EKKAVYA MODEL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS (EMRS) –
News: Eklavya
schools running with just 58% of the teachers: Government data
What's in the news?
● The
Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for tribal students across the country
are currently functioning with just 58%
of the teachers required to do so,
the Ministry of Tribal Affairs told the Rajya Sabha in response to a question
from the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
Key takeaways:
● As
per data submitted by States, there are 394 functional schools with 1,05,463
students as some of the schools run only a few classes. The proportionate
teachers requirement is 7,030 and presently available teachers are 4,138.
● As
per guidelines issued by the Nation
Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), the Central Government agency
responsible for managing the schools, each EMRS is supposed to have a
strength of 480 students, for which the minimum staff requirement should be 52
(32 teaching staff and 20 non-teaching staff).
● The
Ministry of Tribal Affairs is in the
process of fixing the issues of teacher shortage in EMRSs by shifting control
of recruitment to NESTS from the State societies, which have so far been
responsible for this.
● Officials
had said that while NESTS was formed and given powers to issue guidelines on
these aspects, they are not binding on the State societies. This resulted in a
shortage of teachers, as well as a lack of uniformity in the quality and pay of
teachers hired for the same positions.
What is EMRS?
● Eklavya
Model Residential Schools (EMRS) is a Government of India scheme for model residential schools for Scheduled
Tribes across India.
● The
scheme was launched by the Ministry of
Tribal Affairs in the year 1997-98.
● National
Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) as an autonomous body under the
Ministry has been set up to provide overall support and policy directions to
the schools in order to bring uniformity in the administration of the schools.
Objective of the scheme:
● To impart quality
education to ST children in remote areas.
● It
will also enable them to avail themselves of opportunities in high and
professional educational courses and get employment in various sectors.
● The
schools focus not only on academic education but on the all-around development
of the students.
● To
provide quality upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education
to ST and PVTG students in tribal dominated areas, along with extra-curricular
activities, to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to
bring them at par with the general population.
Funding:
● The
Government of India provides grants for the construction of schools and
recurring expenses to the State Governments under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution.
Targeted approach:
● Every block with more
than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Eklavya
Model Residential School by the year 2022.
● A
total of 740 EMRSs would be
sanctioned by 2022 based on provision of suitable land by the States.
Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS):
● Wherever
the density of the ST population (90% or
more), the Government has proposed to set up Eklavya Model Day Boarding
School (EMDBS) for providing additional coverage for ST Students.
Features of the school:
● Admission
to these schools will be through selection/competition with suitable provision
for preference to children belonging to Primitive Tribal Groups,
first-generation students, etc.
● Sufficient
land would be given by the State Government for the school, playgrounds,
hostels, residential quarters, etc., free of cost.
● The number of seats for
boys and girls will be equal.
● In these schools,
education will be entirely free.
Significance:
● The
schools will be on par with Navodaya
Vidyalayas.
● It
will have special facilities for preserving local art and culture besides
providing training in sports and skill development.
Concerns:
● According
to several officials, the structure of the NESTS had made it difficult for it
to monitor and enforce its recommendations to the schools as far as teacher
recruitment was concerned.
● The
guidelines never demanded that the SESTS must follow NESTS recommendations,
which were made to ensure the minimum requirements to maintain a standard
education quality and uniformity across schools.
● The
Ministry had found that the responsibilities of the teacher recruitment in the
States were leading to a non-uniformity in
the quality of teachers, not enough recruitment happening in reserved
positions, and a large number of schools recruiting teachers contractually in a
bid to save on the salary expenses, which was resulting in large gaps in the
salaries of teachers working at the same level.
WAY FORWARD:
● According
to Census 2011, Schedule Tribes (STs)
constitute 8.6% of India’s total population and out of which only 58.96% are
literate.
● Education
is necessary to ensure the socio-economic development of tribal societies.
● Issues
like the language of education need
to be addressed by designing the entire curriculum and teacher's modules in the
regional/local language of the tribal students.
● The
need of the hour is to create adequate employment
opportunities and ensure proper implementation of welfare programmes among
the tribal people so that they send their children to attend schools instead of
Child labour.
● To
handle the shortage of teachers in
Eklavya schools, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs highlighted that the only way
to deal with the teacher shortage and to ensure uniformity in the teaching
standards is to completely reform the administrative structure under which the
eklavya schools are functioning at present.