Sector Expert Consultation on Education

Rajasthan Priorities hosted a sector expert consultation on education on September 20th, 2017 at Hotel Clarks in Jaipur. Education experts from the government, academia, civil society, and various development partners joined the consultation. The experts were briefed on the project and methodology along with a brief update on the work of Tata Trusts in Rajasthan's education sector and the work of the Copenhagen Consensus Center.  

After the initial discussion of the issues and challenges in the sector, the moderators of the workshop Dr. Sharada Jain, Shri Rajendra Bhanawat and Prof. Shobhita Rajagopal invited the participants to share their views on the smartest education interventions based on their expertise and experiences.

Interventions

• Integrate pre-primary education into all primary schools
• Mainstreaming (having full time) teacher educator in all school
• Evaluation system and processes for learning in school
• Strengthening the Pre-school education component in Aganwadi center
• Pre-school to focus on pre-school component
• Recruitment of teachers through a transparent and merit-based system
• Mainstreaming of gender (perspective) at secondary education level
• Dedicated and professional - Academic support system per every 15 primary schools
• Safety and security of girls in school 
• Ensure the best quality human resources in schools -  Teacher and middle management professionals
• Mandatory professional development and capacity building of all in-service teachers at regular interval
• Local Teachers at primary school (stop regular transfer of teachers in government  school )
• Revamping B. Ed (bachelor of education) training, which is existing qualification for school teacher – and ensuring better quality in Pre-service training of teachers
• External assessment for informing school to improve education within school
• Role and impact of Panchayat elementary education officer (PEO)
• Compulsory enrolment of all children of government officials in government schools
• Ensuring option of opting for science subjects at Girls only schools
• Prevent teacher absenteeism – by using technology and biometric devices
• Covering all out of school children - Enforce RTE Act provision for providing access to the marginalized group of children including girl child
• Full coverage of differently-abled children in education system
• Training and capacity building of middle-level management system in school
• Ensure proper selection of best schools/institution head
• Accepting factual figures of out of school children
• Contextual and personalized school education considering cultural, demographical and social background 
• Self-correcting, collaborative and innovative management systems for education – (including Government, academia and civil society organizations) - Alternative model of partnership for education sector  
• Initiative oriented funding for education (not funding controlled education Initiative)
• Holistic approach to address the violence in school
• Bridge courses for out of school children
• Simple, easy and good quality text-book and self-learning material for primary school
• Interactive and interesting study material – inclusion of IT-enabled learning system
• Expanding the coverage of mid-day meal to Secondary school, especially in tribal dominated area or district with low socio-economic indicators   
• Multilingual study material (including local languages) and resources in school
• Mandatory online maintenance of all records of a child from the time of admission till the time of leaving/graduating school
• Make ICT an integral part of education across all levels and domains of learning
• Promote adoption of a blended model of pedagogy with a combination of self-learning, practical and collaborative learning components
• Convergence of Aganwadi centers (women and child department) and schools (education department)
• Expansion of residential schooling facilities for marginalized children
• Focus on Early Childhood Education and Secondary/Higher Education for girls, especially those from disadvantaged groups
• Universalizing access to secondary education
• Extension of transport voucher scheme to girls studying in city area where the desired subject in class XI and XII is not available in nearby rural schools
• Make Shared Balika functional in all 186 Educationally Backward Blocks
• Skills-based and employment oriented education 
• Emphasis on Adarsh Vidyalaya Yojna
• Focus on language and math as a subject in primary school education
• Use of technology in spreading the quality education at secondary and primary school  
• Emphasise of CSR resources in education sector
• Focus on irregular students to support their learning 
• Primary and elementary education to be the State responsibility
• Monitoring systems should incorporate the continuous innovation and change in the education systems.
• Promotion of open school to enhance education coverage
• holistic planning for education from all stakeholder (Community, teacher, elected representatives) 
• Support system and enabling environment to promote self-learning in student
• Promote the usage of Online IT-enabled monitoring systems in school
• Resources and institutions for school at block level (for academic guidance and quality education)
• Participation of civil society in monitoring of education system
• Inviting motivational leaders/speakers in school
• Convert existing non-viable schools into composite schools
• More skill-based education for students in tribal areas after regular working hours, in coordination with National Skill Development Corporation
• Undertake special interventions to meet the educational needs of differently abled children and children with learning disabilities
• Support critical stages in the learning periods of the disadvantaged children
• extra remedial coaching or advisory facility
• Revamp curricula revamped with a multi-pronged strategy involving SHGs, CBOs for achieving universal youth and adult literacy.
• Implement a programme for the exclusive use of IT applications for School Management
• Establish a separate cadre for teacher educators
• Encourage selected foreign universities, from the top 200 in the world, to establish their presence in Rajasthan
• Encourage Rajasthan universities to set up campuses abroad
• Launch a campaign to attract young talent into the teaching profession
• Psycho-social stimulation for infants
• Early childhood reading
• Conditional cash transfers for schooling
• Opening of new primary schools
• Up-gradation of schools as per RTE norms

List of Participants

• Yogendra Prasad, Deputy Director, Rajasthan Council of Secondary Education. Govt of Rajasthan
• Vikram Srivastava, Consultant Quality, UNICEF
• Ravi Raj Dayal, Consultant, UNICEF
• Dr. Yogesh Sharma, ADEO Legal, Jaipur, Govt of Rajasthan
• Vijay Singh, Education nodal person -CmF- Tata Trust
• Shri Prince Salim, Pisangan (Ajmer), Doosra Dashak
• Mr. Omprakash Mali, Chairman, Center for Social Development Education Society 
• Rajendra Bhanawat, Ex. Education Secretary, Govt of Rajasthan  and Chairman –Doosra Dashak
• Shri K B Kothari, Founder & Chairperson, Pratham Education Foundation
• Shubnam Aziz, Educate Girls
• Swati Bhardwaj, RTR State Manager, Room to Read
• Shobhita Rajagopal, Prof and Education Expert, Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur 
• Manish Singh, Executive Director, CEODECON
• Ghanshyam Soni, Project Manager, Piramal Foundation
• Bijay Das, Project Manager, Gandhi Fellowship 
• Ravi Toshnival, Antar Foundation
• Radha Saini, President, Center for Social Development Education Society
• Prashant Gautam, Project Manager, PFEL
• Dr. O.P Kulhari, Secretary & Director, CULP
• N.K Jain, President, Vidyut Teletronics Limited
• Rajesh Gurjar, Content Developer & Trainer, Pratham
• Prof M.L Bhargava, Advisor, Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Jaipur
• Neelu Choudhury, Director, Doosra Darshak
• Rajesh Kumar, Education Specialist, Azim Premji Foundation
• Pramod Pathak, Education Consultant, Antar Foundation
• Sharada Jain, Secretary, Sandhan​
• Savikanth