Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on New Trends in Teaching and Education
Year: 2023
DOI:
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Unmasking the facade of Decentralization-State Control of School Education in Post-Colonial India
Shivakumar Jolad,Khushi Rajpuria
ABSTRACT:
Various studies have shown that schools are best governed and managed at the local level by local bodies and communities. It has been argued that education decentralization in India got a boost post the Constitutional Amendments of 1992, which mandated local governments in rural and urban areas across India. Drawing from the history of school management in India, we show that in colonial India, government-funded schools were largely managed by district boards and municipal bodies. Post-independence, Indian states took to a centralized management system with state-controlled appointment and transfer of teachers and funding. Nationally, about 77% of government schools are managed by the State Department of Education, while only 18% of schools are controlled by local bodies. In nearly in all states, we show only the functions that are decentralized, while funds and functionaries are centralized by state authorities. The Right to Education Act 2009 embodies contradictions of being the sole Central Act for regulation of elementary education- has national mandates for school infrastructure, teacher qualifications, and admission criteria for private schools, while simultaneously mandating decentralized school management and governance with the involvement of local authorities. We critique the RTE Act and the New Education Policy-2020 for not addressing the devolution of powers to the local bodies to manage their schools with discretionary funds and local hiring.
keywords: Education Decentralization, India, Local Bodies, School Governance, Right to Education