Primary Education

Education is the principal instrument of developing human capabilities that provides the instruments for liberation from ignorance and oppression. It is both the cause and effect of development.

A situation analysis of Primary Education in Orissa

In Orissa, recently there has been a sea change in the tools, technology and mode of imparting education. The average literacy rate in Orissa was 63.08% during 2001, as against all India average of 64.8%. As per the statistics of the year 2003-04, there are 44,416 Primary Schools with 52.54 lakh enrolment and 97 lakh teachers in the State. There is one Primary School for every 3.5 Sq.Km area. Mid day Meal Programme has been operational since 1995. In 2003-04, 46.32 lakh children in 51,931 schools were brought under this scheme. There are 14.233 Upper Primary Schools as on 2003-04. There is one Upper Primary School for each 10.94 km area in the State. Overall dropout rate at the primary stage was 33.6%, the dropout rate for girls was 35.4% and for boys 31.9% during 2003-04. 56.5% boys dropped out in upper primary stage in 2003-04 while 58.6% girls dropped out in the same year.

In order to sustain the advocacy process at block, district and state level, there needs to be a clear understanding on the varied issues revolving around the important aspects of quality elementary education. CYSD, therefore, works towards enhancing the quality of primary education in schools and conducts research and advocacy initiatives at district and state level.

To propagate appropriate policy practice change in elementary education, and to bring about changes in the primary education reality in the State, CYSD took the initiative to highlight the elementary education scenario of the State. The report took stock of parameters like infrastructure, learning climate, children’s and teachers’ perspective and involvement of the family and the community at large, difficulties on the part of teachers in addressing the learning requirements of children with special needs, and bringing convergence between the home language and the school language. It identified the loopholes and shortcomings in the system and recommended a set of measures to achieve the goal of Universal Elementary Education (UEE) by the stipulated time period of 2010.

Throughout its involvement in the primary education programme, the effort of CYSD is to get all children into schools including non-starters and dropouts. The approach of the organization has always been therefore to strengthen the various initiatives of the government agencies in this direction.

Beginning with the initiatives to spread the adult literacy programme as a capacity building centre, CYSD gradually undertook the responsibility upon itself to enhance the access and enrolment of children in schools through campaigns, teachers, facility and material support in difficult tribal areas. However, soon the need to give adequate importance to quality of education was realised in order to retain children in schools. Therefore, much of the emphasis was shifted to quality through initiatives like teaching learning material development, teachers training, early childhood care, child right programme, community institution building and strengthening citizens’ effort for appropriate policy changes.

While CYSD is engaged in an effort to experiment and innovate on quality education front in a micro way, there is a significant effort to extensively enhance enrolment and quality in schools through building partnership with more than forty like-minded organisations and citizen groups in 45 Gram Panchayats of 21 Blocks and 11 Districts of the State.

CYSD tries to achieve the above objective in two modes: intensive and extensive. In its intensive mode of operation, it strives to empower communities to take charge of school management affairs and in the extensive approach, it partners with other organizations working on the issue of elementary education and provides them with training and other resource support related to teaching, learning and quality processes.

In order to attain access, retention and quality in education, CYSD believes in extensive partnerships with organisations working on the issues of elementary education, providing them the required resource support related to teaching, retention and quality. This initiative further creates an enabling environment for the various stakeholders. CYSD has also been carrying out intensive interventions to strengthen the existing programmes in elementary education. Intensive capacity building programmes upscale the village education plans, increases the involvement of children, equips the teachers to provide quality education, and devises interventions for arresting drop out and enhancing retention with particular focus on the girl child, the children of migrant workers and children with special needs. Furthermore, interventions like School Adoptions, and establishing functional centres of Early Childhood Care and Development, and Alternative and Innovative Education, has helped the community in integrating effectively the mainstream activities of planning and monitoring providing for a proper school environment and in enhancement of quality in primary education.

CYSD intervenes in the theme of primary education with the following objectives: -

• Ensure free and compulsory elementary education to all children in the operational areas within the age group of 6-14 through the formal schools or non-formal educational programs as per the constitutional commitment by 2010.
• Enhance the quality of primary education in the formal as well as in the non-formal sector through appropriate interventions like capacity building, curriculum, publications, infrastructure etc., and also by influencing policy through research, lobby and advocacy as well as by proper networking.
• Enhance the capacities of the grass root level intermediary organizations, facilitators, village education committee and other civic groups etc. on universalisation of elementary education.
• Ensure quality education through monitoring forums and prepare advocacy agenda after careful analysis of the educational policies and schemes. 

Major Areas of Work           

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