Good practice example of overall assessment
ANNEX 14 of India, Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Project SAR # 11746-IN
GIRLS' AND WOMEN’S EDUCATION
Basic Female Education Statistics for U.P.
1. By most educational indicators, girls and women in Uttar Pradesh lag considerably behind their counterparts
2. Low Enrollment in Primary SchoolIn 1990 the Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate for girls was 81 per cent; for boys it was 98 percent . Discounted for a 20 per cent repetition rate, the GERs were 65 per cent for girls and 80 per cent for boys.
3. Among Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) children, enrollment rates at the primary level, discounted for repeaters, are estimated to be about 30 per cent for girls and 73 per cent for boys, a yawning gap.
4. High drop-out In 1986-87, enrollment in Class V was about 52 per cent of enrollment in Class I for girls in rural U.P. and 64 per cent for boys. These figures indicate that almost half of all rural girls and over one-third of rural boys do not complete five years of education.
5. Low enrollment In Upper Primary Upper Primary GERs were 28 per cent for girls and 64 per cent for boys. For SC/ST children the rates were nine per cent for girls and 32 per cent for boys.
6. Low completion of Upper Primary Only 23 per cent of rural girls in U.P. who enroll in Class I are enrolled in Class VIII. For boys, the comparable figure is 45 per cent. Thus, about 77 per cent of girls in rural U.P. drop out within the eight-year cycle and 55 per cent of boys.
7. Low Literacy In 1991, women's literacy was 26 per cent while overall literacy was 55 per cent.
8. High proportion of low-literacy districts Of U.P's 63 districts, 30 had female literacy rates of less than 20 per cent. Eight of the ten project districts fail below the average female literacy rate of the state as a whole (26 per cent), and two have a rate of 27 per cent. All the ten additional project districts have female literacy rates below the state average.
Determinants of Female Education
9. Both demand and supply factors are implicated as determinants of low female education in U.P. 'Demand-side' factors that affect girls schooling more significantly than boys include child labor, the direct costs of education, and socio-cultural norms. Supply side factors are perhaps less important than demand side for girls, in contrast with boys, because natal families do not 'see' the benefits of their daughters' education. On the whole, the low value attached to female education is a reflection of the low status of women in rural U.P. society (as in other parts of India, particularly in the north). Scheduled caste girls are certainly the most educationally disadvantaged in the state..
Socio-Demographic Correlates of Female Education
10. Female literacy and educational status correlate inversely with several social and demographic indicators, including nuptiality, fertility and infant mortality, and positively with the sex ratio. U.P's birth rate of 37 per 1000 population is the highest in India. Its 1991 infant mortality rate of 118 per 1000 live births, was 30 per cent higher than the national average and the second highest among the states. Its sex ratio, 880 females for every 1000 males, is the second lowest in the country.
Implications for Overall Education Levels In the State
11. Approximately 10 per cent of the school-age cohort in U.P. does not have physical access to a school. Of those who enroll, more than half (45 per cent of the age cohort) drop out within five years, before acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills. 'Drop-out' is even more important than 'lack of access' among girls compared with boys; and, on the whole, failure to complete the cycle has a much greater impact on overall levels of education within the state than does lack of access to a school.
Provisions for Girls' Education in the Project
12. Several project components are directed at increasing girls' completion of at least five years of education and some at encouraging completion of the eight-year cycle. The various activities aim specifically at: (a) increasing enrollment in primary and upper primary schools; (b) ensuring continuation in school; (c) enhancing learning achievements; (d) providing alternative structures for basic education; (e) providing functional literacy to adult women; (f) addressing constraints to demand for female education; and (g) addressing gender bias in education. The specific activities directed at each of these objectives are:
13. Increasing enrollment in primary and upper primary schools Enrollment rates for girls as a whole and for SC/ST girls are proposed to be increased by 50 per cent over baseline estimates. The main strategies to do so are:
(a) Provision of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Centers near schools. These are to be run by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program or by the Department of Education, in concert with school timings. These centers will have the dual effect of encouraging school enrollment as a result of 'headstart' pre-school education as well as by providing the alternative day care arrangement for children (usually girls) who do not attend school on account of sibling care responsibilities.
ICDS already operates in 74 of the 174 Project blocks. In these blocks, the Department of Education will provide a room in the primary school for the center, wherever possible.
The Departments of Education and ICDS will evolve strategies to make ICDS and Primary School timings parallel. These will include coverage by a suitable person (e.g. an ICDS Helper, school functionary or person designated by the Village Education Committee) of the additional time that anganwadis must remain open in order to match school timings. The Project provides for a small honorarium to be paid to such a person for this purpose.
Where ICDS does not currently , the Department of Education will establish ECCE centers in primary schools on a pilot basis. The Project proposes to establish about 1000 ECCE centers in non-ICDS blocks (e.g. about 40 centers in each of 25 selected blocks in different regions of the state). These centers will be run by a local adult woman, trained for the purpose and supervised by the school headteacher. The Departments of Education and ICDS will co collaborate in the training of these workers and in the development of ECCE
(b) Provision of stipends to SC/ST girls. The Project proposes to give Rs.144 per year to SC/ST girls in primary schools and Rs.240 per year to SC/ST girls in Upper Primary School to offset the costs of school uniforms, books and materials. These stipends are the same as those being given to SC/ST girls by the Department of Welfare under a limited scholarship scheme (20 children Per Primary School and 24 per Upper Primary School). The Department Of Education win initially pilot test the scheme in 100 schools; a decision on expansion would be based on evaluation of the impact on enrollment and attendance.
(c) Increasing the proportion of female teachers. Currently, 13 percent of teachers in rural areas and 18 per cent overall are female. The Government of U.P. is committed to ensuring that 50 per cent of new teachers appointed in Project areas are women in order to increase the number of female teachers. This is to be done by raising the proportion of females admitted to teacher training (BTC) courses to 70 per cent, and by purposive selection of women at the time of recruitment to teacher posts. They will attempt to ensure that female teachers are equitably distributed across regions and in rural/urban areas. The number of female teachers and women in management positions will be closely monitored through the Project's Management Information System.
14. Ensuring continuation in school Drop-out rates at the primary and upper primary level are proposed to be reduced by 50 percent in comparison with baseline estimates. Strategies a) to c) above would also serve to retain girls in school. Increased proportions of female teachers are especially relevant at the Upper Primary level.
(a) Enhancing learning achievements. Grade V learning achievements (for both girls and boys) would be improved by 50 percent over baseline levels.
(b) Providing alternative structures for basic education. It is proposed than non- formal education centers will be established for drop-outs and working children at the primary level. Fifty per cent of these centers are intended to be exclusively for girls.
15. Empowering women The Project proposes to expand the ‘Mahila Samakhya’ program (MS), a women’s empowerment program which forms village women’s groups that are a forum for discussion and action on problems confronting village women. Women are provided education on their legal rights, on public services available to them.
16. Some of the key principles of the MS program are that:
(a) project functionaries and officials are facilitative and not directive;
(b) planning, decision-making and evaluative processes are accountable to the collective of village women;
(c) women participants determine the form, nature, content and timing of all activities in their village, and that staff selection processes are participatory; and
(d) the program is not hurried and does not have ‘targets’, but is a self-paced process, built on existing knowledge and women's own priorities for learning.
17. MS has been run by an autonomous society, and will continue to be so in the project. Appropriate clauses will be included in the Project's legal documents and a Memorandum of Understanding will be framed between the Project's EFA Society and the MS Society. At the district level, the MS structure will interact in a structured way with the district education machinery to coordinate program implementation. At the state level, the MS State Project Director will be a member of the General Council and the Executive Committee of the EFA Society. Funds for the Mahila Samakhya program in the seven Project districts not currently covered by MS will be routed through the EPA Society and advanced to the state MS Society Office on an annual basis against a budget estimate and activity plan.
18. The expansion of MS in the Project will be phased in a manner appropriate to its principles and methods of operation. In the first year of the project, MS will concentrate on filling staff positions at the state and district levels and vitalizing the program in the four existing districts (three of which are Project districts). It will also plan for expansion to the 'second year's' districts, identifying suitable staff for the District Implementation Units. In the second year, MS will begin operation in two additional districts; in the third year, in two more and in the fourth year, in the remaining three Projects districts. At the field level it is proposed that one block (about 100 villages on average) be taken up in each district during the first three years of operation, and an additional block in the second three-year phase of the project (as appropriate and feasible). The total number of villages covered is not expected to exceed 1400 during the life of the Project, and no targets are to be set for numbers of villages or blocks to be covered. MS will orient and sensitize relevant block and district-level development and education personnel whenever it begins work in a new block/district.
19. An independent annual evaluation system is being worked out by the Central MS Project Office which will include the MS program m the Project districts. The evaluation reports will be made available to the Bank's Supervision Missions. A mid-term appraisal of MS is envisaged in the fourth year of the Projects.
Addressing constraints to demand for female education
20. In the Mahila Samakhya program, many groups choose to address girls' education as a priority area for action, motivating families to send daughters to school as well as putting pressure on school authorities to cater to the needs of girls.
21. In addition, the Village Education Committees are expected to be key instruments in increasing demand for girls' education as well as in achieving objectives (a) and (b), and contributing to non-formal education in (d) above. The VECs are to include female members and SC/ST representatives. VECs which are successful in improving enrollment and retention of girls and SC/ST students are to receive awards.
22. An experimental program to provide part-time opportunities, ‘Work experience’ for girls in upper primary schools could partially offset the costs of their education, thereby reducing parental resistance to girls' education and increasing girls' retention in school. The experiment will be conducted in approximately 5 schools in one block per district during the middle phases of the project and will be carefully evaluated for its effects on girls' education and skills enhancement.
Addressing gender bias in education
23. Review and revision of textbooks to eliminate bias Primary school text books used in the state have been reviewed by NCERT for gender bias and the state government proposes to act on the comments received, making the necessary changes in the text-books. Non-formal education materials will be similarly reviewed and revised. Gender bias is also to be through curriculum reform.
24. Gender sensitization of school managers and teachers Gender sensitization training will be incorporated into the overall training plan for all levels of school management personnel and in the pre/in-service training g of teachers.
Management of women’s education
25. The GOUP proposes to recruit and place female officers in positions of responsibility at all levels of the system rather than establish separate 'women's cells’ for the project. This approach would avoid the problems of isolation that have plagued previous women's cells in the State.