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4. Expansion of functional literacy: NKC would like to stress the continuing importance of a
focus on expanding functional literacy among the population. Illiteracy remains a major problem,
even among the age-group 15-35 years, and therefore literacy programmes must be expanded
rather than reduced, and given a different focus that is directed towards improving life skills and
meeting felt needs, especially (but not only) among the youth.
5. Planning for school infrastructure: It is important to remember that land is an essential
requirement of schools, and this requirement is likely to increase in the near future given the
expansion implied by demographic changes and need to ensure universal schooling. Therefore
urban master plans and local development plans must explicitly incorporate the physical
requirements for schooling, including provisions for play grounds and other school facilities.
6. Enabling and regulating mechanisms for private schools: Since private schools play an
important role in the provision of education, there is need for both enabling and regulating
mechanisms to be developed and strengthened for them. There should be transparent, normbased
and straightforward procedures for the recognition of private schools, to reduce
harassment and bureaucratic delay. There should also be transparent criteria as for the
disbursement of aid from the government to some self-financing schools, especially those which
cater to underprivileged children, and clear norms with respect to the ability of school
managements to raise resources from other sources. The monitoring of private schools, in terms
of ensuring a transparent admissions process, regulation of fee structures, as well as meeting
minimum set standards for quality of teaching and infrastructure, also requires attention. The
possibility of greater exchange between schools, including mentoring of one school by another,
should be allowed and encouraged.
7. Database on school education: Educational planning and monitoring are made much more
difficult because of the lack of comprehensive and accurate data on schools, school-age children
and actual attendance of both students and teachers. The collection and speedy dissemination of
accurate and current data on schooling must be made a priority. It is necessary to create a
complete database on schools and school-age children so as to track the actual coverage and
quality of schooling at different levels, and to make it widely available in a timely manner. Such
data collection may be made an essential part of the fund allocation for school education, with
appropriate institutional mechanisms.
8. More co-ordination between departments: The multiplicity of management structures and
government departments that currently governs schooling creates confusion, unnecessary
replication and possibly inconsistent strategies across different schools. There must be greater
co-ordination between different departments of government on school education policy, even
while ensuring more autonomy to the local management of schools.
9. National evaluation body for monitoring quality: Educational administration also needs to
be more conscious of actual learning outcomes at different levels, which will determine both
policy and functioning. NKC therefore proposes a national evaluation body to monitor the
quality of both government and private schools, using a results-based monitoring framework
based on a short list of monitorable criteria that include both process and outcome indicators.
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