Sri Sanjeeb
Kumar Sahoo,
Minister of State (Ind. Charge)
Smt. Vandana Kumari Jena, IAS
Commissioner-cum-Secretary
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Literacy & Mass Education - An Overview Literacy Among the districts, Malkangiri has the lowest literacy rate of 31.26%. Among the women, lowest literacy level is in Nabarangpur district, at 21.02%, and Malkangiri district at 21.28%. Khurda district which includes Bhubaneswar city, has the highest literacy of 80.19%. This district also has the highest female literacy of 71.06%. The high literacy figures of Khurda district is certainly influenced by the inclusion of the state capital in the statistics. Next to Khurda comes Jagatsinghpur district with 79.61% literates. The literacy level in Orissa at 63.61% is comparable with all-India average
of 65.38%. However, there are considerable regional disparities between
areas, and communities. Primary Education The total enrolment in primary level [class 1 to 7] is estimated at 54.62 lakhs. There are 42104 primary schools [class 1 to 5] and 11510 upper primary schools [up to class 7] totalling 53614 schools. This excludes schools in the private sector, and non-formal schools run by village education committees and NGOs. The missing children who do not come to school have been identified under various programs in most of the districts, and in about half of the districts the process of identification is continuing. Most of the missing children belong to a few categories: children of migrant labourers, those in urban slums, scheduled tribe girls particularly among people living in remote areas, children in remote areas irrespective of gender or caste/ tribe, children who have lost one or both parents, and those who are marginally mentally disadvantaged and need special care. All the missing children are being identified, and several strategies are being adopted in various areas, to bring them into the education fold. The village education committees have been empowered, and the process of empowerment continues. Now they have better control and responsibilities in management of schools. It will be their responsibility to identify all missing children, and get them to school. The power of engagement of para teachers has been handed over to them under many programs, further devolution of powers to them is continuing. Free text books are being provided in 16 districts where the District
Primary Education Program is in operation. In other districts, book banks
to help indigent students are being set up from 2002. DPEP provides for
school and hostel buildings, additional para Secondary Education There are 3496 government secondary schools. 658 private secondary schools also get grant-in-aid from government. There are, in addition, 1530 private schools recognised by the state government. In 2002, 3,33,027 students have taken the examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, [BSE] Orissa. Out of them 2,49,260 are regular students, and others are those who take the examination for the second time or through correspondence courses. The BSE also conducts examinations in Sanskrit, namely Prathama and Madhyama which is taught in exclusive schools meant for Sanskrit education. In 2002, 9795 students from 792 Sanskrit schools have taken the examination. Teachers' Training 47 government secondary training schools and 13 DIETs provide training in basic teaching education [CT]. 2620 students have been admitted in these institutions in 2001-02. 13 institutes provide Bachelor in Education [B. Ed.] courses, and 1002 students are enrolled in these institutes during 2001-02. A strategy for training all untrained teachers in primary schools through distance mode has been worked out and will be followed from 2002-03. The duration of the training will be two years, and the training will be rigorous. There will be a large number of assignments, and content enrichment in subjects like science, mathematics, languages, and social studies will be re-emphasised. Through this modified strategy, all the untrained teachers are expected to be fully trained within the next five years. The syllabus has been updated. The English Language Teaching Institute [ELTI], Bhubaneswar, provides
training in English language to the teachers. Syllabus & Curriculum Updating: In primary education, focus has been shifted to activity-based teaching, so that the students become more interested, have less fear of school, and the teachers are also motivated. BSE has initiated steps to draw up a curriculum, which will balance the needs of higher education, and the needs of students who do not wish to pursue higher education. There will be more number of optionals, so than the students have a choice between pursuing higher education, and enabling themselves to choose an avocation without higher studies and have access to better quality of life. The Board is working out the details through various committees. Other Support: State Institute of Educational Technology [SIET], Bhubaneswar, prepares audio and audio-visual aid for teaching in primary and secondary levels. The Text Book Printing & Management Directorate has been preparing
text books for primary and secondary level. The books are priced quite
low. It also prints text books supplied free under various programs of
SC&ST Development Department and DPEP etc. 17.8 million copies of
various text books were produced and distributed in 2001-2002.
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