Quality school education – how to make it a reality

Rama Kondapalli
National Assessment and Accreditation Council

Abstract
The issue of quality schooling is basic to national development. For acheiving the national goal
of “Education for all”, India’s points to three main challenges: (1) Universalizing quality access
(2) Raising learning outcomes (3.) Reducing the gaps in education outcomes across the states
and among various groups and communities.
The paper focuses on the School quality as a function of inputs and the efficient management
of these inputs in relation to desired goals. Referring to the quality of schools the paper
attempts to examine the following three important issues; (i) In the context of schools can we
see quality as a relative term (2) Does school effectiveness refer only to the outcome or does
it also include the type of inputs and the established processes? (3) What are the parameters
to measure school quality?
The paper is divided into four sections. The first section is introductory. The second deals with
major challenges for providing quality access and the third critically examines the role of
internal agents like the head teacher, the managements etc. and the external agents like
corporate/industry, the community, the university/tertiary education sector in building quality
school. The fourth part provides suggestions and conclusions.

Introduction

The advent of twentieth century saw the education system heavily inclined to a powerful
movement of mass education. The main challenge to meet the transportation towards a
mass education system that took place within swiftly changing economy and national
environment is the issue of quality. The present education systems have developed
within a national political framework and work in strictly regulated and specific systems,
regulations and procedures adapted to meet the developmental needs of domestic
economy. With the national goal of “Education for all”, India's goal of UPE and UEE of
good quality points to three main challenges:

1. Raising learning outcomes

2. Universalizing quality access
3. Reducing the gaps in education outcomes across the states and among various
groups and communities

Raising Learning Outcomes

The government through various schemes and programmes like the midday meals,
setting of Village Education Committees (VEC), the District Primary Education
Programme (DPEP), expanding the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) in
numbers and scope, the Block Resource Centers (BRC) etc. did a commendable job in
achieving its goal of “Education for all”. Redefinition of UEE in the National Policy of
Education (1986) as consisting of not only enrollment and attendance but also learner
achievement brought focus on quality primary education in a significant manner. All this
has brought “Improvement in learner achievement to the center stage of policy making
and planning.” In an attempt to raise the achievement levels in the year 2000, the
central government introduced the Srava Siksha Abiyan (SSA), with the aid of world
bank whose main objectives are 100% enrollment, retention and achievement,
Education for all, zero repetition and drop outs and finally achieving quality in education.
Now even five years after the “mission mode” approach to universalize elementary
education through the SSA only 47 out of 100 children enrolled reach grade seven. This
means we still retain the high drop out rate of 52.79%. Honorable Prime Minister of
India Dr. Manmohan Singh attributed the high dropout rates to “lack of adequate
facilities, large scale absenteeism of teachers and inadequate supervision by local
authorities”. In such a situation, how do we achieve the targeted enrolment rates i.e.
accommodating all children of ages 6-10 in primary schools by 2007 (the final year of
tenth plan)? To achieve the targets we would require as many as 1.3 million classrooms
and 740000 new teachers. Unlike in the past when anything going wrong in the schools
was attributed to the teacher's incompetence or indifference, governments have started
admitting the real difficulties and hard spots, and that they are more obsessed with data
reflecting the global targets pertaining to enrolment, drop out rates and retention rather
than the learning experiences of the children. Thanks to the D.P.E.P. initiative that has
brought to focus the need and relevance of research and innovations at the grassroots
levels. The various initiatives under the programme brought a significant change in the
teaching - learning and caught up the enthusiasm of the teachers at the elementary
level.

Several recent surveys on learning have revealed appalling facts. - of the 20 crore
children in the age group of 6-14 ( to be covered under the fundamental right of eight
years of free education enjoined in the constitution of India) 17 crore are enrolled .
While three crore remain totally out of the system and 8.5 crore out of the enrolled 17
crore drop out. This means more than half of the eligible population remain uncovered.
Going further only half of the 2.2crore who reach the secondary level complete the + 2
stage .This being the progression rates, half of the students in class 5 could not read
even at the level of class 2 and two thirds could not even solve division problems meant
for the second grade. With this the reality apart from the widely discussed concerns of
quality and access, the pressure on secondary education is on improving retention and
achievement of students. Research suggests that if high standards are set for pupils and
they are let known about them, and accordingly intellectually challenging lessons are
provided, then the impact on achievement is considerable.

Universalizing Quality Access - Teacher Education and Teacher Quality

The system has rapidly expanded and the governments were not prepared to handle the
situation. The teacher training and recruitments did not keep pace with the rapidly
expanding enrolments, the complex classroom situations, the diverse learner needs etc.
Mass education brought children to class rooms from diverse socio economic
backgrounds. Most of the rural and government schools had children coming from
extremely poor economic conditions, first generation learners and from differing social
orders. Added to these complex classroom situations, most of the remote and rural
schools face teacher shortage resulting in multigrade teaching. The one or at the most
two teachers working in such schools are unprepared to handle the existing complex
class rooms and further demotivated when they have to go in for multi grade teaching.
Each teacher, in such a situation, on average, mange four to five classes.

In such a situation it is important that our teacher education programmes be

restructured. Including atleast the two important components discussed above i.e.
managing diversity and managing multi-grade situations. These problems are rarely
covered in the training programmes either pre-service or in-service. The present day
teachers lack the skills to manage the increasing diversity and the resultant complex
classroom situations. Most of the in-service programmes focus on generic skills and do
not provide any value addition to the would - be teacher. Further if we have to match
the requirements of the schools and the teachers who work in them, the training
programmes should be designed in consultation and participation of the teachers and
not just by the teacher educators and administrators.

India has another peculiar situation which impact the performance of our teachers. This
is the school teacher has multiple roles to perform. The idiocentric orders of the
governments result in teachers to be a social worker, an advocacy agent for various
government policy initiatives, a field worker and implementer, a polling agent, a health
worker, a flood relief worker distributing aid, and so goes on the list. These enkindle
teachers for fighting their rights - the recent one being when some of them where asked
to handle the family planning issues and managing liquor shops. Though officially
governments claim that teachers are used for non teaching works for less than 5% of
the teaching days, there is much more than statistical data that needs to be looked at .
In addition to the above listed works not related to the school , the teachers also
perform the duty of the dispatch clerk, accountant, record keeper, the ration distributor
for the mid day meal scheme and teach the students - many a time in a multi grade
system. This is the environment in which 90% of rural teachers work .in such a situation
what is the quality of teaching - learning, that we expect from a teacher ? How do we
come out of the situation? A situation where there is no aspiration for professional
growth on the part of the teacher , inadequate infrastructure and human resources,
inadequate time and of all poor human resource management strategies. We require a
real “re-searching” of our selves, a retrospection of our actions and a revisioning of the
systems and the profession.

Teachers are the core of any school and thus their role in quality improvement becomes
paramount. If we agree that educational institutions are human systems then the quality
of education can only be as good as its people. If we have to make our schools learning
organizations and knowledge enterprises and make them perform the roles of knowledge
creators, knowledge warehouses and knowledge propagators then nothing can be more
important than the human resources and the teachers. While issues of teacher quality
has already been touched upon, let us see how teachers can contribute to improve
school quality. In my view there are three issues which are relevant in the context of
teachers contribution to quality schooling: 1. Self-evaluation 2. Ethics and values 3.
Continuous learning and professional development. The ability of the teachers to
critically examine their teaching - learning practices, a retrospection on their activities,
adaptation to new technologies and pedagogies looking for new methods and modes of
teaching will help teachers to improve their teaching methodology and skills crucial for
quality education. In this context the identification and nurturance of some of the crucial
competencies of teachers such as content/knowledge, pedagogy and managerial
competencies are of great significance. These competencies directly or indirectly cover
the three major issues identified. Coming to knowledge, knowledge and mastery in the
subject content is almost a precondition to teaching. In a world of constant change and
knowledge expanding at exponential rate continuous learning and upgradation of
content knowledge has become imperative. One of the major findings of the studies on
falling teacher quality indicates the gross inadequacy of the content knowledge of
teachers. In surveys conducted on the orientation and rfresher programmes in vougue
for inservice teachers professional development, teachers dealing with multigrade
systems expressed this as one of their major obstacles and opined that training
programmes should be organized for subject content improvement rather than on other
aspects . The other component is action research and creativity. We should come out of
the “fast food culture” and stand for our professional values. For this we need a real “re-
searching” of ourselves , retrospection of our actions and revisioning of our future.. As of
today we can say there is hardly any teacher who take up action research. It is the duty
of every teacher to reset their goals , their values and firmly anchor their
professionalism. We should prepare our younger generation of teachers who would
emerge with accountability, better access, better scholarship, with better human
relation, with clear vision, and strategic planning and show the world the strength of
their scientific and reflective thinking.

Reducing the gaps in education outcomes across the states and among various
groups and communities

First talking of improving our retention rates let us take note of the Planning commission
comments on school education: “Despite some attempts to make the school curriculum
joyful and child centered, what is taught in the school is still far from being relevant for
the majority of our students. As a result of an irrelevant and poorly designed curriculum
a large proportion of children drop out before they complete elementary school. Most
children who drop out are from disadvantaged families and failure in school draws them
deeper into the “nexus of disadvantage”. The last few decades have seen a rising tide of
educational aspirations, especially from the poor and disadvantaged. However, their
hopes of quality education are massively frustrated.” In view of the low student
achievement and examination results and increasing drop outs as the level progresses it
is essential that we make schools function efficiently which only can lead to
improvement of quality. As observed earlier most children do not move standard nine
and ten. Now what happens to these children? What are the major livelihoods for these
children? Does school quality affect their livelihood, the quality of life and the national
development?

The issue of quality is basic to national development. School quality is a function of

inputs and the efficient management of these inputs in relation to desired goals. The
main indicator of quality of secondary education can be visualized in terms of input,
process and output. For desired output in terms of student's achievement both in
curricular and co-curricular areas, necessary inputs and processes need to be provided.
It is generally believed that school quality is based on democratic atmosphere,
supportive leadership, team and collaborative efforts, clear and unified purpose, a
regular analysis and evaluation of student performance (Wilson and Schomoleer,
1993).If we look at the system we can classify our schools into two main categories-
effective schools and ineffective schools. Major chunk of our schools fall on the later
category and we can say the system survives on mediocrity. Each school has its own
characterstics determined by its location, student intake, size and socio economic
backgrounds, geographical location, available resources, quality of its staff, community
support, quality of leadership…….. Consequently there is no universal recipe for quality.
What combination of factors work in one school may not work in another or in the same
school at different times. Hence quality should be monitored in different dimensions
continuously with respect to different identified indicators and appropriate actions
initiated to achieve the goals. For this we should orient the head teacher and the
leadership for effective management. This means -

1. Capacity building of educational administrators for meeting the challenges of

qualitative improvement and quantitative expansion.
2. Involve staff and create conditions for more stimulating professional and
intellectual involvement in academic and administrative planning - collaborative
management.
3. Governments and managements should invite more *flagship programme similar
to those of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyana
4. Fix responsibility and accountability in terms of school effectiveness

How good are your schools - in terms of quality of academic provisions and
infrastructure. When we discuss this in terms of quality there are three main questions
that arise - Does a quality school means that which has good results at the term end
examinations. Is the quality of a school and its effectiveness refer only to the outcome
i.e. results in the examinations or does it also include the quality of the students
admitted, input and the processes? (quality of teaching and learning processes) What
are the various parameters to measure school quality? What is the role of governance
and stakeholder involvement in improving school quality?

If we say that our school is a `quality' school or `good school' or an `effective' school
we mean the same. Unless we are able to define a set of parameters that makes an
`idea school' we cannot use the term “quality” in absolute terms. Even if we are able to
do it no school can meet those criteria in absolute terms in all contexts at all times. The
`good' school today may not be `good' tomorrow as the nature of input and the types of
processes within a school vary from time to time. Hence, the terms `good quality' or
`effective' with respect to schools can be used only in relative terms.

The second issue is-does effectiveness refer to only output or does it include both input
and processes. The answer is the latter. That is, when we say schools are effective, it
does not refer just to the outcome in terms of the results at the examinations , pass
percentages and so on but also to the kinds of inputs and processes i.e. the student
quality at the entry level, the teacher quality and teaching - learning and other aspects
of functioning of the school. It is to what extent the school with its deliberately planned
inputs and processes has been able to bring out the desired changes in students
determines the effectiveness of the school. It also refers to the desired changes brought
about in the processes and inputs to bring out ultimate changes in students. The third
issue relates to the parameters/criteria that define school quality with reference to
secondary schools. An indicators of quality provide wide range of information that can
signal areas that need attention related to educational administration, management,
teachers, curriculum, community involvement, etc. any positive step taken by the school
with respect to improvements in the identifies areas lead to better quality of school in
terms of inputs and processes and ultimately in terms of desired student outcome.

Learning environment includes the conditions both physical and socio-emotional

available for children that enhances learning. It includes not only availability of facilities
but also the extent to which they are utilized. There is no denying of the fact that
physical facilities, namely, building, instructional rooms, teaching learning materials, etc
are essential to create a learning environment for effective schooling.

Basically, collegiality and collaboration are important conditions for unity of purpose.
Research has shown that schools are more effective when staff build consensus on the
aims and values of the school, and where they put into practice through consistent and
collaborative ways of working and of decision making. This is partly in the hands of head
teachers.

One of the factors that is related to the interrelationships between students and teachers
is positive expectations of pupil achievement among teachers and parents. In particular,
low expectations of certain kinds of student have been identified as an important factor
in the underachievement of students in disadvantaged urban schools.

Experience shows that most of the educational institutions have been overwhelmed by
the demand of better facilities and while coping with the demand, they missed out on
quality. Traditional approaches to teaching had been replaced by modern methods and
technology enabled teaching. But the mad rush and cutthroat competition for higher
grades had resulted in the loss of human qualities among educatiors.

Hence, it is imperative that the wisdom of sages of yore is brought back into educational
institutions. It is also necessary that quality process and practices are adopted to help
learners leave the institutions as good citizens. Values and qualities had to go hand in
hand and it is not possible to have one without the other. Hence, the induction of values
as part of the curriculum should be the prime concern of our nation.

The focus of today's educations is information assimilation and not developing skills and
values. Competition seem to be endangering the real goal of education. The challenges
of information technology, globalization, and consumerism and materialism had created
such an impact that it had brought about a tremendous lack of quality. It is essential
that the educational institutions and the head of the institutions redefine and re-
establish quality.

Conclusion

Quality of a school is a dynamic variable. It depends on innumerable tangible and non-

tangible variables, all of which can be considered as factors that influence the dynamic
variable, i.e. quality of a school. Though listing all of them is likely to be a Herculean
Task, they can broadly be classified into theree categories. They are: Input related,
Process related and Policy related. Of course, some even mention `Product' as a fourth
category, which according to them influences quality of education by providing feedback
needed to improve other factors.

Until now, communities have been forced to be the `reciepients' of what is doled out to
them as `quality education'. However, people are becoming more and more aware of
their rights, including the right to get quality education. They have started questioning
the efficacy of the existing educational system designed by the aforementioned
`intellectuals'. Consumer awareness with respect to education is on the rise. Apart from
this, consider the following (a) Governments are finding it more and more difficult to
sustain even the existing educational system, however inadequate it may be. (b) Move
towards globalisation and open market economy has eroded the Governmental controls
resulting in commercialisation almost all vital human endeavours, including education.
The impact of this phenomenon has been intensified by the fierce competition that is
being witnessed in all fields, a competition for attaining excellence in order to survive. In
such a scenario, all sections of the society will not be in a position to have equal
opportunity to access to education of reasonable quality (c) Ours is supposed to be a
`Democractic Society'. It implies that the administration has to be decentralised. People
are supposed to plan, implement all endeavours for their own welfare, education being
one such endeavour. Democracy also implies that the citizens behave in a responsible
manner while exercising their democratic rights. Unfortunately our communities have
been incapacitated by the ruling classes, be it our own or external, to such an extent
that thay have lost self-confidence as well as work-ethics essential for the success of a
democratic system. Now that, we are a free Nation should not our communities be
enabled to decide the type of education it wants.