Primary education in India

I belong to a middle class, upper caste family in an unknown village in Bihar where parents emphasizes more on getting educated. But whenever I came across the kids of lower caste or lower class families I wondered why they are in such a pathetic condition and deprived of all the basic amenities like food, health and most importantly education; I only realized about all these things during my growing years.
The main reasons behind their poor condition are as follows:
(a). Extreme poverty.
(b). Caste discrimination (Now a days it is not relevant in my village).
(c). Inaccessibility of government schemes.
(d). Corruption.
(e). Most importantly lack of interest in getting educated.
Poverty and discrimination force poor parents to send their kids to earn bread & butter rather than to school. Hence these kids loose interest in studies. Corruption and Inaccessibility to government scheme also lead them far from being literate.
These statements are true not just about my village only but it is common to allover India. India during the days of Takshshila, Rajgriha, Bikramshila and Nalanda used to be the center of education around the world. But now a days when its GDP is expected to cross the mark of 7% and stock market soaring high despite global meltdown the statistics are not that much impressive on education front.
India's education %ge still hovers around 60% and more than 40% of its population is still uneducated or illiterate.
A recent survey shows that despite of having 40% of population under the age of 15 years of age. 15 out of 100 kids doesn’t go to school and among 85 who so 50% could not proceed further than Vth grade.
The main reason for such a drop-out rate is the extreme poverty among the people. Though the private education market in India is estimated to be worth of 40 billion 8 in 2008 and will increase to $68 billion in 2012. yet most of the Indian family could not afford to send their kids to these schools.
Another reason for low literacy is lack of educational institution in India. As of 2008, India’s post-secondary high school offers only enough seats for India’s 7% of college age population. 25%of teaching position nation wide are vacant and 57%of college professors lacks either a master’s or PHD degree.
Meager fund spend by government is also no sufficient to improve its education level. India spends only 3.3% of its GDP while develop countries spends almost 5.8% for same. But on defense sector India spends India spends almost 12.5% of its GDP which higher than its education expense.
The absenteeism among teacher and teaching staffs also led to lowering of interest for education among students. ’A survey shows that 1 out of every 4 teachers could be found absent on any given time and 50% among these esteemed professionals does not willing to take class at any moment (I had seen this in my village school as well and it left a huge imprint in my mind hence prompted me to put my efforts in bringing changes ).
• Subsequent government after independence tried to raise education level in India and put their best efforts in doing so. The District Primary Education Program (DPEP) was launched in 1994 with an aim to universalize primary system in India by reforming and revitalizing education system. 85% of DPEP was funded by Central Government while 15% was funded by the states. DPEP which had opened 160000 new schools including 84000 alternative education institutions delivering alternative education among 3.5 million children was also supported by UNICEF and other international programs.
• This primary education scheme has also shown a high Gross Enrollment Ratio 93%-95% for the last three years in some states.
• Significant improvement in staffing and enrollment of girls has also been made as a part of this scheme.
The current scheme for universalization of education for all is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Which Is One Of The Largest Education Initiative In the world. Enrollment has been enhanced but the level of quality remains low.
But hopefully the scenario is going to be change as today’s youth is much more eager and enthusiastic to bring changes for the betterment of nation. Lots of NGO’s and initiatives by differerent individuals putting their best effort to change the course of time.


Let us put our hands together to make India The best nation in the world and help in improving the education status in nation.


Amitesh

my dear endangered nationl animal

From last few days I,ve been hearing a lot about The status of tiger in India or perhaps in entire world. Every FM channel every news channel and all the medias pleading to peoples to save the most precise and valuable animal on earth The Tiger.
The tiger word in itself is the symbol of masculinity, machoism and power. But the symbol of power is fading day by day and if we do not take any appropriate and preventive measures I dont know how long we could sustain the ecological balance on this earth. When i used to teach geography almost 5 years back I taught a lot about ecology and ecological balance on this earth and in my all such classes I told them Tiger is one of the most important part of our ecology and environment as it helps in maintaining proper food chain on earth. And the same is true for some other birds like Hawk and Eagles which are also in the same league of endangered animals and which are crucial for mainttaining food chain.


Here are some facts related to tigers in India which I have collected from different blogs and sites from google search.
Current Status of Tiger in India
India holds over half the world's tiger population. According to the latest tiger census report released on February 12, 2008 by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the current tiger population stands at 1,411 (i.e. ranging between a minimum of 1,165 to a maximum of 1,657). The results include figures from 16 tiger states and are exclusive of Jharkhand and Sunderbans. The state of West Bengal was covered only partially (i.e. North Bengal) during the census. The Tiger Census 2008 report has classified the tiger occupied forests in India into 6 landscape complexes; namely (a) Shivalik-Gangetic Plains, (b) Central Indian Landscape Complex (c) Eastern Ghats, (d) Western Ghats, (e) North-Eastern Hills and Bhramaputra Plains, and (f) Sunderbans. Within the Shivalik-Gangetic plain landscape, it is reported that the tiger occupies 5080 km2 of forested habitats with an estimated population size of 297 (259 to 335) in six separate populations. In the Central Indian Landscape, tiger presence is currently reported from 47,122 km2 (11.6 % of forests) with an estimated tiger population of 451 (347 to 564) distributed in 17 populations.The Eastern Ghat landscape complex currently has about 15,000 km2 of potential tiger habitat. Tigers occupy 7,772 km2 of forested habitats with an estimated population size of 53 (49 to 57). Currently tigers occupy 21,435 km2 of forests within the Western Ghat Landscape comprising 21% of the forested area. The current potential tiger habitat in the landscape complex is about 51,000 km2. The population estimate for this landscape was 366 (297-434) tigers. North-Eastern hills and Bhramaputra plains currently reported tiger occupancy in 4230 km2 of forests. Many of the tiger populations, particularly those outside protected reserves, are fragmented, suffer from intense poaching pressure, a dwindling prey base and over-used habitat. The strategy for tiger conservation in India revolves around the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Between the mid 1970's and mid-1980's, many protected areas (66 national parks and 421 wildlife sanctuaries) were set aside, including large tracts of tiger habitat. They were later increased to 96 national parks, 510 wildlife sanctuaries and 3 conservation reserves and 2 community reserves. This resulted in an increase in tiger densities at many locations. Tragically, these conservation successes were short lived. Rampant poaching for the trade in tiger parts - all destined for markets outside India's borders - now threatens the tiger's very existence.Prevailing conservation efforts are not geared towards, nor have they adequately addressed, the new threats with new protection strategies ie. better law enforcement, training and support. Excellent new tiger protection measures (such as the recommendations of the (Subramanian Committee for the Prevention of Illegal Trade in Wildlife, 1994 and Tiger Task Force, 2005) have been proposed but not implemented and little effective action has been taken in the field. Few of the tiger reserves have an established intelligence network and nearly 80% of our tiger reserves do not have an armed strike force or basic infrastructure and equipment to combat poaching. The forest guards are often out-gunned and out-manned by poachers. In December 1998, three forest staff were murdered in Manas Tiger Reserve and several cases of murder and serious assault on forest guards have been reported since. The last meeting of the National Board of Wildlife was held on 01 November 2007. Large development projects, such as mining and hydroelectric dams, are also taking their toll on the tiger's habitat. In the past ten years, thousands of square kilometers of forest land have been diverted and destroyed to facilitate such projects. Though mostly outside the protected network, the loss of this vital habitat will have serious repercussions on tiger conservation in India.Since 1994, WPSI has made a concerted effort to gather accurate information on tiger poaching occurring throughout India. A total of 832 tigers are known to have been killed from 1994 to 2007. WPSIs extensive database of tigers poached has detailed information on poaching figures collected by us. These figures, however, are reported cases and represent only a fraction of the actual poaching activity in India.Recent undercover investigations by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) revealed that the trade in tiger and leopard body parts in China continues to thrive, operating without any hindrance from the Chinese government whilst driving India’s wild tigers closer towards extinction. Despite all these problems, India still holds the best chance for saving the tiger in the wild. Tigers occur in 17 States within the Republic of India, with 5 States reportedly having populations in excess of 100 tigers. There are still areas with relatively large tiger populations and extensive tracts of protected habitat. Adequate funding and international pressure will help. But probably the most effective way to implement tiger conservation action in India today is to enhance NGO participation. There are a number of dedicated organisations that are effectively involved in hands-on tiger conservation. They keep the issue energized on a national level and tenaciously try to increase political will to secure the tiger's future. The Indian conservation and scientific community is now a proven force. It needs to be strengthened.

So please do something the best u can , to pass on something important to cherish for our next generation.
Keep reading

AMITESH