘in per cent share of rural female teachers as compared to their urban counterparts. It is notable that the number of schools has also increased at a higher rate in urban areas compared to rural areas between 1986 and 1993 in the majority of states. The rate of growth in total number of teachers, however, has generally been lower than that in the number of schools for both rural and urban areas, implying an
Women Teachers in Rural India
29
increase in multi-grade teaching situation. Table 3.3 also presents the change in the ratio of girls’ enrolment to total enrolment in rural and urban areas for 1986 and 1993. Though the enrolment of girls depends on a number of factors and it is difficult to establish a direct correlation in all the cases, the ratio of girls’ enrolment to total enrolment in rural areas was the least in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh amongst the bigger states, the states with least percentage of female teachers in rural areas. Kerala with the highest percentage of female teachers also had one of the highest ratios for girls’ enrolment in both the years. Trends in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh Karnataka is one of the states which presents an encouraging trend in the growth of women teachers over the three decades. The state has recruited a large number of teachers since 1993 and about 45,000 teachers were added to the primary system during the fiveyear period of 1993 to 1998. The annual rate of growth in the number of female teachers has been remarkably high in Karnataka at iO.06 per cent between 1966-67 and 1997-98. This is much higher than the rate of 1.7 per cent observed for male teachers during the same period. Though there is a variation in the growth rate observed for different districts, thirteen out of eighteen districts show an annual growth rate varying between 8 and 15 per cent. The annual growth rate is low at 3 to 4 per cent only in two districts, Belgaum and Dakshin Kannada. Four districts, Bellary, Bidar, Chitradurga, Raichur and Gulbarga show very high annual growth rates for female teachers (Attachment Table 1). The inter-district disparity in terms of representation of female teachers in primary schools has narrowed down in recent years in Karnataka. This is because the rate of g,‘owth in the number of female teachers has been higher in district&hat had a relatively lower share of female teachers. Incidentally, these districts, showing a high increase in the number of female teachers have been some of the lowest female literacy districts in the state. A comparison with estimated out-of-school girls shows that the size is smaller in districts such
Women Teachers in Rural India
30
as Dakshin Kannada and Kodagu that have maintained a high representation of women teachers over long periods (Attachment Table 2). Uttar Pradesh. is the most populous state in the country and therefore, has the largest number of teachers in primary schools. The growth in the total number of teachers has been phenomenal, especially during the 1990s in Uttar Pradesh as well. The total number of teachers in primary schools, known as Junior Basic Schools in the state, increased from 2,46,666 in 1982-83 to 3,22,782 in 1999-2000. The annual rate of growth during the period of 1982-83 to 1989-90 has been much slower at 6.40 per cent as compared to that of 23.95 per cent in the 1990s. The rate of growth in the number of women teachers has been higher than that for men during both the decade. However, the difference is much more significant in the 1990s as compared to that in the 1980s. The annual rate of growth for women teachers was 11.32 per cent as against 5.37 per cent for men during the 1980s. During the 199Os, the number of women teachers increased by an annual growth rate of 73.23 per cent, whereas this rate was only 13.13 per cent for men teachers. Though there has been large inter-district variation in growth rates for both male and female teachers, the increase has invariably been higher for women in almost all the districts (Attachment Tables 3 and 4). As a result of the large number of women teachers recruited during the 199Os, the share of women teachers in the total number of teachers increased significantly in the state. This share increased from 17.4 per cent in 1982-83 to 18.2 per cent in 1990-91 and then to 25.18 per cent in 1999-2000. This percentage varies widely across the districts and the share of women teachers is less than’ 20 per cent in 27 out of 83 districts. In some districts like Balia, Mararajg Bnj, Ambedkarnagar and Chandoli, this share is less than 10 per cent and the situation needs attention. The newly bifurcated districts with dominance of rural areas have a smaller percentage of female teachers (Attachment Table 5). The share of female teachers is remarkably higher in the hill districts of the state such as Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Chamoli.
.
. .
.._
_
.._
II
.
.
._.
. ”
,-
..--..I”
. .._..
I
.._.
.
_I
.._I..~
..__
_”
A__..._
.-_,-_-
Table
Assam Bihar Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Kerala Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Orissa Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal
3.4 : State-wise
Teachers
Mde 22949 48267 12845 10132
7837 11979 6998 7410
30786 60246 19843 17542
25.46 19.88 35.26 42.24
399 1395 149 342
530 2696 241 1142
929 4091 390 1484
57.05 65.90 61.79 76.95
88.OC 63.97 81.77
4952 43594 10121
239C 31856 19872
7342 75450 29993
32.55 42.22 66.26
14 1622 46
98 2709 57
112 4331 103
87.50 62.55 55.34
7797
57.68
43563
11854
55417
21.39
5533
6961
2494
55.71
6147 721
10935 1081
56.21 66.7C
117206 22973
3684C 6781
154046 29754
23.91 22.79
6909 353
9040 519
5949 872
56.68 59.52
663
1700
2363
71.94
17596
17858
35454
50.37
729
1954
2683
72.83
22.68
3733
4444
8177
54.35
41905
12508
54413
22.99
4280
5473
9753
56.12
16.65
259
241
48.2C
33052
5795
38847
14.92
1961
1623
3584
45.28
70187 12657 9866
14758 6633 6651
84945 19290 16517
17.37 34.39 40.27
3377 13 339
5501 17 1127
8878 30 1466
58.04 61.96 56.67 76.88
5045 48881 9807
2428 29626 19738
7473 78507 29545
32.49 37.74 66.81
9 1792 132
66 3181 592
75 4973 724
46901
14215
61116
23.26
3300
4497
15884 23110
37123 6264
153007 29374
24.26 21.32
4788 360
16386
33796
48.49
11568
51011
6050
36331
30281
in Place in DPEP Districts
1 : For 13 DPEP districts in 1999; missing DPEP districts : Bhagalpur. Bhojpur, W. Singhbhum and Purnea 2 : Pertaining to 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 only 3 : For 32 DPEP districts excluding 2 DPEP districts of Bastar and Raipur in 1998; For 31 DPEP districts excluding Raipur and Rajgarh in 1999 4 : For 14 DPEP districts excluding Basti in both the years Note : District Primary Education Programme covers about half of the country’s districts. This table provides 80 per cent of DPEP districts. This, therefore, can be taken as a representa,$ve sample.
11
2
3
4
3 DPEP districts
information
Basti,
on about
32
Women Teachers in Rural India
The hill districts also have relatively higher female literacy rates. The ratio of girls’ enrolment to total enrolment, which is generally low in the state and varies between 30 to 40 in most of the districts, is above 40 for most of the hill districts. The relatively economically advanced districts with larger urban areas also have a high share of women teachers and high ratios for girls’ enrolment (Attachment Table 6). It may be mentioned that these trends are largely true but may not be applicable to each individual district. Trends in Recent Years in Selected States and Districts Table 3.4 shows the rural urban gap for some of the DPEPstates for recent years (the data is only for districts that are being covered by the DPEP and not the entire state). The differences in the share of female teachers in rural and urban areas continue to be large in almost all the cases with only marginal improvement between 199899 and 1999-2000 in some states. Kerala followed by Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Karnataka continue to show higher percentages for female teachers in rural areas and Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh continue to be the states with the lowest proportions of women teachers, The difference in percentage share of female teachers in rural and urban areas is the highest in Himachal Pradesh. Since DPEP districts are largely low female literacy districts, it is possible that the situation presented here is slightly worse than the average situation existing in the state. Still, considering the wide coverage of the programme, these could be taken as indicative of the general scenario that exists. The district-wise details of Uttar Pradesh presents a similar picture. The share of female teachers in rural areas continues to be about 23 per cent in Uttar Pradesh as against 56 per cent in urban areas. The situation remains static with the districts reporting marginal change on either side in share of female teachers in rural areas (Table 3.5). The situation does not appear to have changed much in Uttar Pradesh since 1993. However, the same is not true for Karnataka. Although the rural-urban gap in the share of female teachers exists, the gap has narrowed down for several districts (Table 3.6). The share of
Women Teachers in Rural India
35
women teachers varies between 33 to 50 per cent in rural areas of the state. It is obvious from the above analysis that large numbers of teachers have been recruited for primary schools in almost all the states in the 1990s. An explicit emphasis on primary education in national and international fora reflected itself in many programmatic formulations, especially in some of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes like Operation Blackboard (Attachment Table 7 provides data on 088) and other more holistic programmes like UPBEPand DPEP. These programmes supported large-scale teacher recruitment and there are obvious evidences that the relative share of female teachers has also been growing steadily. One estimate suggests that 47 per cent of the 1.47 lakh teachers appointed under OBB were women. However, the same cannot be said with confidence about the rural-urban gap, which does not seem to be showing discernible signs of improvement. Since 70 per cent of the country still remains rural in its character, the number of female teachers in rural India far outnumbers the same in urban India in absolute terms. But the situation cannot be interpreted as satisfactory till their proportion reaches at least the 50 per cent mark in the total number of teachers in rural areas. 2.2. Profile
of Female
Teachers
Female teachers in both rural and urban areas are qualified and almost all have studied till the secondary level or above. A perusal of the educational profile suggests that the average qualification of female teachers in rural areas was lower than that in urban areas. More than 30 per cent of urban female teachers had a graduate degree and above, whereas only about 13 per cent of rural teachers were graduates or above. The majority of rural female teachers had the basic academic qualification of only secondary level. Contrary to this, a larger percentage of rural female teachers (87.4 per cent) were trained as against 80 per cent of urban female teachers. Consequently, a larger percentage of urban female teachers were reported untrained in 1993 compared with their rural counterparts (Table 3.7).
Women Teachers in Rural India
41
A simliar situation exists in most of the states where the average academic qualification is higher in urban areas. The difference is significant in Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, where the absolute number of graduates among urban teachers are also higher than those in rural areas. The difference in relative share is the least in Kerala. This reinforces the argument that highly educated urban women opting for primary school teaching as a career prefer to serve in urban areas (Table 3.8). There is no significant difference in the tenure of service of women teachers in rural and urban areas in 1993. Around two-thirds of female teachers were permanent in their jobs in both rural and urban areas. The percentage of teachers working on a temporary basis was about one-fourth in both rural and urban areas, the percentage being marginally higher in the latter. About 10 per cent of teachers were working on an ad hoc basis, again the share being similar in both rural and urban areas (Table 3.9). In terms of management, the share of permanent women teachers was the highest in government schools followed by local bodies, private aided and private unaided. Only about half of the teachers working in private unaided schools had permanent jobs. The percentage of ad hoc teachers was the highest in private aided schools followed by those run by local bodies. Even in states, though there was considerable variation in relative share of permanent, temporary and ad hoc teachers, the difference between urban and rural areas was not significant in most cases (Table 3.10). Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were two significant exceptions. In Uttar Pradesh, about 89 per cent of rural women teachers were permanent as against only 58 per cent in urban areas. This could be due to the practice of hiring temporary teachers by 1. Presently, the National Council of Teachers’ Education (NCTE) is in the process of developing detailed guidelines for teachers’ recruitment for the elementary stage after receiving feedback from various states.
* There has been a change in the eligibility criteria in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Ten years of schooling makes candidates eligible and preset-vice training is not necessary any more in Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh graduation with BTC/B.Ed or any other equivalent degree is the requirement since 1998.
~urce
: National
Council of Teacher
Education,
New Delhi (Provisional)
Women Teachers in Rural India
44
aided and unaided private schools in Uttar Pradesh. As against this, most of the teachers placed in rural areas are selected against permanent vacancies. In Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, only about one-third of rural teachers were permanent as against urban areas where about half of female teachers were permanent. This could be because of the practice of hiring teachers on contract by the local bodies in Madhya Pradesh. 3.3. Recruitment,
Placement,
Transfer
and Admission
Policy
The increase in the number of female teachers in any state is largely dependent on the recruitment policy being followed by the respective state governments. In India, the state governments are responsible for framing their recruitment policies for teachers in primary schools. The national government, at the most, can provide guidelines, which the state governments may or may not follow.1 The Government of India emphasizes increased recruitment of female teachers, which has been best reflected in the schematic formulation of Operation Blackboard. Though most of the state governments mention giving preference to the recruitment of female teachers, many states are yet to formalize this in form of an explicit measure. Reservation or having a quota for female candidates in teacher recruitment is the most explicit measure taken for increase in the number of female teachers. Some of the states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have made provisions for 50 per cent quota for female candidates in teacher recruitment at primary stage. The Karnataka government introduced this policy only in 1993-94 and the representation of women has increased significantly since then. There 2. Sub-division is an administrative unit, smaller than district and larger than blocks. There are generally three sub-divisions in one district in Assam. 3. Venture schools are community schools which are provincialized by the state government based on some considerations. After provincialization, the school becomes a government school and the teachers who have been working naturally become part of the government system.
Women Teachers in Rural India
45
is 33 per cent reservation for women teachers in Orissa. Many states such as Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have no policy of quota for women teachers. The representation of women teachers at the primary stage is among the lowest in these states. There is no difference in the eligibility criteria in terms of qualifications for women candidates in any state so far as regular teachers are concerned. Most states including Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Haryana need twelve years of schooling plus two years’ teacher training diploma. Some of the states need only ten years of schooling and no pre-service teacher training is required. This includes Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. Pre-service training is a requirement inprissa in non-tribal areas alone. West Bengal also follows a relaxation in eligibility criteria for tribal areas and only eight years of schooling is required (Table 3.11). Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest number of teachers, has recently changed its eligibility criteria. Twelve years of schooling with two years’ teacher training used to be the requirement till recently. The requirement of senior secondary was changed to graduation degree and in addition, the candidates are required to have either two years’ primary teacher-training diploma or the Bachelor’s degree in Education or any other equivalent teacher-training degree. Those who had already completed their teacher training diploma after twelve years of schooling at the time of notification (July 1998) were exempted from the requirement of a graduate degree. However, this has created a dichotomy as senior secondary or twelve years of schooling remains the eligibility criteria for admission to the preservice primary teacher- training course even now. The selection process as well as the level of recruitment also determines the extent of opportunity available to women candidates. The process of selection varies between states as widely as does the reservation policy; in some states it is highly centralized, in others it is not. However, there is a general trend towards decentralization in appointing teachers in most states. The district is the most common
46
Women Teachers in Rural India
level for appointment of primary school teachers. The level for appointment and the level at which the selection is made are not necessarily the same in any particular state. For instance, in Assam, the teachers are selected by a Sub-divisional Advisory Committee,* headed by a local minister or Member of the Legislative Assembly. This Committee largely consists of members nominated on political considerations. It makes a panel of selected candidates who are then appointed by the Deputy Inspector of Schools or the District Elementary Education Officer. The selection is based entirely on interview with no objective criteria. Merit in terms of marks attained in the last examination is not a consideration. It may be added that there is little scope for selection of teachers except providing additional teachers because of the peculiar practice of setting-up new schools only through provincialization of existing “venture” schools3 The district is the unit for selection as well as appointments in Orissa, another state with The priority criteria for transfer of relatively lower teachers in Karnataka representation Priority Criteria for Transfer within the District female from 1. Terminal illness cases teachers. The state 2. Physically handicapped cases follows a system 3. Other serious medical ailment cases where 75 per cent 4. Teachers occupying surplus posts which have weightage is been transferred to other schools given to career 5. Husband and wife cases where both are in marks in Classes government service X, XII and teacher 6. Female applicants with less than 3 years’ training diploma service left examinations and 7. Male applicants with less than 3 years’ service 25 per cent to left interview. The 8. Other female applicants who completed 3 selection years in the same place committee 9. Other male applicants who have completed consists mainly of 3 years in the same place senior
47
Women Teachers in Rural India administrative
officials.
In Bihar, though the appointments are made at the district level, the selection process is centralized at the state level. However, the element of subjectivity has been eliminated to a large extent. The teachers are recruited against the district-wise vacancies through state level centralized examination conducted by the Bihar Public Service Examination Board (BPSEB).The Director Primary Education at the state capital consolidates the total requirement based on the need for additional posts as well as vacancies. The applications are called against posts notified for separate districts. Successful candidates are selected through a process of written examinations followed by interviews. 7 he District Education Establishment Committee (DEEC) headed by the Collector is responsible for the placement and transfer of teachers within the districts. The teachers were appointed in Bihar through the new procedure in 1994 for the first time. Since then, no recruitment has taken p!ace in the state. The entire process takes long due to the centralized screening of thousands of applications. This process was introduced in the wake of alleged widespread malpractice in the earlier system of district level recruitment based on the merit list of teacher training diplomas. However, this centralized process appeared to have gone against the women candidates who had a relative advantage in the previous system. A larger number of women opt for teaching as a career and join preset-vice training. They have apparently lost this advantage in an open system where they have to compete with candidates of different backgrounds. The screening system does not favour candidates with pre-service training in any manner and only 3 per cent seats are reserved for women. In the 1994 recruitment, less than 5 per cent of total candidates selected were women. This led to a significant decline in the percentage of women teachers in Bihar. The system of recruitment and transfer of teachers for primary schools has recently been streamlined in Karnataka. The recruitment is done at the district level through a merit list prepared on the basis
--.-.-~__
.“.._
_-__--“-
4t3’
Women Teachers in Rural India
of marks obtained in the senior secondary examination and the diploma course in teaching. Higher weightage is given to candidates who have studied till the senior secondary level in rural areas in the form of additional 10 per cent points to the marks obtained. Separate lists are prepared for General, SC and ST candidates as per existing norms of reservation. Half the posts are reserved for women under each category. The state has recently developed a system of counselling for initial placement as well as transfers and redeployment. A simple computerized decision support system has been developed for the purpose. For transfers, a vacancy database is created with the help of the headmasters of the schools, which is circulated among the teachers. After scrutinizing the list of institutions, the teachers give their applications for transfer stating reasons. These applications are prioritized on the basis of the reasons for transfer, and teachers are allowed to appear for the counselling process in order of their priority. A set of objective criteria has been developed taking the personal needs of the teachers as well as that of the system into account. During the counselling, the teacher is shown the latest database of vacancies and is asked to choose any of these places. Once the place is selected, a transfer order is immediately printed and given to the teacher, and the vacancy database is immediately updated for the next teacher. There is also a provision for the inter-district transfer in the district and takes place once a year. The technical support is provided by the DPEP in the project districts and by NIC in the nonproject districts. A similar approach is adopted for initial placements. The perusal of the priority criteria makes it obvious that female teachers get preference over male teachers in some respects. Although some of the regulations exist, most other states have no clear placement and transfer policy. Andhra Pradesh has developed a system similar to Karnataka and certain other states like Maharashtra is also making an attempt. But in general, transfers are influenced primarily by subjective and political considerations. Some of the states like Bihar, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have a policy whereby the teachers in their own village/block or district. Bihar does
Women Teachers in Rural India
49
not allow posting of teachers within 15 kilometres of their own village. Karnataka has done away with the practice of not allowing the teachers to be placed in their own block. The policy of not posting teachers in their own village/block can be seen as a bottleneck for whatever small numbers of women teachers with rural background are there. They would prefer to stay near their homes because of domestic expectations and responsibilities. Though the initial requirements for teachers are assessed generally on the basis of enrolment and needs of individual schools in most states, the placement is rarely made on the same ground. There is no special formal provision for women teachers in most states. However, an informal practice of placing them in schools that are located on main roads and not in very interior areas exist at almost all the places. There is no special incentive or any special provision for teachers willing to serve in rural areas. In reality, some of the provisions, such as city/town allowance means an additional benefit for those posted in urban areas. Admission Policy and Trends in Teacher-Training Pradesh and Karna taka)
Colleges (Uttar
The opportunities for women teachers are also linked to the admission policy to teacher-training colleges in states where preservice training is part of the eligibility criteria. This is especially so because of a large-scale expansion of the primary school system experienced by many states in the recent past leading to a high demand for candidates with requisite qualifications. For instance, the state of Uttar Pradesh appointed 27,000 teachers in 1998 alone to clear the backlog that existed owing to increased enrolment. The appointment of teachers on such a massive scale has been facilitated to a large extent by centrally sponsored programmes such as Operation Blackboard and the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Project (UPBEP).The state has already appointed about 30,000 teachers in primary and upper-primary schools under UPBEPduring the last six years. The demand for teachers implies that admission to the pre-service training course ensures entry into the teachingjob. This is significant in view of the widespread unemployment amongst educated youth in India.
,
52
Women Teachers in Rural India
As mentioned earlier, Kamataka has also appointed a large number of teachers since 1993 leading to an increased demand for persons with requisite qualifications. A large number of private institutions have emerged to fulfil this demand in the state. Karnataka as well as Uttar Pradesh have made an effort to streamline the admission policy and practices for these colleges. Both the states have reserved half the seats in these colleges for women candidates in each category. The admission is based on an entrance examination conducted especially for this purpose in both the states. The basic rationale behind streamlining the admission process to the training colleges is to control the quality of students at the entry level itself. District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETS) are the institutions that offer the two-year Basic Training Cert/ficate (BTC) course in Uttar Pradesh. The State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT)develops the entrance test papers based on Aptitude and General Knowledge. The examinations are conducted and the merit lists of selected candidates are published at the district level. Earlier the districts used to develop their own papers and there was also a provision for interview which has been removed now. The practice of developing centralized and uniform test papers has been adopted since 1997 to eliminate subjectivity elements. Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) courses are taught in the universities and the Department of Education does not have any direct control as such. The Department used to conduct an equivalent course, known as, Certificate of Teaching (CT) which has now been discontinued. These courses are primarily directed towards teaching secondary classes. Karnataka has also introduced a centralized admission system for both Teachers’ Certificate Higher (TCH) and Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) courses. A separate Centralized Admission Cell headed by a Deputy Director at the state level conducts the examination and publishes the results for all the institutions at the level of the district. This process also covers aided and private institutions offering the TCH course and the centralized admission is also-expected to control the quality of students in these colleges.
Women Teachers in Rural India
53
The data on admission to the TCH course clearly reveals that women have outnumbered men in all the four years from 1996-97 to 1999-2000 in Karnataka (Table 3.12). This is because women who get selected on merit from above do not necessarily figure in the reserved list. In Uttar Pradesh, however, men outnumber women in BTC as well as in other courses (Table 3.13). The probable reason for the number of men being higher in BTC courses despite a 50 per cent reservation for women could be the non-availability of eligible women candidates in certain specified categories such as SC and ST. It is obvious that despite having policies of recruiting more women teachers and promoting quotas for women in teacher-training institutions, there rem,ains a shortage of women teachers in rural areas. Urban women with their access to secondary and higher education are better equipped to use these opportunities. The experience has been that once the women teachers are appointed, they prefer urban postings. Therefore, the vicious circle of shortage of women teachers in rural areas, inability of rural girls/women to access the opportunities of secondary and high education and availability of rural women to be teachers in rural areas continues. There is a need to increase secondary/higher secondary education opportunities for rural girls on a priority basis to end this vicious cycle of rural female illiteracy, low girls’ enrolments and lack of female teachers in rural areas (Nayar; 1993). Under the Lok Jumbish, an effort was made to train women from rural areas to become teachers as well as be able to work elsewhere. The Women’s Residential Institute for Training and Education (WRITE) was started in 1995 for this purpose. In the beginning when the institute was started, many women did not turn up for admission. However, later the situation changed after the first batch of girls came out and the intake increased. The residents of WRITE are provided free boarding and lodging facility, as well as the necessary learning materials. In addition to scholastic education, opportunities are being provided to build self-confidence among the residents. A great deal of mutual help and support was noticed and they also learnt cycling and made all the purchases for the mess. They also established
Women Teachers in Rural lndia
54
contact with women workers working in different sectors such as village-level workers in other Health and Rural Development programmes. It is important to examine the impact of this effort and institutionalize such measures if women teachers from rural areas have to be increased. 3.3. Teacher Promotional
Education, Opportunities
Professional
Development
and
The availability and access to professional development opportunities both at pre-service and in-service stages does determine the functioning and performance of all teachers including women. The establishment of DIETS as part of a centrally sponsored scheme in all the districts for the specific purpose of providing training and other forms of academic support to elementary, non-formal and adult education teachers was a major initiative that came in the wake of the New Policy on Education, 1986. As envisaged in the National Policy on Education [NPE] and Programme of Action [PoA]-1986, the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Restructuring and Re-organization of Teacher Education was taken up in 1987 to create a viable institutional infrastructure, academic and technical resource base for orientations, training and continuous upgradation of knowledge, competence and pedagogical skills of school teachers in the country. Apart from establishment of DIETS, the scheme also envisaged establishment of IASEs,which were expected to conduct programmes for preparation of elementary teacher educators, engage in advanced level fundamental and applied research, especially of inter-disciplinary nature, and provide academic guidance to DIETS. The Central Government was to provide financial assistance to States for the setting up of DIETs/CTEs/lASEs. Four hundred and fifty-one DIETS, 76 CTEs and 34 IASEs have been established under the scheme till the end of 1999-2000 (MHRD Annual Report; 1999-2000). The National Council of Teachers’ Education (NCTE)was established in August 1995 as a statutory authority for “achieving planned and co-ordinated development of the teacher education system throughout
Women Teachers in Rural India
55
the country, the regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in the teacher education system and for matters connected therewith.“The Council is vested with both regulatory and academic functions of providing resource support for the qualitative improvement of teacher education programmes. The Council has laid down norms and standards for pre-primary, elementary and secondary level teacher education institutions and B.Ed. through distance mode. The Council has also developed a new curriculum framework for teacher education at various stages. The real issue with respect to pre-service training is how effective are existing teacher preparation programmes in equipping the teachers with the skills to cope with the actual problems in the classrooms. The requirements of teacher education go beyond knowledge of theories and dealing with actual problems in the specific contexts. These problems in the Indian context, especially in the rural areas could be: teaching large-sized classrooms of 50 and above, teaching in difficult contexts like multi-grade classrooms, teaching children of first generation of school goers, classroom management, working with parents, enlisting community support, implementing incentive schemes and so on. The elementary education teacher curriculum is a scaled down version of the B.Ed. curriculum and suffers from lack of contextual relevance. This is neitherjustifiable from the equity angle nor from the pragmatic social policy viewpoint. Lack of suitable primary education curricula also contributes to the poor quality of pre-service teacher education curricula. Even the NCTE Curriculum Framework for Quality Teacher Education does not emphasize with force the special concerns of primary education and primary teacher education. The aggressive social stand needed to deal with the primary education scenario in India is missing (Seshadri; 2000). This explains to some extent the reluctance of women teachers with an urban background to serve in rural areas - they are not prepared to face the actual situations that they would befacing in the rural schools. The curricula and the process do not prepare or motivate them to accept the challenge.
.~.~ ...__ -- _---
_---
56
Women Teachers in Rural India
The SCERT in Uttar Pradesh has recently revised the curricula for the BTC course drawing extensively from the UPBEP and DPEP experiences. A perusal suggests that some of the new elements.have been added bringing desirable changes to some extent. The aspects of developing an understanding of the real classroom situations and also the needs of children in a developing society have been added along with the aspects of developing capacities to teach the desired competencies among children as desired objectives of the course. The understanding of the social context of children as basic education has also been added. The elements of Action Research, its application in the classroom and adopting new practices in the transaction process have also been emphasized in the new curriculum. The issues of Child Rights have also found a place. The experiences of UPBEP and DPEPin in-service teacher training practices have influenced this revision of the BTC curriculum to a large extent. Continuous Professional Development Opportunities The need for regular training for primary school teachers was also emphasized for the first time in the NEP and the centrally sponsored Teacher Education programme included this aspect. The Programme of Mass Orientation of School Teachers (PMOST) was the first largescale centrally sponsored programme to provide in-service training to primary teachers. This was concluded in 1990 achieving a target of training 1.762 million teachers, the majority of whom were primary teachers. This was fine tuned in the shape of Special Orientation of Primary Teachers (SOPT), which still continues and has recently been expanded to cover other stages of school education. The use of teaching aids and other such practical aspects of classroom teaching were focused for the first time. Though this was a major deviation from the theoretical approach followed in the pre-service training programmes, the emphasis on the real challenges in the shape of large classrooms, social dynamics and its reflections in the classroom has been missing even in these modules. The outreach and coverage of the programme remained low and the experiences across states suggest that depending upon the total
Women Teachers in Rural India
57
number of teachers it takes four to six years to cover all the primary teachers in one district. The advent of new programmes such as Lok Jumbish (LJ) in Rajasthan, Bihar Education Programme (BEP) in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Programme (UPBEP)in Uttar Pradesh and District Primary Education Project (DPEP)in about half of the districts in the country spread over 14 states during the early 1990s assumes significance in this context. These programmes emphasized the importance of regular in-service teacher training and support in improving the functioning of schools and promoted establishment of decentralized structures at sub-district levels to realize this task. Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) were established under DPEPand other programmes as decentralized structures for teacher- training, on-site academic support, school visits, demonstrations, etc. The evidences reveal that these programmes have been successful in imparting 7 to 15-day training to every teacher every year in project areas. Certain smaller programmes such as Shikshak Samakhya also contributed in drawing the attention towards the significance of teachers’ empowerment in achieving universalization of elementary education. DPEPand other such programmes emphasized the participatory mode of training, activity based teaching-learning practices to ensure involvement of children in the classroom, school-community relationship and gender concerns. A spin-off DPEPwas that it turned the nation’s attention to the state of teacher performance in the classroom and the need for teacher capacity building. While there was no direct intervention into pre-service teacher-training structures and processes except some in DIETS, the programme has left its imprint in many respects and spurred national and state-level efforts to examine their teacher training content and processes. (Seshadri; 2000) Historically, school supervision has been inspectorial in nature in India since British days. This is guided by the single line hierarchical system where teachers form the bottom most layer. The supervisors are hardly oriented to support and guide, they are mainly there to inspect and to collect information about a number of centrally and
Women Teachers in Rural India
58
state sponsored programmes. Establishment of CRCs and BRCs has brought some change as these personnel generally come from the cadre of teachers and are oriented to provide academic support. However, the functioning as well as the impact varies across states and there is no uniform pattern. The monthly meeting at CRC is one important mechanism adopted to act as continuous support and problem-solving system for teachers. However, the nature and effectiveness of this mechanism varies across states. In Karnataka, CRCs and their meetings appeared to have emerged as active means for academic support and participation of women teachers has been high, whereas in Uttar Pradesh, this has remained more of information collection centres in most places and generally only head teachers attend these meetings. Participation
of Women Teachers in In-Service Training Programmes
Although female teachers have participated in large numbers in these in-service teacher training programmes, during the consultation at Bangalore Rural district in Karnataka and Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh; the trainers and administrators often pointed out to women’s reluctance to participate in residential programmes. Most of the administrators at state, district and sub-district levels in both the states considered this a major issue. This trend has also been observed and documented at other places. The Mid-term Review of DPEPGender Initiatives (1997) observed that in Kerala the availability of women for residential training was a big issue. Apparently there was a major protest amongst women teachers having to undergo residential training, there was no corresponding problem with men. The discussion with female teachers in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka reflected that in view of the fact that the family composition is changing towards the nuclear family norm, it is difficult for women to stay back late or stay over for trainings. Even when men try to help in housework, they feel that certain activities have to be done by women. Working women do not always receive adequate support even in joint families in traditional societies. Besides, if the number of female teachers attending the particular training programme is
___,_._._.I
_-I
_
.,
“,
..I-...
_.
I~
I
__“..
__.
._.
..,.
I_..._
“.-.__--_--Y
Women Teachers in Rural India
59
low, then also the women teachers are generally reluctant to remain overnight. Adequate security measures are not available at all the places. The teachers with smaller children also find it difficult to attain training for long hours as there is generally no creche facility. There has hardly been any systemic response to these problems raised by women teachers anywhere except under the Lok Jumbish in Rajasthan. Under the Lok Jumbish programme as well, one of the major problems faced was lack of response from women teachers who expressed their inability to attend residential courses. Efforts were made through local-level administration and teachers’ unions to persuade women teachers to attend residential training courses but they indicated their preference to training being restricted to the working hours. To overcome this problem, Women Teachers’ Forum (WTF) was set up by the Block Steering Group (BSG)of Pisangan block. Later, many more such forums were set up involving more than 3,000 women teachers. Another major observation of the administrator and trainers both in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka during consultation had been that though women teachers were generally found to be less conservative and consequently more eager in experimenting with new methods in the classrooms, they do not participate fully in the activities of training programmes. The relative number of women teachers appears to be a major factor here also, as the one and only lady BRC coordinator in Karnataka pointed out that the behaviour pattern of both male and female teachers depends on their relative representation. When small in number, women teachers tend to be timid and reserved, and men teachers also do not help them in opening up. On the other hand, when women teachers are at least one third of the total, the dynamics change and they come forward to participate actively. Some .of the recent experiences suggest that the presence of women Resource Persons (RPs) in the training programmes also helps in ensuring better participation of women teachers in terms of their presence as well as active participation in the training programme.
60
Women Teachers in Rural India
In Uttar Pradesh, under DPEP,the RPshad to be identified from among working teachers and deliberate attempts were made to identify women from among teachers even if they did not happen to be the best performing ones in the workshops held for identification of trainers. This measure seemed to have helped a lot later in changing the environment of the training hall. The presence of one woman RP among a total of three makes women participants much more comfortable and also impacts the men teachers’ behaviour pattern positively. Promotional Opportunities Promotional opportunities are limited for teachers in primary/ upper primary schools in all the states. In most cases, they retire in the same post after decades of service. Some of them become headmasters/head teachers depending upon how fast the posts are being created. The chances are better in the districts where more schools are being opened and the expansion of the system is taking place. The districts under UPBEPin Uttar Pradesh, experienced faster expansion which meant greater promotion opportunities for teachers. However, even then these posts are very limited. There is a possibility of becoming a High School teacher if they have the required qualifications, but that opportunity is also limited because of limited posts. Women Teachers’ Forum (Adhyapika Munch) under the Lok Jumbish WTF or Adhyapika Manch was started in 1994 on an experimental basis in Pisagan with an intention of enhancing women teachers’ participation in residential teacher training camps and to encourage them to become master trainers. Women teachers of the block were invited to a two-day conference at Pisagan to discuss the various aspects of their work, particularly their training. The meetings were immensely useful. Women teachers mentioned how the unequal culture of schools was replicated in the Ll training programmes. Male teachers tended to control the situation and showed scant regard towards them. Satisfactory toilets were not provided, and, of course, no
61
Women Teachers in Rural India
arrangements made if they had to bring their small children with them. In the course of exchange of views, women teachers collectively decided that provided satisfactory arrangements were made they would also participate in residential training programmes and would not in any manner get left out of the educational reform process set in motion by the LJ. These forums took responsibility for women’s participation in training programmes. They did insist that if any women had special problems, lenience should be shown towards them. But such cases were exceptions, and women teachers began to participate in training programmes as equals. They also tried to create a different culture in the training programmes, insisting that all persons show mutual respect and consideration during training programmes. Women Teachers’ Forums have begun to take up women’s grievances in schools as well. They also motivate women teachers to offer themselves as master trainers and to participate in planning meetings. BSGs developed integrated programmes in several blocks as a result of the new understanding and perceptions with regard to women’s development. These include l
formation
of more Women Teachers’ Forums
l
training of Sathins (Women Development Workers), dais (village midwives) for co-operation with LJ;
0
emphasis on selection of women as NFE instructors and preparation of design for their training in women’s development prior to regular NFE induction training, and
0
involvement of village-level women’s groups in incomegeneration, rural employment and such other programmes.
Notable Outcomes WTFs have resulted in a change of scene in teacher-trainings school environment. Some of the notable outcomes of activation follows:
and
of WTFs are as
62
Women Teachers in Rural India Members of WTFs have become more articulate and are able to put forth their problems to their supervisory staff with confidence. The number of women master-trainers has increased in various blocks because of their becoming more articulate and confident due to these forums. For example, in Jhalarpatan Block where there were only two women MTs in 1994 there are 14 women MTs now due to the efforts of WTF. WTFs organized five teacher training camps in which the participation rate of women teachers was almost cent-percent. WTFs have organized some skill trainings for empowerment of their members and are bringing out bulletins and magazines on their own. Bikaner, Lunkaransar, Pratapgarh, Chohtan, Rajgarh, etc. are the examples in this regard. WTFs have organized girls’ fairs and camps for mothers on health education. WTFs in Pratapgarh have started networking with women functionaries of other departments for convergence of services in rural areas. Most WTFs are working for ensuring gender equity in the classroom environment by transferring the initiative to the girl child for organizing various activities in the school. [Source: Lok Jumbish, Annual Reports, Different Years]
Seniority is the only criterion for whatever promotional opportunities exist. Some states have created posts of educational assistants for Block Education Office and the salary is higher than that of headmaster at primary level. But these posts are also very limited in number. For instance, only 385 such posts exist in Karnataka. An estimate (Seetharamu; 2000) suggests that 75 per cent of primary teachers retire at the same level where theyjoin albeit at a higher salary as commensurate with their length of service. There is no avenue to move up and utilize the experiences of teaching at the primary level. The post of Cluster Resource Co-
Table
Pradesh
3.14 : Physical
1 Urban
3545
9354
Arunachall
Rural
932
1 1518
Pradesh
Urban
20
34
16
Assam
Rural
24109
37196
1740
Urban
1562
2328
Bihar
Rural
48715
1 64887
115861
Urban
2662
6793
1149
43.16
Rural
906
1146
769
84.88
Urban
87
387
72
Rural
11422
30100
Urban
1287
7217
4413
1 7797
Goa Gujarat gaiyana
I
1 Rural
68.04 1 126
222
Facilities
in Primary
Schools
(1986
1 3278
1 35.04
1 2232
1 62.96
206
1 18.84
1 452
148.50
80.00
20
27.03
16
80.00
24
32.43
5
25.00
5
6.76
7 76
3823
10.28
3313
13 63
5196
13.97
0
0.00
87
0.23
14.21
279
1 13.521
1
[ 28.55
442
129.12
665 1 23097
1632
26.35
1145
43.01
819
13.22
83
792
69.11
551
60.82
462
40.31
18
82.16
201
51.94
62
37.26
159
41.09
14
10005
83.59
9827
32.65
5959
52.17
4111
13.66
73
1206
93.71
1348
18.68
1183
1 91.92
1 1217
16.86
316
1 85.63
1 4345
1 55.73
1 3089
1 70.00
1 3592
1 46.07
I3779
515
22.12 1 30.58
18
i 1.98
1 47 41
1 19843
461 1
47.39
1 32 56 1307481
42.57
2671
and 1993)
13.00 1
0 1
1
31
219
1.93
1 1320
1 14.11
1
1 1.58,.
0.00 1
1
24
26
1.12
706
1 1.09
3.12
117
1.89
1.99
38
3.32
16.09
36
9.30
0.64
:36
0.45
24.55
683
9.46
334
1 4.28 7.14
0.06
4.96
1
1
Urban
436
1680
384
88.07
483
28.75
366
83.94
414
24.64
120
27.52
120
himachal
Rural
6717
9614
1601
23.84
2550
26.52
3335
49.65
4560
47.43
250
3.72
161
1.67
Pradesh
Urban
554
489
124
22.38
164
33.54
140
25.27
185
37.83
33
5.96
37
7.57
Jammu &
Rural
21030
Urban
1991
Karnataka
Rural
Kerala
Urban
Kashmir
11316
1968
9.36
3940
1696
1 285
I 14.31
1 445
21032
37727
17842
84.83
17489
Urban
1991
8808
1612
80.96
1309
14.86
1227
61.63
767
8.71
135
6.78
215
2.44
Rural
9479
9362
3764
39.71
3667
39.17
4331
45.69
3580
38.24
344
3.63
487
5.20
617
2742
492
79.74
965
35.19
327
53.00
928
33.84
94
15.24
226
8.24
I
i
34.82 126.24 46.36
I
1909
9.08
174
1 8.74
9030
42.93
I
810
7.16
134
I 7.90
4490
11.90
12 I
26 82
0.06 I
1.31 0.39
31 I
28 173
0.27 I
1.65 0.46
. .. Con td.
. ..Confi F ITripura Uttar l----Pradesh West Beng,
i-
Chandigarh
Rural
1869
Urbar
58
Rural
66346
Urbar
9218
Rural
40124
Urbar
7732
Rural
172
Urbar
5
Rural
9
i-
Urban
35
] Dadar &
Rural
121
j’:ag&km I : Daman & Du
Urban
3
Rural
24
4464
Urban
source:
Rural
331
Lrban
150;
Rural
13
&bar!
5
Rural
218
Fifth All India EducatIonal
Survery,
Sixth All India Educational
Survey,
NCERT. 1991 NCERT, 1998
17
Women Teachers in Rural India
66
ordinator has been given to primary school teachers in most states under DPEP, but it is not treated as promotion anywhere, it is just a posting on the basis of transfer/deputation. The teachers are also being attached as resource persons at BRCs but this again is not a promotion posting. Moreover, it is not common to find women as CRC or BRC co-ordinators. Uttar Pradesh had made an initiative of posting primary school teachers in DIET in 1998. The teachers with seven years of experience and a B.Ed degree couldjoin DIET on deputation for a specified period. Three such posts were created in every DIET in Uttar Pradesh. There is no special provision for women in general or women with experience of having worked in rural areas particularly in any of these initiatives. 3.4. Support
Facilities
and School
Environment
in Schools
Although women teachers are often criticized for not being interested in serving the rural areas, there has rarely been an attempt to understand the problems they face and find solutions for the same. There is no denying that the basic issue of most teachers having an urban background remains. Also, there are certain genuine problems which women teachers have to face while serving in rural areas. The interactions with female as well as male teachers reveal that transport and security are two of the biggest issues for female teachers in many areas. Most of the rural primary schools are located in the interiors with no public transport system. Walking, use of bicycles or motorbikes/scooters are the only possible ways of getting there. In most parts of the country, it is not socially and culturally acceptable for women to cycle or use scooters on their own. Thus, the only choice left for them is either to walk or to make male members of their families, husbands or brothers, drop them. This is difficult to sustain as the male family members may not always be free or willing to do this service.
4. Since detailed data are not available for rural and urban areas for this period, an analysis has not been attempted.
Women Teachers in Rural India
67
Transport and Residential Facilities Transport appeared to be a critical factor, especially in the case of states where basic infrastructural development has not taken place. For instance, in Karnataka, the general perception amongst parents, community and educational administrators is that teacher absenteeism is very low both among men and women teachers. Better road conditions and public transport facilities are identified as important factors for this. On the other hand, teacher absenteeism is high in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa, where the roads are not good and walking for kilometres is often the only means. This is not to say that this is the only reason for teacher absenteeism, but this appeared to be an important factor in relation to women teachers. More than absenteeism, women teachers were often reported to be arriving late to school and leaving early primarily because they link their schedule to the timings of public transport. Women teachers invariably raised the issue of security in their interactions-it is not uncommon for young women teachers to face harassment from influential persons of the villages they teach in or the villages they have to cross. In Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh, where the crime rate is high, women teachers are not comfortable in travelling alone through deserted roads and lanes. Therefore, the urban background of women teachers coupled with issues of transport and security makes the problem complex and paucity of women teachers in rural areas continues. So far, there has hardly been any systemic effort to solve this issue. There is no evidence of any state having developed any scheme for providing pool transport facilities to teachers or to make any other such arrangement to address this issue. Another common observation regarding women teachers has been that they do not want to live in rural areas. It is often said that if transport and commuting are difficult, why cannot they live in the villages they teach in? In case of formal schools, it is really rare to find women teachers residing in the same village where they are
______---.
...._I_-
----
68
Women Teachers in Rural India
teaching. However, the issue is not so simple. In most cases, it is not easy to find accommodation on rent in villages. The family members of women teachers are also not ready to allow them to hire rooms and live on their own. The issue of constructing residential quarters for female teachers has been raised in several states but no major initiative has been made so far. The experience of the health sector has not been very encouraging where residential quarters were built for trained midwives (ANMs) in many parts of the country but most of these remained vacant because of their reluctance to shift. Separation from families is generally difficult for women teachers and not always allowed in traditional Indian middle c!ass families. U had built hostels for women teachers at certain difficult clusters and the experiment could be studied for its impact. Physical Facilities at Schools The physical environment of schools also plays an important role in creating a learning environment for children and also for motivating teachers. Although availability of toilets are often linked to girls’ enrolment and retention but field experiences suggest that toilets are more important for women teachers. Women teachers have to go to somebody’s residential houses for these purposes in the schools do not have separate girls’ toilets. A perusal of data reflects a pitiable situation where only 1.74 per cent of rural primary schools had separate toilets for girls in 1993 (Table 3.14). This was an improvement over the 1986 situation when only 1 .Ol per cent of rural schools had this facility. Though the situation in urban schools was relatively better with about 14 per cent of schools having this facility, this condition also cannot be termed as good. It is expected that this number would have improved substantially during the late 199Os, as huge allocations were made for the purpose under the Tenth Finance Commission. However, the fact remains that women teachers have to work under difficult circumstances in rural areas and the basic minimum facilities are also not available. In some of the states like Assam and Bihar, even urban areas are as badly placed and less than
Women Teachers in Rural India
69
2 per cent of schools have girls’ toilets. Karnataka is also not much ahead as less than I per cent of schools in rural areas and less than 3 per cent in urban areas had this facility in 1993. The rural-urban divide is sharp in Uttar Pradesh where only about 3 per cent of rural schools have toilets as against more than 24 per cent of urban schools that have this facility. Drinking water is another physical facility that can be considered basic for any working place. About 30 per cent of rural schools and 34 per cent of urban schools had this facility available in 1993. The coverage was much higher at 43 per cent and 71 per cent respectively in 1986. What is surprising is that between 1986 and 1993, the total number of schools with drinking water facilities has also gone down in the rural areas. The state-wise data shows that though many states like Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have reported an increase in number, many bigger states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh show a decline in number during the period. It appears that no substantial investment was made on creating new facilities and a large number of existing ones stopped functioning. Pucca school building (permanent structure) is another factor which can be considered as an important factor in determining the school environment and in turn, the functioning of teachers. Despite the fact that there was an increase of 66,482 in number of pucca buildings in rural areas and that of 71 I I in urban areas between 1986 and 1993, the relative share of primary schools with pucca buildings declined significantly. The decline was more significant for urban areas where only 36 per cent schools had pucca buildings in 1993 in comparison to about 70 per cent in 1986. About 52 per cent of 5. J.V. Bharati of DIET, Bangalore rural district has conducted this impact evaluation for DSERT’and shared her major findings with us. The final report was still to be prepared.
Women Teachers in Rural India
70
rural schools had pucca buildings in 1986 and the share came down to 47 per cent in 1993. A perusal suggests that though some states did build a substantial number of buildings, the number of schools opened during the period far outnumbered the number of buildings built in the majority of states. Therefore, the share of schools having pucca buildings obviously shows a decline. It must also be mentioned that the situation has substantially changed in the post 1993 period in most states because of heavy investment through OBB and other basic education programmes. Under UPBEP,more than 3,000 million rupees have been spent on creating the physical infrastructure for basic schools in Uttar Pradesh4. The above analysis makes it clear that the status of support facilities in terms of transport and residences as well as physical facilities in schools remains poor in general and in rural areas in particular. The women teachers have to face a number of difficulties in everyday work. It is obvious that it is not only the classroom aspect that needs to be tackled but outside classroom issues are equally important. These could have a critical bearing on the functioning of female teachers and need to be adequately addressed. ?.5. Gender-Sensitization
Efforts
The functioning and performance of women teachers depends on a number of factors including how sensitive the colleagues at different levels are to gender concerns and to specific needs of female teachers, how supportive and understanding the administrators and trainers are and how do women teachers perceive their own job and role in the society. Many women teachers reported having faced some problem or the other from supervisors and administrators with regard to their attendance, increment and pension matters. This was often corroborated by male teachers. Although concerns relating to gender issues have found a place in policy documents at many levels, the
Women Teachers in Rural India
71
programmatic expression has been a recent phenomenon. The programmes like Lok Jumbish, UPBEPand DPEPdid give a great deal of importance to this aspect and the gender issue has been brought to the centre-stage. Gender issues have been considered in DPEP with a focus on encouraging girls’ education and making the academic as well as managerial processes gender-sensitive. The specific interventions include inclusion of gender perspective in all major initiatives such as textbooks, teacher-training, Alternative Schooling initiatives, formation and functioning of Village Education Committees, Community mobilization activities, posting of one gender co-ordinator at state and district level, etc. Some of the states have also tried to organize special training for educational administrators and trainers both under and outside the DPEP programme. Certain specific programmes like Mahila Samakhya have been started under the aegis of the Education Department with the issue of women’s empowerment in focus. The states of Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have formed Gender Resource Groups at state and district levels under DPEPby drawing members from a wide spectrum, viz. universities, NGOs, Government departments, etc. These groups are expected to provide ideas as well as technical support to interventions relating to girls’ education and gender issues. The interaction with the women teachers in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh suggested that representation of women at key posts matters in understanding and resolution of their problems. As mentioned earlier, the presence of women in training and support organizations enable active participation of women. The following Table does not present a very encouraging picture with the representation of women being less than one-third in five out of seven states at the state level. The-situation is worse at district levels. The representation of women in CRCs and BRCs is also extremely low as almost more than 95 per cent of BRC and CRC co-ordinators are male.
72 Table
m
Women Teachers in Rural India 3.15:
Female
%orm#mr8tst8t,~
Assam Haryana Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Source
Representation under DPEP (1997)
16 36 24 18 33 19 20
in Project
Management
%ofwonml8t IM8tri8l -?P10 10 16 7 11 13 Not Available
: The Mid-term Review of Efforts to Improve Girl Child Participation Rates and Integrate a Gender Perspective in DPEP Districts and States (August, 1997); DPEP.
However, both Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have tried to include women in many important activities. About one-fourth of the 45 member State Resource Group in Uttar Pradesh that has been developing training modules and other support materials are women - this is an improvement over the situation where the women’s representation in such groups used to be nil. Some of these members are practising teachers. Uttar Pradesh has also started the practice of having at least one woman member in the field-trialling team of teacher-training module. Under DPEP,most states have tried to integrate gender issues in the general training package developed for each group of trainees such as teachers, academic support personnel, trainers, managers, etc. The usual approach followed has been to get a separate module developed by involving experts in this area and then integrate it to the general training module. Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnptaka, Orissa and West Bengal fall into this category. West Bengal has suitably modified the UNESCO publication From Girl Child to
Women Teachers in Rural India
73
Person for the purpose to bring it in consonance with the social and cultural environment of the state. The State Institute for Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT) has largely taken up the responsibility of developing and transacting the training on gender sensitization in Uttar Pradesh. The institute has developed specific packages for different categories of functionaries and conducts training for DIET faculties, educational administrators and project personnel. In Karnataka, SCERT has developed a specific module and conducts regular training for DIET trainers. However, conducting isolated training programmes alone is not adequate, as shown by an impact evaluation study undertaken to assess this programme in Karnataka5. The study suggested a holistic approach with focus on stakeholders, schools and management alike would be a more effective approach. Textbooks are the main medium of instruction for most teachers in all the states. Gender sensitive textbooks with a positive approach towards the role of women brings the equity element in the classroom and helps women teachers in projecting a positive self-image to girls. Many states have undertaken the task of revising/developing textbooks for the primary classes during the late 1990s. One of the critical concerns everywhere has been to remove the negative gender bias in language, themes, examples and illustrations. It was common to find typical stereotypes of girls/women in most of the old textbooks. The evidences suggest that though the quality varies across states, the new textbooks are definitely better than the old ones in this respect. It may be mentioned that the Women’s Education Unit of the NCERT developed a handbook for elementary school teachers in 1981, Status of Women Through Curriculum. The common core components, MLL, parameters of empowerment of women and identified values, which are commensurate with the status of women, were kept in view while developing the handbook. Efforts were made to link the values and the parameters of empowerment with the
74
Women Teachers in Rural India
relevant units of knowledge and skills. The school-based activities, which can help in realising the parameters of empowerment and the identified values, are noted against each of the prescribedunits of knowledge. Only those activities are suggested which could ultimately lead to gender equality among the students and also motivate teachers to formulate their own strategies in various school situations. The areas and the activities wherein involvement of the local community is required for accelerating the process of promoting gender equality are also noted for the guidance of primary school teachers. Such activities, which could motivate the community to reinforce the gender equality among the children, are also suggested in the handbook. The above descriptions show that though gender concerns have been given a major place in formulation and implementation of most of the recent programmes on primary/elementary education and some of the state-wide efforts have al’s0 been initiated, the perspective of female teachers has not been given adequate space so far. Considering the direct linkage and correlation that exists between the presence of female teachers and girls’ participation in schooling, it is important to include the perspective and problems of women teachers in these efforts. The analysis of trends, recruitment and related practices and support measures in this chapter reveals certain crucial facts and findings. There is no doubt that the primary education sector has been a priority sector in the 1990s and this has reflected itself, among other things, in the large-scale increase in the number of teachers. Although there has been an agreement on the fact that the proportion of women teachers needs to be enhanced, the policies and practices adopted do not always lead to this direction. A large variation across states is noticed in recruitment policies and practices being adopted by different states and some of the states have made explicit and institutional measures to streamline the process in a manner that is favourable to women teachers. There is an urban bias in recruitment and placement of female teachers and no state has made any effort to develop measures to address this issue.
Women Teachers in Rural India
75
The discussion also revealed that the pre-service training has not been designed towards preparing teachers for challenges in rural areas. However, there has been a notable increase in professional development opportunities in the recent past because of the new programmes, which had otherwise been limited. Some, albeit limited, evidences of addressing the problems faced by women teachers in the training programmes are being witnessed in Lok Jumbish and DPEP. Transport and security emerge as major problems faced by women teachers in rural areas and no notable initiative has been made to address this. The status of physical facilities is far from satisfactory in rural as well as urban areas making it more difficult for women teachers to function. The gender issues have received greater attention in the recent past but there is a need to take the specific problems faced by women teachers into account.
--.
..__._-_ .“-_-
. .._--_ _ _.
PARA TEACHERS,
INNOVATIVE
SCHEMES
Any discussion on women teachers in rural India would remain incomplete without taking cognizance of the emerging phenomenon of para teachers. Though their representation in terms of percentage to the total number of teachers may not be very large, their number is significant in some of the states and they are serving a large number of children. They are also important for their experiences in view of the continued shortage of teachers, especially women teachers, in rural areas. Para teachers can be classified into two categories, those who run separate centres under Non-Formal Education (NFE), Alternative Schooling (AS) and other innovative schemes, and the others who are serving in the formal schools as para professionals. The use of para teachers started on a large scale in the late 1970s with the Non-Formal Education (NFE) scheme. However the use of para teachers in regular schools began only in the 198Os, the first initiative being the Himachal Pradesh Volunteer Teachers‘ Scheme, which started in 1984. Subsequently, this concept of para teachers was applied in many other states in different primary education programmes and has been evolving in different ways. A para teacher is often from the local community and in some cases, though not necessarily, less qualified than the regular government teacher. Para teachers of both kinds are invariably paid less than regular government teachers employed with formal schools and the nature of employment is contractual. 4.1. Non-Formal
Education
(NFE)
The scheme of NFE was introduced in 1979-80 as a centrally sponsored scheme to cater to non-enrolled and drop-out children in the age group of 6-l 4 years. It is a part-time programme of education run by local teachers who are meagrely paid. NFE centres have been
Women Teachers opened across concentrated in Pradesh, ,Andhra are educationally the focus is on Table
77
in Rural India
the country, though the maximum number are the six major states of lJttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Rajasthan. All these backward states and it can be seen from the Table rural areas.
4.1: Number 1888
of NFE Centres ‘18811
in 1986
and
%i-/m
Rural
113640
113942
26.0
Urban
9130
6602
-27.5
Total
112770
120544
-1.5
Source
: Fifth All India Education Sixth All India Education
1993
Survey, NCERT. Survey, NCERT, 1998
Table 4.2 reveals that Mizoram, Chandigarh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Goa are the States/UTs where the number of NFE centres have increased during the period 1986 to 1993. While Tripura, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry are the States/UTs, which do not have any NFE centres. Karnataka, Sikkim and West Bengal are the states where the number of NFE centres have decreased from 2,463, 210 and 13,265 in 1986 to zero in 1993. Decrease in the number of NFE centres is also seen in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Orissa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and rneghalaya. Although, increase in the number of women instt-uct.ors was envisaged in the Eighth Plan and provision for a minimum of two instructors, one of them a woman was included in the Ninth Plan, there is no data available with regard to the number of women instructors working in these centres to substantiate this.
Table
4.2:
Non=FormaI
StateAm
I
Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam
I I-.
I
I I I I
I
Bihar
i
I I I
31
I I I
6859 7 9000
-1
Centres
No. of NFE Centres 1666 Nwal I Urbm 19330 1 2850 I 46 0 I 8338 1591
91 45
(1986,
Tota 22180 I
46 8429 1636 IT
19939 No.ofNFE&#mmmom 199t I 22559
-
I
44
I
9911 1729 5
Jammu & Kashmir Karnataka Kerala Madhya
Meghalaya 1
1666 NW& 14399
Education
f
II
2463 34 13568
595
0 10 2230
0 34 22647
I
555
I
0 44 24877
2 118 29062
a 4
2 2-. 5
11
CT 2
Mizoram Nagaland
...Contd.
ST 9 4
. ..Contd.
Nicobar
Wands
Chandigarh Dadra & Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu Delhi Lakshadweep Pondicherry All India Source
: 1. For Number 2. For Number
3 0
30 0
75 0
105 0
0 21 0 0
0 19 0 0
0 60 0 0 6602
0 79 0 0
113640
113942
120544
Fifth All India Education Survey, NCERT, 1991 Sixth All India Education Survey, NCERT, 1998 of InstructorsSeetharamu A.S.: The Status of Elementary Teachers
104
84
133177
of Centres-
in India, EFA Papers, 2000
Note: The number of centres exceeds the number of Instructors in some of the states, which is highly unlikely. This discrepancy in the number of NFE centres and the number of instructors with regard to certain states (Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh) could be due to the fact that the data are from two different sources. This also raises the issue of availability of validated and reliable data.
80
Women Teachers in Rural India
The NFE scheme and the way it has been implemented have come under severe criticism from several corners. The instructors in many parts of the country have passed only the Eighth grade although they are normally expected to have successfully completed ten years of general education. The guidelines issued by the Government of India visualizes a package of one month training inputs to be given to each instructor but this is considered insufficient by many experts. Generally, the NFE instructors come from the poorer section of the village and are taken for granted by the community, and at the same time they receive a paltry honorarium for their work. At times, the regular teachers are also involved in managing the NFE centres as it is difficult to get competent educated youth to teach for a small honorarium. The evidences in some cases suggest that the regular teachers deliberately did not teach during the day because of which the children could not learn much, droppedout and then joined NFE. The same teachers then teach these dropouts in the evening at NFE centres for which they get an additional honorarium. This has led to criticism of unfair receipt of double salary by some of the regular school teachers. The reasons for the tardy progress of the NFE programme and why it has not emerged as a credible alternative to the primary school system are many. The programme suffers from insufficient funding, inappropriate organizational structures, inefficient operationalization, inadequate involvement of the local community and unrealistic expectations of completion of primary schooling in two years by working children through part-time instruction imparted by under-equipped and low paid para teachers. It is reasons such BS these that many states have not accepted the NFE programme. For instance, Karnataka discontinued the NFE project in 1988 itself. There have been several problems in the management of NFE as well, as even the small payments do not reach the instructors on time. This leads to disenchantment and also prevents retention of instructors over a sustained period of time. NFE is visualized to facilitate re-entry of children into the formal stream of primary education after striking equivalence through NFE exposure. However, it is observed that
81
Women Teachers in Rural India
barely 4 to 5 per cent of the total number of children use NFE to re-enter the formal stream. The instructors themselves do not perceive the objectives of NFE in proper perspective. Moreover, since the programme is implemented largely in rural areas, often in remote regions and tribal areas it has not always been possible to provide the essential facilities, one of the preconditions for the programme’s success. Furthermore, even though the NFE programme seriously advocates flexibility in different aspects of the schools, it is rigid in its design. With little flexibility built into the programme, the NFE centres have had a very limited outreach. Most NFE centres have been opened in habitations served by formal schools thereby leaving smaller, tribal and Scheduled Caste habitations without any educational facility. Moreover, the evidences suggest that irrespective of their location a significant proportion of these NFE centres are non-functional7 and those that function are seriously lacking in quality. Some of the states tried to modify the scheme and make it more effective. Though Karnataka had discontinued the NFE programme way back in 1988, it decided to pilot test the programme again in 1997-98 under the DPEP programme. There are 406 centres now (some are located in the urban slums) covering 5,269 children. Similarly in Haryana though a substantial decrease (99 per cent) in the number of NFE centres is noticed in the period 1986 to 1993, under the DPEP programme 182 new centres have been opened, a few of which are located in urban slums. Preference to women candidates has been given in Haryana. Steps have been taken to provide a higher honorarium, induction training coupled with training at the beginning of each semester/year and adequate TLM for the teachers.
6. Amita Sharma and Gopalakrishnan; Back to People, Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission, Bhopal, 1988. 7. PROBEReport, Oxford University Press; Delhi, 1999.
__I -__-_.-.
-.---“.-
.1
.
----
-
----
---..-
-
-
I__
Table
4.3: NFE Centres
in Karnataka
and Haryana
under
the DPEP Programme
Kamataka
m-
No. of centres
406
182
Target Group
8-l 3 years
6-14 years
9407
5269
No. of children Teacher
profile
enrolled
1. Qualification:
Senior Secondary
2. Preference
3. Preference
b) person
in literacy
belonging
Honorarium
Rs 1,000 per month
Training
(1) 6 days’ induction (2) 6 days’ training beginning (1) chart,
candidates
campaign
Rs. 800 per month training
(1) 11 days’ induction
training.
at the BRC
(2) 10 days’ recurrent
residential
of each semester
maps, flashcards
(2) Supplementary
to women
to the same community
and other
low cost TLM
training
aids,
chair, table, blackboard, daily newspaper (2) Monthly grant of Rs. 50 to
TLM
: Eve.y Child in School and Every Child Learning,
every year.
(1) Chart, maps, teaching
prepare Source
Matriculate
2. Local person
a) Person worked
TLM for teacher
1. Qualification:
(SSLC)
DPEP, 1999.
for TLM.
Women Teachers in Rural India
83
In the wake of criticisms, the scheme has been revamped recently. The modified scheme takes note of the criticisms, recognizes the experiences of some of the NGOs as well as government-initiated programmes of alternative schooling and makes provision for diversified and innovative strategies. This would be discussed at greater length at a later stage after discussing the alternative programmes. 4.2. Para Teachers in Formal Schools and Alternative Schooling Programmes
0 The teacher in the SKP is a voluntary worker. He/she is not employed in any job and belongs to the project village. He/she is called a Shiksha Karmi (SK) 0 The teacher is expected to articulate and respond to the local needs and aspirations. 0 The teacher has a very important role to play in the enrolment and retention of the child until he/she has completed education equivalent to 5 years of elementary school. 0 The teacher is expected to work with the support of the community and cooperating agencies.
The Shiksha Karmi Project (SKP)in Rajasthan can be seen as pioneering the concept of para teachers and alternative education in the rest of the country. The project was launched in 1987 in Rajasthan as the largest experiment in non-formal and alternative education. The aim of the project was to expand primary education in the remote, inaccessible and backward villages. It was realised that a primary school in a remote village, with a non-resident teacher often tended to become dysfunctional, and both parents and children failed to relate to such an institution, leading to high drop-out rates. So, under SKP regular teachers are replaced by local teachers who are less qualified but specially trained. The Shiksha Karmi is a local person with a minimum educational qualification of Class VIII in case of men and Class V in case of 8. Universal Elementary Chowdhry.
Education
in Rajasthan,
EFA 2000,
S.
\
Women Teachers in Rural India
84 women. The teacher is expected to be above 18 years and below 33 years of age. But, in case of a woman Shiksha Karmi (SK), the upper age limit is relaxed by 5 years. Initially, the honorarium of SK was Rs. 800 per month, which has now risen to Rs. 1800. An annual increment of Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 is given after satisfactory service of 3 years and 5 years respectively. To retain trained and experienced (Shiksha Karmis) a pack; Karmis is provided. The certificates are provided equivalent to those for n Training
0 Shiksha Karmis are given intensive residential induction training in pedagogy and subject matter for a period of 37 days in general areas and 50 days in certain specified areas. 0 They are given 30 days’ refresher training in the summer vacation and 10 days’ training in the winter vacation in the first year and similar courses of 40 days and 30 days’ duration in the second and subsequent years respectively. 0 Special arrangements are made for training of women Shiksha Karmis who would be more effective in enhancing the enrolment and retention of airls. I ge of career opportunities for Shiksha Shiksha Karmis who have secondary vith pay-scales and retirement benefits Jular government teachers.
of Women Shiksha
Karmis
0 In a seven-day induction training SKs are given opportunities to work with village girls.and their mothers. After this induction training the SKs go back to their villages and complete a survey of out-of-school children, do some environment building, and establish rapport with the community. 0 A second training of 20 days focuses on steps to be taken for starting Angan Pathshalas and teaching in Class I. 0 In a third training of 25 days the SKs are trained to teach Classes I and II. 0 These women Shiksha Karmis are also provided with in-service training of 10 days during the autumn and winter breaks, and 20-days’ training during the summer vacations. In between, they attend 2-day monthly training-cum-review meetings at the block level.
Women Teachers in Rural India
85
Shiksha Karmis are given intensive induction training as well as periodic refresher courses to overcome the basic lack of qualification.Since girls’ education has been the major focus of SKP there has been an emphasis on increasing the number of women Shiksha Karmis. Special efforts have been made to engage them by lowering the educational.qualifications for women SKs and opening of lvlahila Prashikshan Kendras (MPKs), i.e. Women’s Training Institutes. Mahila Prashikshan Kendras help them in acquiring the knowledge and skills required of Shiksha Karmis. It takes the trainees 6 months to 2 years depending on their original education and the progress they make. Since most of these women are mothers of young children, a creche and childcare unit with a woman helper is attached to every MPK. As of now, 14 MPKs spread over 13 districts are functioning and till now 345 women have been trained successfully in these centres.B However, despite lower educational qualifications for women SKs and the establishment of MKPs, the extremely low levels of female literacy in rural Rajasthan is a major constraint in recruiting women SKs. The SKP runs three types of schools, viz. Angan Pathshalas, Prehar Pathshalas and Day Schools. Angan Pathshalas are courtyard schools for young girls who cannot travel long distances to attend either day schools or Prehar Pathshalas. Angan Pathshalas are usually started in villages where there are no formal schools or any other facilities for the education of children. A local person, preferably a woman, is selected to run an Angan Pathshala in her own home or in the space provided by the community after necessary traini‘ng and provision of other inputs. More than half the students enrolled in these centres are girls. Prehar Pathshalas are schools of convenient timings. These are basically night centres for those children who cannot attend day schools-owing to their preoccupations at homeg. Table 4.4 shows that the project covers 2,715 villages in 146 blocks in Rajasthan and 6,285 Shiksha Karmis provide primary 9. The details of SKP given here are based on the Rajasthan Shiksha Karmi Project, 1994.
Women Teachers in Rural India
86 Table
4.4 : Coverage (upto
of the Shiksha October 1999)
Districts covered Blocks covered No. of Villages/ Day Schools No. of Prehar Pathshalas Enrolment of Children Source: Annual
Report,
Karmi
Project
32 146 2715 4829 2.16 lakh
MHRD, 2000.
education to 2.16 lakh children in Day schools and Prehar Pathshalas. The SKP experience demonstrates that the motivation of Shiksha Karmis working in difficult conditions can be sustained over a longer period of time by recurrent and effective training, sensitive nurturing, community support, regular participatory review and problem-solving. The success and largely positive experience of SKP led to formulation of many other similar projects and programmes in other parts of the country. Shiksha Karmi Yojna (SKY) in Madhya Pradesh is one such example. SKY is, however, a specific scheme to recruit teachers for formal schools only. With adoption of the Shiksha Karmi scheme, Madhya Pradesh has stopped fresh recruitment of regular teachers. The Shiksha Karmi scheme was introduced as a system of having local teachers to avoid the problem of teacher absenteeism. The scheme has undergone a change in some respects because of a Supreme Court order. Initially only the local persons were recruited on a fixed salary. Now though the appointment is made as against vacancy in a particular school, the applicants may not necessarily be from the same area. They have been given a graded scale, albeit lower than that of regular teachers. The Shiksha Karmis are employees of the Panchayat and hence do not enjoy many benefits given to government employees. The selection criteria takes qualifications, experience, training and performance in the interview into consideration. Uttar Pradesh is another state which has opted for a variation of the scheme recently. The notification for the scheme, Shikshamitra, has already come and is expected to be operationalized soon. The
Women Teachers in Rural India
87
scheme is similar to Madhya Pradesh in the sense that this is meant for formal schools. However, unlike Madhya Pradesh, the effort has been made to ensure that every school has a mix of regular teachers and Shikshamitras and no school is run only by Shikshamitras. Shikshamitras are primarily being recruited for Classes I and II only. No school can have more than two Shikshamitras at one point of time. The first Shikshamitra can be placed only if there is already one regular teacher and second only if there are two regular teachers. The first Shikshamitra for a school will be recruited on merit but the second has to be a woman but there is no relaxation in qualification. Twelve years of schooling is the minimum qualification for Shikshamitras. Panchayats are the recruiting bodies for Shikshamitras. The need for having schooling facilities within habitations, especially for girls, and the inflexibility of formal schools in responding to the needs of different groups of children were the primary factors that led to the emergence of the concept of Alternative Schooling (AS). The Sahaj Shiksha experiment in Lok Jumbish coupled with the SKP experience formed the basis of a number of ongoing efforts in the country. Some of the experiments have also been guided by the need for pedagogical flexibility not available in the formal graded system. DPEPallowed and encouraged AS experiments and the majority of the ongoing AS schemes are presently operational under this programme. The unpleasant NFE experience has been taken into account by most of the AS designs that strive to provide adequate space to quality considerations. Almost all these schemes give preference to women candidates. Some of the programmes have provision for either educational relaxation for women or reservation of one post for a woman teacher. In this category are programmes like Sahaj Shiksha Karyakram, Shiksha Swayam Sevi School and Shiksha Karmi Project (Rajasthan), Shiksha Ghar and Prehar Pathshala (Uttar Pradesh), and Alternative Schooling (Madhya Pradesh). Some of the programmes like Saraswati Yojana, Angana Vidyalaya and Apana Vidyalaya (Bihar)
Women Teachers in Rural India
93
and Girls’ Community Centre (Gujarat) provide for recruitment of only women teachers. Contract Schools in Maharashtra give preference to married women, whereas Shishu Shiksha Kendras in West Bengal recruit only women over 40 years of age. The candidates selected invariably are preferred from the local community/area with the exception of Vidya Sahayak Yojana in Gujarat and Shiksha Karmi in Madhya Pradesh where the teacher may not really be from the same locality. The honorarium of these para teachers in most states is in the range of Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,500 per month. However, in some programmes the remuneration is as low as Rs. 200 per month because of which there is a high turnover of teachers (PROPEL, Maharashtra). While in others the teacher has to ensure 90 per cent attendance of children for receiving the honorarium (Shishu Shiksha Kendra, West Bengal). The teachers in Girls’ Community Centres in Gujarat receive Rs. 50 per child per month. An incentive of Rs. 100 per annum is given to teachers of Shiksha Swayam Sevi School (Rajasthan) for the first three years based on retention and achievement of children. A grant of Rs. 500 per year is also given in most states to the AS teachers for preparing TLM. The recruitment procedure for AS and other innovative programmes in most states involves Village Education Committees (VECs) or/and Panchayats. While Tamil Nadu, Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh have given them the authority for selection of teachers, in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan the VECs together with BRC/CRC co-ordinators recruit them. Gujarat recruits through the Employment Exchange, while Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan recruit through Management/Selection Committees. Mata Samitis (Mothers’ Committees) select candidates for Angana Vidyalayas and Apana Vidhyalayas in Bihar. Although there is large variation across schemes, most of the programmes have provision for frequent training of adequate duration and academic support is also provided. The training procedure is generally systematic and provides for-an initial training followed by refresher training on a yearly basis in most cases. Maharashtra is an exception where the training component is considered to be weak. The training period varies from state to state, for instance
94
Women Teachers in Rural India
in the AS (Madhya Pradesh) a 21-day pre-service training is given compared to 2 sessions of 5 days’ training during the first year in AS (Tamil Nadu). The other schemes like Angana Vidyalaya (Bihar) and Shiksha Karmi Project (Rajasthan) provide for larger foundation training period. Of the various programmes, Sahaj Shiksha Karyakram (Rajasthan) is the only scheme which provides additional training to female teachers so as to strengthen their academic skills before they are given the responsibility of running the centres. Many of the AS schemes discussed above are being supported by DPEP fully or partially. In DPEP, approximately 14.7 lakh children have been covered under different strategies of Alternative Schools. There are 38,500 Alternative Schools of different types. The table below depicts the picture of percentage of female teachers and that of girls’ enrolment in AS centres in DPEP The representation of women teachers is not always encouraging though the girls’ enrolment does present a satisfactory picture. Table state
4.7 : Proportion of Female Teachers and Percentage of Girls’ Enrolment in AS under DPEP.(2000)
Proportion of female teachers (SC)
Assam Bihar Karnataka Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal’ Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Haryana Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa
Around 50 100 30 25 26 25 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Proportbn of girls’ enrokmnt (9b) 53 NA 53 53
48 37 45 55 66 46 47.4 in As/ 45 in EGS 50 47
Source : DPEP Technical Support Group, New Delhi NA: Not Available * does not include Shishu Shiksha Kendra 10. Jyotsna Jha; Community-based Initiatives in Primary iducation in Madhya Pradesh; in from Your School to Our School, Education Guarantee Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission; Government of Madhya Pradesh, 2000.
Women Teachers in Rural India
95
Karnataka has opened 553 AS centres so far in 13 out of 14 DPEPdistricts. There is no AS programme in Bangalore Rural district. About 16,000 children are being covered of which more than half are girls. Though the scheme states that all teachers should preferably be women but due to non-availability of local women candidates with desired qualification males are recruited and only 30 per cent of instructors are women in the state. Uttar Pradesh has more than 1,000 centres in 16 DPEP districts covering about 37,000 children. The problem of getting qualified women candidates is also faced here, It may be mentioned that in addition to these governmentinitiated and supported AS schemes, several programmes of Alternative Schooling are being run by NGOs, albeit on a small scale, in different parts of the country. Though their numbers are always not very significant, they have played an important role in providing the model as well as technical support to the government-supported centres. Community involvement in the management and monitoring of these alternative schooling centres has been remarkably high. Most of these schemes have been designed in such a manner that it allows natural space to the community for intervention. The experiences also suggest that the location of these centres (within the habitation) itself leads to community involvement. The teacher being a local person, the sense of identification among the parents with the teacher is felt in most cases. It has also been found that the functioning of the centre has been better at places wherever the relationship between the community and the teacher has been more vibrant.lO The experiences of the functioning of these AS centres, especially from the perspective of women teachers is not very well documented, 11. Jyotsna Jha; ibid and Jyotsna Jha;-Continuous Evaluation of Formal Equivalent Centres in Uttar Pradesh; CARE-India, New Delhi. 1999 (unpublished) 12. Jyotsna Jha; Continuous Evaluation of Formal Equivalent Centres in Uttar Pradesh; CARE-India, New Delhi. 1999 (unpublished)
Women Teachers in Rural India
96
this being a relatively new phenomenon. However, whatever little evidences are available from different sources, they provide certain important indications for future designing. The compulsory presence of one woman teacher in an AS centre in Madhya Pradesh provided a role model for girls and had a positive impact on their attendance and participation in the centre’s activities. However, the relaxation in qualification for women meant recruitment of some women teachers who were only Class VIII pass. Though in the initial phase this does not create a problem, it is apparently a major bottleneck in later stages when the teachers start facing problems in the understanding of many basic concepts, especially in mathematics.” The jnteraction in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka also suggested that women teachers are generally perceived to be “more sincere” by the community as well as the administrators. The apparent reason is that this happens to be their main occupation which is not true for men teachers. Some of the evidences also indicate that women, at times, face a great deal of interference from their husbands/other family members in teaching.12 There is a tendency to undermine their professional role and they always face a shortage of time for preparatory activities owing to household responsibilities. This is especially true for those who are married and working in their husbands’ villages. 4.3. Innovative
Programmes
for Girls’AMomen’s
Education
Women teachers have also played an important role in giving shape to some of the important innovative programmes of girls’ education. These programmes include Mahila Shikshan Kendra (MSK) of Mahila Sanmakhya (MS) in several states, Mahila Shikshan Vihar (MSV) and Balika Shivir of Lok Jumbish in Rajasthan and Udaan of Girls’ Primary Education Project in Uttar Pradesh. While MSK and MSV focused more on women’s education and making them self-reliant, the other two emphasized education of adolescent girls. All these are residential programmes where intensive short-term courses are the means for providing education.
Women Teachers in Rural India
97
Mahila Samakhya (Education for Wornens Equality) is a programme of the Department of Education, MHRD, GOI initiated in 1987-89 to translate the goals of NPE and POA into a concrete programme for the education and empowerment of women in rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalized groups. The programme is operational in 5,000 villages spread over 35 districts in seven states. The Mahila Samakhya was launched in Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh in 1989 with Dutch assistance. The project was extended to Andhra Pradesh at the end of 1992. The Mahila Samakhya was further expanded through other basic education programmes in thecountry like the Bihar Education Project in Bihar and the District Primary Education Programme in Madhya Pradesh and Assam. The UP Basic Education Project is also assisting expansion of MS in Uttar Pradesh. Recognizing the centrality of education in empowering women to achieve equality, MS believes in focussing on educational strategies that are based on awareness raising, critical analysis and skill building for mobilization. It has initiated several interventions like are managed by Women’s Groups themselves. With the gradual expansion in their activities, a need was expressed for creating a pool of women who could support various education and developmental interventions in the villages. Thus, the idea of setting up Mahila Shikshan (MSKs) to provide the necessary institutional support for creating such a pool of women gained ground. MSKs or Women’s Residential Education Centres evolved as a component of the MS programme for providing life-oriented and meaningful education to women and adolescent girls, thus creating a cadre of well informed and motivated women leaders in remote rural areas, especially where there is a very low literacy rate. The main aim of the MSKs is to make available quality education in the shortest period of time to those illiterate and semi-literate women and adolescent girls who have been deprived of educational opportunities.
98
Women Teachers in Rural India
Mahila Shikshan Vihar (MSV) is also a similar residential institutior for education and training of rural women who are desirous of improving their educational qualifications and acquiring capability for self-reliance. Women who complete their primary/upper primary level at MSV are appointed as Shiksha Karmi, NFE instructor, Anganwadi workers, etc. They also serve as Lok Jumbish activists in whichever village they decide to reside. Balika Shivir (Girls’ Camp) under Lok Jumbish (Rajasthan) and Udaan (the Flight) under Girls’ Primary Education Project (Uttar Pradesh) were started with an aim to provide opportunities to those girls who had crossed the age of entry to primary schools, or in other words, had missed the bus. Both the programmes were inspired by the experience of M.V. Foundation in Andhra Pradesh where short-term camps are being successfully used for putting over-age children into formal schools. While the duration of Balika Shivir varied from three to nine months with the varying objective of developing competencies equivalent to a particular class, Udaan aims at providing education equivalent to Class V in 10 months’ period. Ninety-one out of 96 girls have cleared the Class V examination from the first batch of Udaan. Both the programmes emphasize social learning to help the girls evolve as independent thinking human beings capable of taking their own decisions. The available evaluations and documentation of these programmes clearly reflect the crucial role of teachers in the success ‘of these initiatives. The teachers in all these centres have been invariably women. The high level of motivation and commitment seen in teachers has been identified as a major factor in the success of these programmes. It has not been as easy task for these teachers, as the girls coming from rural areas to these residential schools are not at all ready to follow any instructions in the beginning; they want to return to their own familiar environment rather than follow any routine. The documentations have also reflected that the same girls change beyond recognition in a short period of time due to the continuous and dedicated efforts of teachers. The teachers in
99
Women Teachers in Rural India
Udaan have been provided continuous academic support and they attribute their success to this teachers as they were also exposed to a number of new professional as well as personal beliefs and values for the first time. This also reflects the need for continuous support measures as well as a confidence in women teachers to enable them to evolve and perform. The modified NFE scheme, now called the Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education (EGS & AIE) takes the concerns and experiences into account. It has sought to address the shortcomings of the NFE scheme in terms of “very low investments; poor community involvement; problem in release of funds; several quality issues including training, number of teaching hours, etc.” The experience of alternative schooling experiences in terms of community involvement, need for a variety of interventions to address the diverse nature of needs of out-of-school children and the quality aspects have been incorporated and given space in this modified scheme. Among other things, it also allows short and long duration residential camps and other such interventions. The minimum monthly honorarium has been raised to Rs. 1,000 and provisions for equipment, learning materials and annual teachertraining have been made. It has clearly been outlined that at least 75 per cent of Education Volunteers (teachers) under this scheme would be women. Matriculation or Class X remains the minimum qualification which can be relaxed “only in very exceptional circumstances where qualified women are not available.” It is encouraging to note that the scheme also makes provisions for supporting “professional preparation of women through long duration residential training programmes for their induction as Education Volunteers.” 4.4. Early Childhood
Care and Education
(ECCE)
The National Policy on Education (198611992) in view of its crucial significance, recognized ECCE as an essential human development programme as well as a support programme for the universalization of elementary education and a programme for
100
Women Teachers
Table 4.8: Number Percentage of Female
st8tams Andhra
of Balwadi and Anganwadi Centres, Teachers and Ratio of Girls’ Enrolment w##Iimmmt~
xiz
IiiK
Pradesh
in Rut-al India
P
4580
17016
98.2
49.5
315
1019
90.3
47.3
Assam
I 880
2944
93.3
47.1
Bihar
4758
I 2389
99.27
46.9
738
702
99.7
50.3
Arunachal
Pradesh
Goa Gujarat
10543
17425
98.7
47.9
3275
7896
98.08
47.1
Pradesh
1946
3506
99.1
49.4
& Kashmir
1596
2198
93.3
46.6
11309
19003
99
48.4
4197
5922
98.8
51.6
7697
21608
97.8
48.2
13043
323376
99.5
47.3
Haryana Himachal lammu
Karnataka Kerala Madhya
Pradesh
Maharashtra Manipur
117
1228
95.5
50.7
Meghalaya
471
155
73.2
50.1
Mizorarn
554
677
98.5
49.4
Nagaland
163
510
95.3
40.3
Orissa
4557
17765
98.3
48.2
Punjab
1978
5008
97.8
47.7
Rajasthan
4385
10,035
98.8
46.2
Sikkim
213
226
98.8
44.0
i 8442
I 5898
98.1
48.5
Tripura
2023
2554
89.0
48.1
Uttar Pradesh
7240
19317
97.7
45.6
West Bengal
7288
I 5898
84.0
47.8
264
213
99.5
51.7
49
49
98.1
49
0
124
99.2
49.7
68
47
100
50.9
285
250
98.7
47.3
34
30
100
49.8
393
343
100
Tamil
Nadu
A & N Islands Chandigarh D & N Haveli Daman
& Diu
Delhi Lakshadweep Pondicherry All India Source
114401 : Fifth All lndla Education Fifth All India Eclucation
525331
97.1
Survey, NCERT, Survey, NCERT, 1998
49.8 47.8
Women Teachers
in Rural India
Table 4.9: Number Percentage of Female
101
of Independent Pre-Primary Schools, Teachers and Ratio of Girls’ Enrolment 5lEtnMnmt’ 9
StStdUTS 1988
18811
Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh
144 28
342 26
52.6 67.3
46.4 45.4
Assam
173
330
96.1
40.7
Bihar Goa Gujarat
1
0
46
34
97.9
47 0
1039
0
0
1050
84.1
44.7
41
104
58.2
42.2
Pradesh
21
59
90.5
47.4
Jammu & Kashmir
27
98
40.4
39.7
1501
93.8
47.0
347
594
91.7
52.0
205
1633
25.6
40.0
9f34
7881
91 .o
48.5
Haryana Himachal Karnataka
II!
