How to improve state government's schools to provide quality education?

India’s 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) notes that the four main priorities of education policies have been Access, Equity, Quality and Governance. The document also continues to prioritize these four areas, but places the greatest emphasis on improving learning outcomes at all levels. Various educational surveys, educational data over the years indicated that learning achievements of children in various subjects particularly in Languages, Math, EVS, Science and Social Sciences are not satisfactory. It is a fact that many a times, teachers complete the textbooks but they do not have clear idea what kind of learning they are expecting from children in respective subjects. Generally, teachers use textbooks that would only provide a broad idea as to how to transact the textual material inside and outside the classroom.

Government schools serve the majority of children in our country. These schools have witnessed a decline in their services, and increasingly they are accessed by the poor and the marginalized. Across India, a handful of committed individuals have led efforts to improve government schools, in the belief that they could demonstrate or induce an enduring change in the system. The overall objective of school improvement planning is an enhanced level of student achievement. To effect real change, however, the process needs to focus on specific priorities. Student performance improves when teachers use curriculum-delivery strategies that specifically address the needs of their students, when the school environment is positive, and when parents are involved in their children’s education. Therefore, schools should concentrate on these three areas—curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement.

Curricular expectations are not to be measured class wise but need to be achieved by the end of a particular stage as these are long term targets of the Curriculum i.e. abilities, attitudes, values, etc. Learning Indicators along with the pedagogical processes will help achieve these curricular expectations. The learning indicators have been developed for each class i.e. at the end of each class from class I to class VIII. The ‘learning indicators’ need to lay down the ‘essential levels of learning’.

As postulated by the NPE, the Learning Indicators help in a number of ways by:

• Understanding learning as a process.
• Focusing and understanding children’s learning on a continuum of learning.
• Respond positively to diversity and helping all children to participate fully and achieve well.
• Providing a reference point for parents, children and others to understand the learning of every child in a simple way.
• Providing a framework for monitoring, learning and reporting progress about the child.

The importance of empowering the teachers and building an environment in which teachers could strive for improvement, learn, and grow. It is practiced in some schools. Teachers were given the freedom to experiment, to set their own goals, to teach textbooks and transact the syllabus in his/her own way. Each teacher’s planning was discussed with her individually. The headmistress provided avenues that helped teachers enter newer domains of learning and get exposed to progressive thoughts in the field of children’s education. Workshops broadened their perspective, deepened their understanding of concepts, and expanded their repertoire of teaching-learning activities. Staff meetings were used to discuss problems of the classroom and school, and to appreciate efforts and achievements. The teachers were made aware of resources both within and outside school that they could draw on to enrich teaching-learning. Relevant government policies and programmes were discussed with the teachers, which helped them understand the broader context of their work. Their concerns and feedback were also shared with the NCERT. When some of their suggestions were incorporated into the language textbooks, it boosted their confidence.

There should be introductory seminars on new and relevant topics to improve the quality of teaching. Basic concepts of the subjects of students are not clear. For that teachers should work hard for initial two three months so students get skills of learning reading books, writing work and then understanding concepts.

Influencing factors of quality education are-

• The main pillar of quality education is Teacher:

Since the ultimate objective of school improvement planning is to improve the level of student achievement, the person who has the greatest impact on students during the school day—the teacher—plays several critical roles in the school improvement planning process. Ensure that classroom strategies for improvement address the needs of students at all levels of learning. Assess students in a variety of ways and develop strategies for improving the level of student achievement.

1. The selection of teacher
2. Focused Professional development (Empowering teachers).
3. Cultural competence and culturally responsive).
4. More Work load on teacher.
5. Improves the attendance of teaching staffs.

Major Indicators for Quality

Some of the suggestive key indicators, which may be said to have direct or indirect effect on improving the quality of the teaching learning processes, may be broadly categorized as:

Sr. No.	Dimensions	Key Indicators
1	Infrastructural Facilities in the School	Classroom/ space for learning Space for activities (individual and group) Drinking water facilities Storage facilities for drinking water Toilet facility Playground and play material facilities
2	School Management and Community Support	Children attendance Teachers’ attendance Academic support, if possible Financial support TLM development support Learners' assessment Timely availability of books
3	School and Classroom Environment	Physical Environment Proper lighting facility in the classroom (sunlight) Social Environment Child-child relationship Teacher-child relationship Teacher-teacher relationship Teacher-administrator relationship Sensitive treatment of children from special focus groups Participation of the community in school activities Pre-school facilities Facilities available for health check-up/ follow up measures Incentive Schemes
4	Curriculum a Learning Materials and Teaching	Existing curriculum and its coverage Curriculum revision exercise Competency-based materials Black board and its usage Availability of textbooks to children Textbook production Distribution of textbooks Availability of teaching-learning materials Library and its use Laboratory/ Kits and their use
5	Teacher and Teacher Preparation	Existing curriculum and its coverage Curriculum revision exercise Competency-based materials Black board and its usage Availability of textbooks to children Textbook production Distribution of textbooks Availability of teaching-learning materials Library and its use Laboratory/ Kits and their use
6	Teacher and Teacher Preparation	Teacher profile Teacher position (class-wise) Class teacher/ subject teacher system Pre-service experience In-service experience Difficulties faced during teaching (academic/ administrative) Ability to develop and use TLM Motivation level of teacher Teacher-community relationship Support available to the teachers in the school Role of school management committee in teacher preparation Monitoring classroom
7	Classroom Practices and Processes	Classroom organization Seating arrangement Classroom setting Display of materials in the classroom Grouping of Children Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) Methods of introducing the topic Teaching-Learning Process (Pedagogy) Use of Teaching-Learning Materials Students initiative in Teaching-Learning Process Assessment procedure followed Frequency of Assessment
8	Opportunity Time (Teaching-Learning Time)	Number of days school opens in a year Actual number of days, teaching-learning occurs in a year Number of teaching hours/ day Number of teachers in a school Number of sections of each class in a school Number of classes that each teacher handles (Monograde/Multigrade) Learners' attendance Number of days teachers are involved in non-teaching assignments in a year.
9	Learners' Assessment, Monitoring and Supervision	Policy adopted in the States for No detention Grade/ Marks Internal/ External examinations Periodicity of assessment (Quarterly, Half- yearly, Annual) Reward/ Punishment Recording procedures in school Feedback mechanism used by teachers Involvement of parents Procedure to give feedback to parents

School improvement and teachers development is a multifaceted approach. Therefore, school reform and initiative need to be carefully planned and executed by involving all stakeholders. In the process of implementing school improvement programme, teachers play critical role in institutionalizing change initiatives. Hence identifying teachers need and providing effective support at school and classroom level can play vital role in enhancing students learning. Although concerned about the quality of education, our key stakeholder has not yet realized the need to transform the day-to-day practices at school. A combined effort is required to achieve the goals of such a comprehensive program. A number of activities have been taken into account bring about change and enhance quality education in schools.

(The above topic was suggested and compiled by by Mr Mahendra Belvanshi, TGT (Science), Govt. Excellence School, Narsinghpur, MP)

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