It is not surprising that there is a vast difference in “school-readiness” between the children joining government schools and those joining private schools in grade one (Editorial page, “Chalk and cheese in private vs. government schools”, Jan. 15). Imparting and building cognitive skills, viz., concentration, perception, memory and logical thinking have been found to play an important role in inculcating basic literacy and numeracy abilities in children. But, are our Anganwadi workers adequately trained to impart such skills? And, do they have enough time to do the job effectively? As per an assessment paper published in the International Journal for Quality in Healthcare, they lack the knowledge required to discharge their functions effectively. The facilities provided are also inadequate. It is necessary to appoint a better-qualified second Anganwadi worker exclusively to attend to the preschool activities. Unless special attention is paid to imparting skills to children joining government schools, the gap observed between them and their counterparts joining private schools cannot be bridged.
Kosaraju Chandramouli,
Hyderabad
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) paints a sad picture on the rural education in India. A majority of India still lives in villages, and naturally so, the topic of rural education gains utmost importance. Fewer committed teachers, lack of proper textbooks and learning materials in schools are some of the major issues for quality and access to education in rural India. In some government schools in villages, the system of teaching by a single teacher still prevails, and if the teacher is absent, the school declares a ‘holiday’ on that day. Also, many government schools in villages are over-packed with students, which lead to the imbalance in teacher-student ratio. In fact, some years back, the ASER survey revealed a distressing fact that many students in fifth grade were unable to read a second-grade text book and weren’t able to solve even some simple mathematical problems. The reason cited for this problem was the increasing number of single classrooms to educate students from more than one grade. The foundation to offer quality education to our rural students has to be laid down strongly at primary level. Improvement in the condition of government schools, education quality and committed teachers with more salaries to them should be part of the development. It is an established fact that basic education improves the level of human well-being, especially with regard to life expectancy, infant mortality, and nutritional status of children.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai
The article comparing learning outcomes among schools, as assessed by the ASER correctly mentions the importance of focusing on developing cognitive skills in young children rather than knowledge content. However, the analysis detailing the factors that could be leading to poorer learning outcomes in government schools did not account for a crucial controlling factor. There is a well-established direct link between children’s achievements (including educational achievements) and the socio-economic status (SES) of the family. In comparing private schools, which levy a comparatively higher fee, and government schools, this factor too must surely be analysed. Government schools cater particularly to children from the middle and lower socio-economic strata. In fact, government schools performing approximately half as well as private schools could arise from disparity in SES alone.
It would be more meaningful to assess the relative efficacy between schooling systems by looking at the relative proportions of people occupying positions involving higher thinking who had been through different schooling systems rather than by looking at learning outcomes at the primary level alone. Here also, the fact that private schools filter out slow achievers should be factored in while assessing learning outcomes.
K. Indulekha
Kottayam, Kerala
