| Rajib Sharma |
Posted
on 10-Jul-02 08:09 PM
See, what people does.
Schooltime for Amartya again
SANTINIKETAN: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is back in school again, learning economics! Only this time, his subject happens to be the economy of the education infrastructure across rural Bengal.
At an interactive session on the ‘‘Role of parents and teachers in primary education’’ recently, Sen, a strong advocate of education, got an opportunity to study the lacunae in the institutions in the rural belt. Along with the researchers of Pratichi Trust, set up with his Nobel prize money, Sen deliberated with over 100 school teachers and parents from rural Bengal on the issue.
Though parents and teachers are the main stakeholders in the education sector, they often remain segregated from the power corridors or decision-making matters. But talks with the Nobel laureate offered the hitherto silent stakeholders a platform to air their grievances.
And quite obviously, most parents and teachers from primary schools and Sishu Siksha Kendras (SSKs) of six districts were overwhelmed with joy, when they chanced upon an opportunity to share their views on the problems afflicting the education sector.
Speakers drew Amartya Sen’s attention to issues ranging from the scarce infrastructure to poor implementation of mid-day meal scheme at schools; from delay in distribution of text books to irregular salaries of the SSK teachers; from the demise of the school inspection system to the undue use of teachers in activities such as census operations and elections. But one issue that consumed a better part of the discussions was the mid-day meal scheme.
Towards the end of the day-long workshop, Sen stressed the need for a parent-teacher committee in every primary school and SSK.
‘‘Equally important was the need to give such committees a legal standing. One way could be making the renewal of grants to schools conditional on the approval of the parent-teacher committees. According to our (Pratichi Trust) survey, 79 per cent of parents believe they should have a say in the renewal of grants,’’ Sen added.
http://www1.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?artid=15597846
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