Cell to monitor quality of education in schools

The Department of Primary and Secondary Education has constituetd Education Quality Monitoring Cell (EQMC) to monitor quality of education at government schools. Recent surveys on the system of school education in the State have shown alarmingly low levels of learning achievement among children studying in different standards. The decision to constitute the EQMC stemmed from the concerns raised by the Lokayukta last year, on the dismal conditions at the government schools and the need to improve quality of learning at state-run institutions. An allocation of Rs two crore was announced in the last year’s budget for the cell. The principal secretary to the Department of Primary and Secondary Education will be the chairperson of the EQMC and other members who comprise the cell are: Commissioner of Public Instruction, state project director, educationists, teachers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). "We are in the process of preparing a vision document where in a comprehensive plan and activities for a period of five years will be charted out. The EQMC will be a platform of convergence for activities related directly to improving quality,” said an official, privy to the plan. Speaking to Deccan Herald on the initiative, Rajkumar Khatri, principal secretary, Department of Primary and Secondary Education, said: "A number of monitoring systems did exist earlier, but were not very strong. We have, therefore, constituted the cell to restrengthen such systems.” The mandate Its functions include reviewing initiatives presently being implemented by the various departments, such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Department of State Educational Research and Training, Karnataka State Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council and Department of Public Instructions; conducting monthly or quarterly meetings; identification of priority areas and resource development and capacity building of supervisory and monitory techniques to improve quality of institutions, to name a few. Surveys by the Karnataka School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council (KSQAAC) and Annual Status Education Report (ASER), 2013, conducted by the NGO Pratham, showed low levels of learning in subjects like Mathematics, Science and even languages. Accordingly, EQMC will focus on improving quality of learning in English, Mathematics, Science and basic literacy. This will happen side by side with the monitoring of classroom processes and teaching-learning practices. Also, the recommendations made by such surveys will be used during the EQMC’s deliberations. Various initiatives such as school-exchange programmes, school adoption and public participation in school development, are being thought of. V P Niranjan Aradhaya, Fellow at the Centre for Child and Law, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), was of the opinion that there was no need for new monitoring initiatives when there were bodies such as Karnataka School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council (KSQAAC), that were already involved with the task. "Efforts need to be concentrated more on preparing a road map on the basis of studies and surveys that have already been conducted. Testing and monitoring alone will not improve quality," he added. Deccan Herald