Alternative schools in remote areas lack facilities

April 19, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 08:03 am IST - KANNUR:

Alternative schools, or Ekadhyapaka Vidyalayas, functioning in remote areas lack in basic infrastructural and instructional facilities prescribed under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

A study conducted by the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) here has found that the majority of the alternative schools, also called Multi-Grade Learning Centres (MGLC) because of the instructional task for different grade-level students, are deprived of basic facilities.

Though the MGLCs were started under the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in 1992 to bring all children in remote areas to school, and later undertaken by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, they are now under the Education Department. 

The majority of the students come from socially, economically, and educationally backward families and each MGLC is run by a volunteer-teacher.

The study, Functioning of Alternative Schools in the Context of RTE Act, finds that children studying in MGLCs are unable to avail themselves of various facilities under the Act. DIET lecturers M.O. Sunil Kumar, K. Rameshan, and K. Krishna Das randomly selected 12 MGLCs in Malappuram, Kannur, and Kasaragod for the study of over 300 MGLCs across the State with a total student strength of over 5,600.

“The study sheds light on serious issues that exist in the MGLCs in the context of the RTE Act which protects child education and breaks all barriers that deny quality education to children,” says DIET Principal C.M. Balakrishnan. It highlights the importance of turning the MGLCs into full-fledged regular schools, he adds.

In sheds

According to the study, the majority of the MGLCs functions in sheds. While the Act prescribes 200 instructional days, half of the MGLCs cannot meet the target. The Act-prescribed facilities deprived to the children in many of the MGLCs include spacious classrooms, ventilation, fresh air, lights, drinking water, and adequate toilet facilities.

Inadequate training

It finds that the majority of volunteer-teachers are offered training that does not cater to the needs of multi-grade teaching methodology. Lack of community involvement in their functioning is also highlighted.

Provision of arrangements for transporting to and from regular schools, initiatives to create awareness among parents of children on the need to ensure educational facilities at home, community involvement by local bodies and voluntary groups to ensure provision of nutritious food and facilities, monitoring of the academic activities of the MGLCs, and training programme for volunteer- teachers are some of the study recommendations.

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