5 Multilevel Educational Administration, Management and Governance

Ms. Avneet Kaur

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Introduction
  2. Learning outcomes
  3. Meaning and Functions  of  Educational  Administration,  Management and Governance

   3.1 Educational Administration: Its meaning and Function

   3.2 Educational Management: It’s meaning, Functions, Difference between Educational Administration and                  Educational Management

 

3.3 Educational Governance: Its meaning, Functions and Difference between Educational Management and

Educational governance

 

    4.  Multilevel Educational Administration, Management and Governance

 

 4.1 Educational administration, management and governance at Central Level

 

 4.2 Educational administration, management and governance at State Level

 

  4.3 Educational administration, management and governance at Local Level

 

  4.4 Administration of the Education System at Primary and Secondary Level

 

 

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION

India is divided into 29 states and 7 “Union Territories”. The states have their own elected governments while the Union Territories are ruled directly by the Government of India, with the President of India appointing an administrator for each Union Territory. As per the constitution of India, school education was originally a state subject — that is, the states had complete authority on deciding policies and implementing them. The role of the Government of India (GoI) was limited to coordination and deciding on the standards of higher education. This was changed with a constitutional amendment in 1976 so that education now comes in the so called concurrent list. That is, school education policies and programmes are suggested at the national level by the GoI though the state governments have a lot of freedom in implementing programmes. Policies are announced at the national level periodically. The Central Advisory Board of  Education (CABE), set up in 1935, continues to play a lead role in the evolution and monitoring of educational policies and programmes. The constitutional provisions in India favours decentralisation, yet the educational administration here is a mixture of centralisation and decentralisation. Education is the joint responsibility of States and the Centre. It has been developed to manage education at different levels viz. Centre, State, District, Block and Village level (Panchayat level). The Indian government is quasi federal in nature. The union government and the state government together are responsible for the development of education in the country.

 

2.  LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • To understand the concept and functions of Educational Administration
  • To elucidate the concept and functions of Educational Management
  • To understand the concept of Educational Governance
  • To describe the structure of Educational administration, management and governance at Central Level, State level and local level
  • To understand the Administration of the Education System at Primary and Secondary Level

3.  Meaning and Functions of Educational Administration, Management and Governance

3.1 Educational Administration: Its meaning and Functions

Etymological meaning: The term ‘administration’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘ministic’ which means ‘service rendered to others for their welfare’. Good’s Dictionary of Education defines Educational Administration as “all those techniques and procedures employed in operating the educational organisation in accordance with established policies”.

The Educational Administration is concerned with both: a) human resources b) material resources

 

 

3.2 Educational Management: It’s meaning and Functions

Etymological meaning: ‘Management’ has been derived from a French word ‘manage’ which means ‘housekeeping’.

According to Movell (1969), “Management is that activity in an organisation which consists in deciding upon the ends (goals) of an organisation by which the goals are to be effectively reached”.

 

3.3 Educational governance: It’s meaning

Educational governance refers to authority and decision making within the system. Governance includes: how the education system is organized and power is allocated; what structures and decision- making processes are in place; formal roles and responsibilities; and the relationship between central and local authorities.

It is concerned with how the funding, provision, ownership and regulation of education and training systems is coordinated, and at what level; local, regional, national and supranational.

4. Multilevel Educational Administration, Manage ment and Governance

Over the years, since Independence in 1947, there has been a shift in the process of educational planning from ‘centralisation to decentralisation’, from macro-planning to micro-planning and the district has been accepted as the most appropriate unit of planning.

The various levels of Educational administration, manage ment and governance

At present, education is the joint responsibility of States and the Centre. It has been developed to manage education at different levels namely Centre, State and Local level. Local level further comprises three internal administrative sublevels District, Block and Village level (Panchayat level).

India currently has 29 states and seven union territories. The state organizations a nd institutions are divided by districts and blocks. The responsibilities of the different levels of government are also explained in detail by the constitution. The Seventh Schedule of the constitution (Article 246) of the constitution has three lists (I) Union List (II) State List and (III) Concurrent List (Jurisdiction of both Central and State government). The Union Government and the state governments have co-jurisdiction over legislative powers concerning economic and social plans, social security, education, trade, industry, electricity enterprises, and the like. The Eleventh and Twelfth schedule (Article 243G and 243W) of the constitution explains the jurisdiction of rural governments (called Panchayats) and Urban Governments.

 

4.1 Educational administration, manage ment and governance at Central Level

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is the main governing agency of Government of India at central level it was renamed from Ministry of Education in 1985. It is responsible for all matters pertaining to education including overall planning of programmes and providing guidance for their implementation. This ministry is responsible for educational development of the country. The ministry has two departments namely Department of School Education and Literacy and Department of Higher Education.

 

Education Departments of MHRD

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is headed by a Cabinet Minister of the Union Government. The department of education, under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is under the charge of a Minister of State who is advised at the official level by the secretary to the department, assisted by an additional secretary and Educational Advisor on academic and policy matters of education.

The DOE consist of several bureaus, each of which is headed by a Joint Secretary on Joint Education Advisor. These officials are assisted by Directors, Deputy Secretaries or Deputy Education Advisors, who are the divisional heads. In terms, they are further assisted by Under Secretaries or Assistant Educational Advisors, who have one or more sub-divisions under them.

 

The structure of Educational Administration at Central level is shown in the figure given below:

 

Structure of Educational Administration at Central level

Role of Central Government in Educational Financing

Since independence, the Central Government has started spending increasing amount of money on education. The Central Govt. gives grant-in-aid to states, universities and special institutions in order to help them to discharge their educational obligations. It gives special grants to backward states in order to equalize them with other states. It finances the centrally administered areas and gives scholarships and stipends under the various scholarship schemes. The contributions of the Central Government and State Governments have increased from time to time. Following are the important reasons for this increase:

  1. The Central Government must assist the backward states for providing better educational opportunities.
  2. The Central Government must assist the state in realizing the constitutional provisions for providing compulsory primary education in the age group 6 to 14 years.
  3. The Central Government has large resources for collecting finances.
  4. Central funds must be utilized for providing equality of opportunity.

 

The Central Government assists the states for educational development in three ways:

  1. Central Government performs educational functions through NCERT, UGC, Central Universities, Central School organizations, etc.
  2. Central Government sponsors schemes fully financed by it but implemented by the States.
  3. Central Government partially finances some programmes, planned and implemented by the State Governments.

At the central level, the direction of the educational policy is in the hands of Ce ntral Education Advisory Board, which is headed by a famous educationist and educational administrator. The central government has also set up some specialist institutions for encouraging education in the country which are given as below:

List of Institutions and organizations which assist and advise the Central Government
1 Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi (CBSE)
2 Central Hindi Directorate, New Delhi (Kendriya Hindi Nirdeshalaya)
3 Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore
4 Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad (CIEFL)
5 Educational Consultants of India Ltd., New Delhi
6 Kendriya Vidyalaya Sansthan, New Delhi (KVS)
7 National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi (NCERT)
8 National Council of Teacher Education, New Delhi (NCTE)
9 National Institute of Adult Education, New Delhi
10 National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, New Delhi
11 National Institute of Open Schooling, New Delhi (NIOS)
12 Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, New Delhi
13 All India Council of Technical Education, New Delhi (AICTE)
14 University Grants Commission, New Delhi (UGC)
15 National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi
16 National Sports Authority of India, New Delhi
17 National Literacy Mission, New Delhi
18 Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)

 

4.2 Educational Administration, Management and Governance at State Level

The states of India have their separate ministries for education. The ministry for education of a particular state consists of a cabinet minister followed by a state minister. The state governments also formulate policies for education. There is also provision of acts and bills in the state legislature. These are brought whenever necessary. The minister is responsible to present the bill in the State Legislative Assembly for receiving grants and aids. At state level, educational administration is structured as shown in the given figure:

 

Structure of Educational Administration at State level

The following are the responsibilities of the State Government regarding School Education:

    (1)  To establish and maintain educational institutions.

(2)  To recognize for the establishment of schools.

(3)  To provide grants to schools managed by| private governing bodies.

(4)  To pass laws for different types of school education.

(5)  To supervise school through DEO’s and Supervisors at Block level.

(6)  To recruit and place teachers in schools.

(7)  To prescribe the syllabus and supply books.

(8)  To establish school boards to conduct examinations.

(9)  To provide special assistance to poor and backward students.

(10)  To organize training programmes for teachers and supervisors.

(11)  To initiate action against teachers and schools in case of any lapse.

(12)  To feed information to the centre about schools.

 

Role of State Governments in Educational Financing:

The Finance Commission transfers adequate resources at the end of each Plan to each State under:

(a)  Share in Income-tax,

(b)  Share in excise, and

(c)   Lump-sum grant- in-aid.

 

The state recognizes schools and other institutions run by private bodies in accordance with set rules and regulations. It also provides them with suitable aids and grants to run efficiently and effectively. Financial aid is also given to Universities, functioning in the state.

 

4.3 Educational Administration, Management and Governance at Local Level

The responsibility for governance of school education was largely given to state governments. Thus, decentralization in public governance in general, and in education, in particular has consisted of moving decision making powers to structures and authorities at sub-state levels. For successful implementation of decentralisation, the main issue seems to be the establishment of institutional mechanisms below the state level. It is in this context that the concept of Panchayati Raj and the community development frameworks were adopted in the years after independence.

The local self- government system under Panchayati Raj is conceived to consist of three tiers of political-administrative structures beginning at district level through the block level and the village level. This is also viewed as facilitating the emergence of grassroots democracy involving people in local electoral process. While political decentralization was to follow this framework, it was deemed appropriate to designate block level as the main unit for development administration. Thus, a Block Development Office was established in each block consisting of 100-150 villages. The district, which was the revenue division created during the British period remained more or less intact. The basis of local administration is decentralisation, and what is needed is that local administration should be strengthened and made effective.

Within the education sector, to begin with, the District Education Office remained the main centre of governance of school education in the district. After nearly 30 years of this set up, a separate office of the School Education Department came into existence at block (sub-district) level in many states. This was partly due to the enormous expansion of the primary education system during the preceding two decades. The Block Education Office now deals with elementary primary education in many states, while the District Education Office directly governs secondary education.

 

Administrative structure of educational administration as recomme nded by Kothari Commission

Kothari commission has recommended educational administration mechanism at local level in which The Deputy Director School Administration includes District Education Office which corresponds to District School Board at District level. Next in the hierarchy comes Block Education office which corresponds to Block School Committee at local level.

 

Functions of Panchayat Bodies

Functions of panchayat bodies related to education have been mentioned in a number of sections in the PRI (Panchayati Raj Institution) Act 5. Some of the recommendations made in the Act are:

(i)  The Gram Sabha (village council) will run the adult education programme in the village. It is interesting to note that no mention has been made regarding the role of Gram Sabha in other aspects of education.

   (ii) Gram Panchayat (local self- governing body at the village level) will provide education through primary and middle schools, create awareness among the people and ensure enrolment of all the children in the primary school, construction and maintenance of hostels, etc.

(iii) Panchayat Samitis (block level bodies) are expected to perform a variety of functions particularly with respect to elementary education. These include the promotion of primary and secondary education, the construction and maintenance of school buildings, and the provision of education for working children.

(iv) Roles identified for Zilla Parishad (district level body) include the construction of roads to connect all the schools and colleges in the district; the construction and maintenance of primary and secondary schools; the construction and maintenance of hostels, ashram shalas (residential schools), etc.; the provision of scholarship/ maintenance grants; the construction of schools and hostels for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Caste students; and the provision of free textbooks and teaching and learning materials for these groups. It is also specified that permanent committees of the Zilla Parishad could be constituted for different sectoral areas, with one such committee, the Education and Health Committee, which

would look after all the functions related to education.

 

Role of Local Bodies

In 1952, Kher Committee of the CABE strongly recommended that “in the interest of mass education and in view of the constitutional directive on universal, compulsory and free primary education. Thus, after independence, the role of local bodies in primary education has become more and more active.

The recommendations of the Kher Committee were not universally adopted by all the states. Even after the reorganisation of the states in 1956, education is administered by the state governments in some states while in others responsibility for primary education has been entrusted to local bodies.

 

For meeting expenditure on account of these responsib ilities, the school committee should receive:

1.  A certain proportion of the income of the local village panchayat; and
    2. A grant- in-aid fixed on the basis of equalisation, i.e. a larger grant being given to poorer areas and a smaller grant to richer areas.

 

Statutory Councils and Apex Bodies

The Statutory Councils and Apex Bodies play important roles in reforming the education system of the country. These councils or apex bodies are either established by the state governments or by the central government. They are responsible for recognition of courses, promotion of professional institutions and providing grants to undergraduate and post-graduate programmes and various awards. The Important National councils of the country include:

●       All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

●       Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR)

●       National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)

●       Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)

●       Medical Council of India (MCI)

●       Indian Nursing Council (INC)

●       Dentist Council of India (DCI)

●       Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH)

●       Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), etc.

 

4.4 Administration of the Education System at Primary and Secondary Level Primary education

At the pre-primary stage (0-6 years) there is an attempt to establish a linkage between the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and other development programmes including the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), for which Balwadis/ Anganwadis or Day-Care Centres and Schemes are run by Government and NGOs and State Governments.

The principle of decentralisation has been extended to the management of primary education and Village Education Committees (VECs) have been set up in many parts of the country. These Committees are responsible for the enrolment and retention of children in schools, supervise the functioning of schools, check teacher absenteeism and mobilise additional resources for the schools. Thus, attempts have been made to elicit community participation not only in the preparation of educational plans, but also in the administration of education including mobilisation of additional resources.

District Boards of Education (DBE) plan and administer education at the district level. District-specific plans have been developed to increase infrastructural facilities, develop instructional material, train teachers, etc.

 

Secondary education

At the state level, it is usually the Departments of Education that administer secondary education. At the national level, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, New Delhi runs the Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central Schools) while the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, New Delhi runs the Navodaya Vidyalayas, i.e., schools for talented rural children,

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi functions under the overall supervision of the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. It deals with activities related to affiliation, academics and examination, and is known for introducing innovations and reforms at the secondary and senior secondary levels so as to bring education at par with international standards.

 

SUMMARY

This module discusses about the multilevel educational administration, management and governance of school education in India along with the brief description of concept and functions. Education is the joint responsibility of States and the Centre. It has been developed to manage education at different levels viz. Centre, State, District Block and at Village level (Panchayat level). Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is the main governing agency of Govt. of India at central level. It is responsible for all matters of pertaining to education including overall planning of programmes and providing guidance for their implementation. The state recognizes schools and other institutions run by private bodies in accordance with set rules and regulations. It also provides them with suitable aids and grants to run efficiently and effectively. Within a state there is generally a three-tier structure of administration which includes the district, taluka/ tehsil/ block, and the village. The district has been so far the most important unit of administration.

 

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References

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