On the education front

WHILE the work done by the Left Front government in the areas of land reforms and panchayati raj in West Bengal has received a fair degree of national and international attention as well as recognition and commendation, its performance in the area of education has generally received less attention and little commendation. However, while it is true that there are major lacunae in the Left Front's performance in the field of education, it is also true that the State has achieved significant progress in the sector. In order to appreciate this, one needs to recall the state of the educational system in West Bengal after 30 years of Congress rule, especially the disastrous developments in the period between 1971 and 1977, described by many in the State as a period of semi-fascist terror.

In the years immediately preceding the Left Front's assumption of office in 1977, anti-social elements had held the educational institutions in the State to ransom. Examinations could not be held on time, nor could malpractices with the help of goondas be prevented. Results were delayed in some cases by two years and the educational system at all levels was in shambles. In the last 24 years of its rule in the State, the Left Front has managed not only to restore order, but also to make some advance in the field of education.

First, there has been considerable democratisation as well as decentralisation. In school and higher education, most of the day-to-day administration of educational institutions is done by elected bodies in which both teachers and parents are represented. Appointments of teachers in high schools and higher secondary schools are made through a transparent process by the School Service Commission. Similarly, a College Service Commission handles the process of selection of teachers to colleges. While village education committees play an important role in overseeing the functioning of primary schools, the District Primary Schools Council and the State Board of Primary Education - both elected bodies with nominees of teachers, parents and people's representatives as well as the government - provide the necessary support. The State board handles curriculum and syllabi, while the district councils handle teacher appointments and discipline in accordance with prescribed norms. While each high school and higher secondary school is managed by an elected managing committee, the State Board of Secondary Education - also an elected body with teachers' and people's representatives and a few government nominees - handles syllabi, curricula, regulations and public examinations for Class X. A similar democratic structure is in place for higher secondary education and for collegiate education.

Second, teachers' salaries have been enhanced from time to time, and prompt payment ensured, which was not the case in the period prior to 1978. The working conditions of teachers have also improved significantly.

Third, there has been significant expansion at all levels of education. The government of West Bengal's budgetary provision for education has grown from Rs.114 crores in 1976-77 to over Rs.4,000 crores in 1999-2000. The corresponding figures for the same period in higher education are Rs.25 crores and Rs.491 crores respectively. No fee is charged up to Class XII in all government and aided schools. For all children, textbooks in five different languages - Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Oriya and Nepali - are provided free of cost up to Class V. Uniforms are provided free of cost for all Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe girls and 25 per cent of girls from other communities up to Class V. Now there is a primary school within one km of most habitations and a middle school (having classes up to Class XIII) within three km. However, West Bengal has not achieved universal enrolment and dropout rates also need to be lowered considerably and eventually eliminated.

The number of general (non-professional) degree colleges rose from 238 in 1976-77 to 340 in 1999-2000. In the last five years, emphasis was laid on expansion of engineering and technological education in which the State lagged behind Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. A number of new engineering colleges - in the private and joint sectors - have come up. As a result, the number of students admitted to degree courses in engineering and technology in institutions approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) rose from 1,452 in 1994-95 to 6,065 in 2000-2001.

THERE has been an emphasis on redressing regional inequalities in the process of educational expansion. For instance, most of the new general colleges have come up in hitherto deprived regions such as north Bengal and south-west Bengal. However, the distribution is still uneven with Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas districts accounting for a significant proportion of colleges in the State.

Among the glaring weaknesses in the field of education in West Bengal is gender disparity. While the State has improved its literacy rates, both male and female, significantly as per the 2001 Census, female literacy rate is below 50 per cent in five of the 18 districts. The gap between male and female literacy rates remains high at 17.36 percentage points. Women lag behind at higher levels of education as well. Of a total of 13,016 students enrolled for engineering courses, there were only 1,202 girls in 1999-2000. In post-graduate diploma and degree courses in management, there were only 88 girls as against 1,094 boys. Although the situation has improved in relation to the period before the Left Front assumed office, the representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is quite poor in higher education.

Talking to Frontline, both Kanti Biswas and Satyasadan Chakraborthy, Ministers in Charge of School and Higher Education respectively, noted that a great deal more needed to be done and added that quality of education would be a major concern. Accountability of all the stakeholders in education would be ensured and the thrust would be on modernising the curriculum and making it skill- and job-oriented. Computer literacy would be ensured in higher secondary and high school levels, while engineering and medical education would receive priority at the collegiate level. In this regard, partnerships with professional organisations and commercial establishments were being explored. Both Biswas and Chakraborthy made it clear that the goals of both quality and equity were to be served by the new initiatives in education.