| How does a
school come up on demand?
The start-up point in EGS is the demand of the local community for a primary
school for its children and willingness to support such a school by arranging
for space for teaching-learning, identifying a
 local
qualified resident as teacher and looking after the development of the school.
The demand has to be from a rural area where no primary schooling facilities
exist within a radius of one kilometer of the habitation. Schooling facility
includes government and private primary schools. It includes both formal
primary schools and non-formal educational centres as well as any other
alternative schools for primary education. The number of children to be
enrolled in the 6-14 age group are atleast 40. In tribal areas, the number
should be atleast 25.
The local community in a village without a schooling facility can present its
demand for an educational facility. The EGS school has to start within 90 days
of the demand. This time-bound action is a critical indicator of the
seriousness of government guarantee.
How does the guarantee
operate?
The gram panchayat with its recommendation will forward the demand to the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Janpad Panchayat within three days of its receipt.
This recommendation will be endorsed on the letter and the date of receipt of
the letter will be mentioned. The Secretary Gram Panchayat will keep a copy of
the letter in the office record.
The demand of the community forwarded by the Sarpanch to the Janpad
 Panchayat
will be entertained immediately by the CEO, Janpad panchayat. For this purpose,
a receipt register will be maintained by the CEO. The CEO will issue the
receipt of the letter on the same day. This receipt will also act as a
statement of guarantee issued on behalf of the state government, undertaking to
take appropriate action on the demand received within 90 days.
If the demand is valid as per the EGS norms, then an EGS school has to be
established within 90 days of the receipt of the demand at the Janpad
Panchayat.
Does EGS school ensure quality
learning?
Yes, the EGS has been a remarkable intervention for immediate access but what
about quality. This is an apprehension that is often raised mainly by
educationists. The EGS school in fact provides better quality of primary
education. It is able to do so because the teacher is a local resident
accountable to the community. The accountability of the teacher is outward to
the community of parents and not upward to bureaucratic echelons.
The qualification of the teacher of EGS school and the formal primary school is
on par.
There is a curricular equivalance between the formal school and EGS school.
The EGS school has a non-graded alternative pedagogy sensitive to differential
learning pace.
The school has been set up by the community. The local ownership breaks
school-community borders.
The per capita investment in learning inputs is more than the formal school.
The EGS system which is premised in decentralised management builds efficiency.
The EGS school breaks the formal nonformal dichotomy and is the building block
of community-based schooling and a learning society.
Has the EGS been
evaluated?
The EGS has been evaluated by academics. Copies of these studies are available
with Director, Rajya Shiksha Kendra, Government of Madhya
Pradesh and can be requested through e-mail
mdrgpsm@sancharnet.in
The EGS has also won the First International Innovation Gold Medal of the
Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management 1998. It was
selected from among 124 submissions across commonwealth countries.
The EGS was also adopted by the Government of India as a national model in
1999.
I want to know more about
EGS.
You can get to know more about EGS from the following published documents
Wanted, A New EGS
- Amita Sharma & R. Gopalakrishnan
(Source: Rajiv Gandhi Mission, Government of Madhya Pradesh)
Bringing the People Back In : From Lok Sampark Abhiyan to Education
Guarantee Scheme in Madhya Pradesh :
- Amita Sharma & R. Gopalakrishnan
(Source: Rajiv Gandhi Mission, Government of Madhya Pradesh)
Madhya Pradesh Education Guarantee Scheme (Revised Version: June 1999)
(Source: Rajiv Gandhi Mission, Government of Madhya Pradesh)
In the Wonderland of Primary Education
- Vinod Vyasulu
(Source: Rajiv Gandhi Mission, Government of Madhya Pradesh)
Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative Schooling:
Community-based initiatives in Primary Education Madhya Pradesh.
- Jyotsna Jha
(Source: Rajiv Gandhi Mission, Government of Madhya Pradesh)
Evaluation of Community-based Primary Schooling Initiatives in Madhya
Pradesh: Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative Schools
- Ranjana Srivastava
(Source: Rajiv Gandhi Mission, Government of Madhya Pradesh)
Education Guarantee Scheme in Madhya Pradesh
- R. Gopalakrishnan & Amita Sharma
Economic and Political Weekly, September 26, 1998
MP's EGS: What Does it Claim?
- R. Gopalakrishnan & Amita Sharma
Economic and Political Weekly, March 20, 1999
MP's EGS: What are the Issues
- Vinod Vyasulu
Economic and Political Weekly, June 12, 1999
You can also contact
Principal Secretary School Education
Government of Madhya Pradesh, School Education Department Mantralya, Vallabh
Bhawan, Bhopal- Madhya Pradesh
Commissioner
Rajya Shiksha Kendra
e-mail: mdrgpsm@sancharnet.in
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