The Union education ministry's decision to include Class V in primary schools and stretch elementary schooling till Std VIII instead of Std VII has been greeted with some misgivings by teachers and administrators. "School subjects have evolved through their own complicated histories. However, educationists the world over believe that learning in the first five years of schooling should be integrated, without subject-specific compartmentalization.
Teaching children to study concepts at younger ages, in an attempt to prepare them to compete in the world, is counterproductive," says the note from the HRD ministry.
Teacher unions say that the implementation of such a rule will have a direct effect on the manpower demand and supply ratio.
Ram Pal Singh, president of All India Primary Teachers Federation (AIPTF), said, "In India, we are already facing a shortage of 10 lakh primary teachers. Now, if we include Std V too in primary, you can see how the ratio will get skewed. It will take a very long time for us to train that kind of manpower."
However, Singh said he welcomed the decision, regardless of the short term drawbacks. "In states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar etc, primary school is from Std I till Std V, while in some states it is not. So the move by the HRD ministry is right since we will have uniformity across the country," said Singh.
Some others see this as the HRD ministry's move to step into the states' decision making territory. Nago Ganar, Nagpur MLC (from teachers' constituency), said, "The constitutional responsibility of providing free and compulsory education to students aged 6-14 years lies with the state. By sending this kind of directive the HRD ministry is stepping into our shoes, which is not right. If the HRD ministry wants to change the policy then they should inform about the desired changes to the states, who can then decide how to implement it."
Indra Shekhar Mishra, general secretary of All India Secondary Teachers Federation (AISTF), too feels that manpower will be a major issue along with the financial burden on the states. "When we implement such policies, which affect a large section of the society, we have to take into consideration many important aspects. The financial burden for the state governments will be enormous for creating the infrastructure, also for the implementation of extra midday meals," said Mishra.
The state government too feels that the policy will put additional strain on resources. "Close to 90% of the madhyamik schools are in the private sector. Bringing standard VIII to the elementary system will mean not just adding classroom, but recruiting teachers and providing midday meals too," said V Radha, Maharashtra's acting school education secretary.
Teaching children to study concepts at younger ages, in an attempt to prepare them to compete in the world, is counterproductive," says the note from the HRD ministry.
Teacher unions say that the implementation of such a rule will have a direct effect on the manpower demand and supply ratio.
Ram Pal Singh, president of All India Primary Teachers Federation (AIPTF), said, "In India, we are already facing a shortage of 10 lakh primary teachers. Now, if we include Std V too in primary, you can see how the ratio will get skewed. It will take a very long time for us to train that kind of manpower."
However, Singh said he welcomed the decision, regardless of the short term drawbacks. "In states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar etc, primary school is from Std I till Std V, while in some states it is not. So the move by the HRD ministry is right since we will have uniformity across the country," said Singh.
Some others see this as the HRD ministry's move to step into the states' decision making territory. Nago Ganar, Nagpur MLC (from teachers' constituency), said, "The constitutional responsibility of providing free and compulsory education to students aged 6-14 years lies with the state. By sending this kind of directive the HRD ministry is stepping into our shoes, which is not right. If the HRD ministry wants to change the policy then they should inform about the desired changes to the states, who can then decide how to implement it."
Indra Shekhar Mishra, general secretary of All India Secondary Teachers Federation (AISTF), too feels that manpower will be a major issue along with the financial burden on the states. "When we implement such policies, which affect a large section of the society, we have to take into consideration many important aspects. The financial burden for the state governments will be enormous for creating the infrastructure, also for the implementation of extra midday meals," said Mishra.
The state government too feels that the policy will put additional strain on resources. "Close to 90% of the madhyamik schools are in the private sector. Bringing standard VIII to the elementary system will mean not just adding classroom, but recruiting teachers and providing midday meals too," said V Radha, Maharashtra's acting school education secretary.
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