Final mis project

Management Information System

Project Report on:


Subject : Management Information System

Submitted to: Prof. Lukman Patel

Prepared by: Mohd. Adil (45)

Date: 6/4/2011

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost let we sincerely thank ALMIGHTY for the great opportunity and

blessings that he has showered up on us for the successful and timely completion of our

project work.

We extent our sincere gratitude to Dr. Vidya Hatangadi Director of AIAIMS institute of

management research and studies for her kind support and guidance for making our

project great success.

We extent our sincere gratitude to guide Mr. Nadeem Merchant, lecturer, Allana

Institute of Management studies for the kind support and proper guidance without which

the project would not have been efficiently completed

We render our whole hearted thanks to librarian, for their assistance and co-operation

given to us in regard to this work.

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CONTENTS:

SR.NO TOPICS PAGE NO.

1. Introduction………………………………………

04----05

2. Structure of Linear Programming…………………

06----08

3. Assumptions of Linear Programming ……….…...

09----11

4. Limitations of Linear Programming…..……….….

12----12

5. Applications of Linear Programming……….……..

13----15

6. Case Study……………………………………….

16----26

7. Conclusion………………………………..………

27---27

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8. Bibliography……………………………….……..

28---28

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EXECUTIVE SUMMERYThere are various agencies involved in the collection and

dissemination of statistics on school education. At the national level,

there are three main agencies that collect statistics on education on

regular basis. They are (a) Planning, Monitoring and Statistics

Division, Department of Education, MHRD on annual basis for all

sectors of school education; (b) University Grants Commission on

higher education; and (c) National Council of Educational Research

and Training (NCERT) on school education through occasional

surveys. In addition, there are agencies, which collect information

from households. The Census of India publications provides

information on levels of educational attainment of population and age-

education classification of children in the age-group 5-14 years. In

addition, the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO),

International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and National

Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) also collect statistics

on educational variables occasionally through household sample

surveys.

Barring Census of India, most of the other agencies generate data

with State/UT as a basic unit of consolidation but hardly any data is

disseminated at the district level. Only in case of the MHRD, selected

district level information was also disseminated on quinquennial basis

for a short period. The UGC compiles data according to university

area, whereas NCERT collects data at the district level but releases

only state-specific information. The latest sixth survey was conducted

in 1993 with September 30 as its date of reference. The dissemination

of district-specific survey data is left to the discretion of the states. All

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the states do not bring out publications that contain district-specific

data. The Directorate of Education, Bureau of Economics and

Statistics, Directorate of Economics etc. in a State/UT also brings out

statistical abstracts and other publications but the data that they

disseminate is not uniform and the year also varies from state to state.

Thus, it can safely be concluded that proper mechanism for

dissemination of district-specific information is not in existence in

most part of the country.

Sporadic attempts have been made to develop computerized

educational management information system with an aim to collect

and disseminate district-specific information among which the District

Primary Education Programme (DPEP) is the most prominent one.

One of the important aims of the recently launched SSA is to develop

educational management information system for which data capture

formats have been evolved and infrastructure created at the district

level in the office of the District Project Coordinator. All the project

districts have been provided with adequate hardwares and MIS

softwares. The data capture format is divided into nine parts. Through

the first part, school location particulars are envisaged to collect

which includes village name and ward number, distance from block

headquarters, number of non-formal education centres in a village

and whether the school is governed by a voluntary organization or it is

a Government school. This part also includes information relating to

Total Literacy Campaigns and Post Literacy Facilities and whether a

Village Education Committee is constituted in the village. The other

important items included in the format are school particulars,

teachers in position, equipments and facilities in terms of adequacy.

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So far as the information relating to enrolment and repeaters is

concerned, all that required for planning at district level including the

age-grade matrix is envisaged to collect. However, rural/urban

distribution will not be made available.

By the end of 2003, the coverage of DISE has extended to about 460

of the 593 districts of the country. these districts are spread over 18

DPEP states. It is expected that all the districts of the country would

adopt DISE in a year or two. The Government of India decided that

the manual collection of information system will gradually be replaced

by the DISE and the statistics generated by it will be accorded the

status of the Official Statistics. Recently ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

IN INDIA: WHERE DO WE STAND, ANALYTICAL REPORT 2006 was

also launched. Barring a few numeric indicators, most of the

indicators required for efficient planning at the district level is now

available through the DISE. The number of schools, enrolment,

teachers, pupil-teacher ratio, literacy rates etc. is available over a

period of time. however, district-wise information is not available from

the MHRD sources. But information on school education is available

from the All-India Educational Surveys but the same is not properly

disseminated and it is latest available for 2002-03..

The computation of many of the identified indicators need age-specific

population which is generally not readily available at the district level

and for that propose population projection exercises would have to be

initiated. Even though the raw data is available, it is not an easy task

to compute indicators especially when the number of districts is more

than 600. Because of DPEP and SSA interventions, awareness about

indicators and its use in planning elementary education has

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significantly improved in the recent past. It is happy to note that all

the districts across the country now develop annual elementary

education plans which are primarily based on the DISE data.

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INTRODUCTION:To achieve goals of Education for All envisaged in the National Policy

on Education and it's Revised Policy Formulations (1992), proper

planning is required. Generally planning exercises are of two types,

micro and macro level planning. In micro level planning, educational

plans are prepared at the sub-national level, such as, institution,

village, block and district level where as macro plans are developed at

the level which is just above the sub-national level i.e. state and

national level. At the district level, blocks, villages and educational

institutions are the unit of micro planning but at the state level,

district is an unit of micro planning. In India, barring a few states,

educational planning is carried-out at the state level that do not

ensure adequate participation of functionaries working at the

grassroots level. Of late, National Policy of Education (NPE,1986 &

1992) and Eighth Plan envisaged disaggregated target setting at least

at the district level that is also one of the major objectives of a

number of projects and programmes currently under implementation

in different parts of the country. Therefore, development of district

plan at the district and lower levels with emphasis on participative

planning is of recent origin. Andhra Pradesh Primary Education

Project with the main objective of enhancing the professional

competence of teachers, UNICEF assisted Bihar Education Project,

World Bank sponsored Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Project, SIDA

assisted Shiksha Karmi project in Rajasthan and IDA assisted District

Primary Education Programme (DPEP) are some of the programmes

which have focus on district planning with emphasis on disaggregated

target settings. Among these, the scope and coverage of DPEP project

is much more wider than other programmes of the similar nature.

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The programme was first introduced in the year 1993 in 43 districts of

seven states, namely, Assam, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka,

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and later expanded to five

districts each of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal in year 1995. In

the second phase, four districts each of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh

and Orissa were included in the programme. Further, it is envisaged

that by the end of the Eighth Five Year Plan period i.e. March 1997,

about 110 districts would come under the programme (MHRD, 1995).

Selections of districts under DPEP are based on the criteria where

female literacy rates are less than the national average of 1991

Census and where Total Literacy Campaigns (TLC) have been

successful leading to an increased demand for elementary education.

The main characteristics of DPEP project (MHRD, 1993) are

summarised as follows:

emphasising the local area planning with district plans being

formulated in their own right instead of being derived from a state

plan project document;

infusing greater rigour and professional inputs in planning and

appraisal;

more focused targeting in educationally backward districts and

districts where Total Literacy Campaign have been successful;

More focused coverage would initially focus on primary stage

(Classes I-V & its NFE equivalent) with stress on girls and for socially

disadvantaged groups; and

emphasising capacity building and networking of district, state

and national level institutes in the fields of education management

and social services to provide the resource support for the

programme.

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The Present Article

In the present article, a detailed list of items on which

information is required both at the macro and micro levels of planning

is briefly presented which is linked to goals of Education for All.

Before that, different stages of plan formulation and implementation

is presented. Keeping in view the planning requirements, information

needed in future is also discussed in detail which is followed by

limitations and gaps in the existing information system. Data gaps

have been grouped under different headings, such as, demographic

and literacy, enrolment and repeaters, teaching personnel and

financial statistics. In the last, suggestions for improvement have

been presented.

Before, a detailed list of variables required for planning both at

the macro and micro levels is presented, different stages of plan

formulation and implementation is briefly presented below.

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Stages of Planning

1. The different stages of planning in general and education in

particular are:

2. Diagnosis of Present Position with respect to:

a. General Scenario and

b. Educational Scenario

3. Review of Past Educational Plans, Programmes and Policies

4. Projections of Major Socio-Economic and Educational Trends

5. Plan Formulation and

6. Plan Implementation.

Data Requirements

In order to meet data requirements of planning stage at I above, a

variety of information relating to both general and educational

scenario needs to be collected. Information such as on, geography,

irrigation, transportation, industry and administrative structure is

required so as to prepare a general scenario of the existing

infrastructural facilities available in a district and its sub-units. So far

as the educational variables are concerned, required information can

be grouped under information relating to demography, literacy and

education sectors. Under the demographic variables, total population

and its age and sex distribution separately in rural and urban areas

needs to be first collected. Apart from total population, age-specific

population in different age-groups is also required. For programmes

relating to primary and elementary education, population of age-

groups 6-10, 11-13 and 6-13 years and for adult literacy and

continuing education programmes, population of age-group 15-35

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years is required. Similarly, single-age population (age `6') is an

important variable on which information needs to be collected. In

addition, information on some of the vital indicators, such as,

expectation of life at birth, mortality (death) rates in different age-

groups, fertility (birth) rate and sex ratio at birth is required so that

the same can be used to project future population. For adult literacy

and continuing education programmes, number of literates and

illiterates in different age-groups is required which should be linked

to population in different age- groups. In addition, complete

information of TLC programmes implemented in the past in a district

with reference to its objectives, strategies and major achievements

would be useful, if similar programmes are undertaken in future.

Universal access to educational facilities is one of the important

components of Educational for All, hence a variety of information

relating to population of a village/habitation is required so that school

mapping exercises are undertaken. Exercises based on school

mapping play an important role in order to open a new school or

whether an existing school is to be upgraded or closed down. Thus,

number of villages distributed according to different population slabs

is required so that opening of school in a habitation is linked to the

existing norms. In case of hilly and desert areas, the population norm

of 300 can be relaxed and lowered down to 200. Habitations served

by schooling facilities and whether they are available within

habitation or a walking distance of one and three kilometers along

with total number of habitations in a district is also required so as to

assess the existing situation with particular reference to goal of

universal access. Similarly, percentage of rural population served by

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the schooling facilities can also be used as an indicator of access

which should be linked to school mapping exercises. Information

relating to adult learning and non-formal education centers are also

required which should be viewed in relation to illiterates, out-of-

school children and child workers.

Once the population is access to educational facilities, the next

important variable on which information is required is number of

institutions. Within institutions, the first important variable is

availability of infrastructural facilities in a school and their utilisation.

Information relating to buildings plays grounds and other ancillary

facilities, such as, drinking water, electricity and toilets needs to be

collected. In other words, complete information relating to scheme of

Operation Blackboard (1987) with particular reference to its

implementation, adequacy, timely supply and utilisation needs to be

collected. Similarly, information relating to number of classrooms

and their utilisation, class size, number of schools distributed

according to class sizes and number of sections is also required which

can be used in institutional planning related exercises.

The major objectives of 1987 Operation Blackboard scheme

consisting of the following three interdependent components

are provision of:

A building comprising at least two reasonably large all-weather

rooms with a deep verandah and separate toilet facilities for

boys and girls;

At least two teachers in every school, as far as possible one of

them a women; and

Essential teaching-learning material including blackboards,

maps, charts, toys and equipment for work experience.

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The scheme was recently revised so as to (MHRD, 1992):

Provide flexibility to schools in providing teaching-learning

material relevant to their curriculum and local needs;

To relate the scheme with micro planning wherever undertaken,

so that supply of inputs is matched by demand side

interpenetrations to promote participation;

Intensify training in the use of teaching-learning equipments;

and

Extend the scheme to upper primary schools.

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Enrolment:

Enrolment is the next important variable on which detailed

information is required. Both aggregate and grade-wise enrolment

together with number of repeaters over a period of time needs to be

collected separately for boys/girls & SC/ST population, rural & urban

areas and for all blocks and villages of a district. The enrolment

together with corresponding age-specific population can be used to

compute indicators of coverage, such as, Entry Rate, Net and Gross

Enrolment Ratio, Age-specific Enrolment Ratio and indicators of

efficiency. Similarly, detailed information on number of teachers

distributed according to age, qualifications, experience, subjects etc.

along with income and expenditure data is also required for critical

analysis so that optimum utilization of the existing resources is

ensured. Thus, from the basic information, a variety of indicators can

be generated which can be of immense help to understand a district

and its sub-units with particular reference to its demographic

structure. It is not only the past and present information that is

required but for proper and reliable educational planning, information

on some of these variables is also required in future. Further, if the

emphasis of planning exercises is on disaggregated target setting,

then the entire set of statistics would have to be collected both at the

micro and macro levels of planning. The POA (1992) identified poor

urban slum communities, family labour, working children, seasonal

labour, construction workers, and land-less agricultural labour, forest

dwellers, and resident of remote and isolated hamlets as some of the

target groups. Thus information on these groups also needs to be

collected, if considerable size of a group(s) is concentrated in a

district or its sub-units.

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A detailed list of items on which information is required for

educational planning is presented below. The list is not exclusive one

and more items may be added looking into the planning requirements

at the national, regional and sub-regional levels.

Demography and Literacy Data

Number of districts/tehsils/talukas/administrative and

educational blocks;

Population by age and sex, school-specific age (6-10, 11-13 & 6-

13 years), regions, castes and economic levels, sex ratio, density

of population, mortality (death) and fertility (birth) rates;

Distribution of habitations according to provision of primary,

middle and secondary schooling facilities, walking distance and

population slabs; habitations without schooling facilities;

Number of villages/towns in different population slabs and

Number of literates and illiterates by age and sex separately for

rural and urban areas and scheduled caste and scheduled tribe

population.

Education:

(a) Institutions

By type, level, management, sex, courses and location; capacity

and utilisation of existing institutions; number, intake, out-turn and

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location of teachers training institutions; institution/teacher ratio,

institution/pupil ratio, hostel facilities with intake capacity and actual

enrolment; number of single teacher primary schools; number of

schools without blackboards; and number of schools with/without

building, type of buildings and vocational and technical institutions.

(b) Enrolment

By age i.e. age-grade matrix, sex (boys/girls), grades (I to XII),

subjects, area (rural/urban) and institution-wise (primary, middle

etc.); average daily attendance; enrolment of SC and ST population;

admission data (entry rate) and data on various courses; out-of-school

children in different age-groups, repeaters and drop-outs by age,

grade and sex and transition rates by sex and at terminal classes and

scholarships granted and number of beneficiaries under different

schemes.

(c) Teaching Staff

Teachers by age and sex, rural/urban, grade and scales of pay,

subjects, qualifications and experience, trained and untrained and

stage for which employed, attrition rate, Operation Blackboard

information on teachers post: sanctioned, appointed and transferred,

teachers-training institutions, persons trained and type of training.

(d) Building and Area

Type, ownership and year of construction, present status; number

and size of rooms with nature of their utilisation and seating capacity;

vacant area available for new or additional construction; intake

capacity; availability of drinking water, toilet and electricity facilities,

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playground facilities and Operation Blackboard information on

number of classrooms/buildings sanctioned and constructed.

(e) Equipment

Physical facilities in school library and their utilisation (number

of books, average number of readers etc.), laboratory equipment,

furniture, sports material, audio-visual aids, additional requirements,

and OB information on educational kits and their utilisation, supply

and adequacy.

(f) Non-teaching Staff

Number and working of inspection and supervisory staff, non-

teaching staff by pay scales, sex and school-wise supervisions or

inspections per month/year, persons involved in data collection

according to qualifications and training at different levels.

(g) Examination Results

Examination results of all terminal classes, results of National

Talent Search Examination, administrative services by state and

universities-wise and policy of no detention.

(h) Income and Expenditure

School-wise, scheme-wise, recurring and non-recurring capital

and revenue, income and expenditure; and expenditure on incentives

and scholarships, private cost on education, tuition fee, laboratory fee

and other fee.

(i) Miscellaneous Information

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In addition, miscellaneous information on the following items is

also required which in most of the cases either not available or very

limited information is available:

Parent Teacher/Mother Parent Organisation

Student Union/Organisation

Student Health Services

Sports Facilities

DIETs

State Institute if Educational Management and Training

Navodaya Vidhalayas

Total Literacy Campaigns

Distance Education

Teaching Material and Text Books

Village Education Committees

Circle Education Committees

Number of Working Days in an Academic Year

Mid-day Meal Scheme and

On-going Programme/Projects.

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It is not that all the data required for planning is available but

information on a good number of variables is conspicuous by their

absence so as the quality of data which is questioned, time and again,

by the data users and researchers (Mehta, 1996,1). Generally,

secondary sources are explored for diagnosis of the existing situation

but for the variables which are not available at lower or the lowest

level, primary data needs to be collected. For example, age-grade

matrix is one such variable which is not available at the micro level

but plays an important role in setting-out disaggregated targets.

Hence, information on age-grade matrix and other variables of similar

nature is required for which sample surveys at the local level needs to

be conducted and data generated. So far as the information on

demographic variables is concerned, Census publications should be

explored for both present and past data. Information on educational

variables can be collected and used from the publications of State

Education Departments which may or may not be available in detail as

required in planning exercises. However, state-wise information is

available on most of the variables from the MHRD publications but

latest publications are not available (Mehta 1993 & 1996,1). As

noticed above, information relating to infrastructure, access, ancillary

facilities, age-grade matrix etc. is available from the NCERT

publications but only at few points of time. Keeping in view the data

requirements at the micro-level, relevant Officers may be approached

for NCERT data at the district level but again time-series information

is not at all available at a single place (Mehta, 1996,2).

Generally cross-sectional data for analysing existing situation and

time-series information for capturing trends is required, time period

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of which depends upon the nature of variable which is to be

extrapolated. The next important question which may crop-up is the

level at which information needs to be collected which depends upon

the unit of planning. As soon as the diagnosis exercise is over, the

next stage of planning needs review of past plans, policies and

programmes implemented in the district with respect to their

objectives (Mehta, 1996,3). Generally, these programmes are related

to promotion of education of SC/ST & girls, Total Literacy Campaigns

etc.. Reasons of failures and success of a particular programme need

to be thoroughly analysed. If need be, the existing programme with

or without modifications can be continued which should be followed

by setting-up of targets on different indicators. Broadly, following are

the areas on which future targets need to be fixed which may vary

from block to block even within a district:

Population Growth Rates

Entry Rate

Gross & Net Enrolment Ratio

Drop-out, Repetition and Promotion Rates in different grades

Retention Rates and

Per Pupil/Unit Cost.

Targets on the above items should be practicable, feasible, achievable

and should be based on the immediate past and linked to policy

guidelines. During the recently concluded (1994) Overseas

Development Administration and Government of India Appraisal

Mission to nineteen districts of Madhya Pradesh under DPEP project,

it was noticed that in most of the districts, enrolment projection

exercises were not undertaken and target on Gross Enrolment Ratio

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in year 2001 was fixed arbitrary by assuming 20 per cent as an

estimate of overage and underage children in all the blocks of

nineteen districts without even knowing of the actual grassroots

realities. Neither aggregate nor grade-wise enrolments were

projected. In the absence of which it is rather impossible to estimate

reliable annual number of beneficiaries, additional requirements of

teachers, opening of new schools, etc.. As mentioned one of the other

important objectives of the DPEP project is to reduce the existing

level of drop-out rate for all students to less than 10 per cent which

means a substantial increase in existing retention rate. Though

retention rate at Grade V has been computed in all the DPEP districts

of Madhya Pradesh, no attempt has been made to compute grade-wise

promotion, repetition and drop-out rates, all which plays a significant

role to obtain goals of Universalisation of Primary Education.

Similarly, the UNICEF, Government of India and Government of

Bihar joint Appraisal Mission to Bihar Education Project (BEP)

observed that process of disaggregated target setting in BEP districts

has been started but the future targets on drop-out and retention

rates are still fixed in an isolation without even knowing the present

status of grade-to-grade drop-out and retention rates. Also, targets on

enrolment ratio (gross) have been fixed even with out knowing the

existing entry rate which infact help us in identifying the

disaggregated areas and groups with in the district. In seven BEP

districts, the methodology adopted in computing drop-out rate is not

conventional which in most of the cases produced retention rate even

more than 90 per cent (see BEP Appraisal Mission Report, 1994). If

the targets are not reliable, future enrolment would also become

unreliable which in turn will make all corresponding estimates

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unreliable. The Eighth Five Year Plan also fixed national targets on

access, retention, attainment and monitoring systems which are

summarised below (MHRD, 1993):

Access

Universal enrolment of all children, including girls and persons

belonging to SC/ST;

Provision of primary school for all children within one kilometer

of walking distance and of facility of non-formal education; and

Improvement of ratio of primary school to upper primary school

to at least 1:2.

Retention

Reduction of drop-out rates between Classes I to V and I to VIII

to 20 and 40 per cent respectively; and

Improvement of school facilities by revamped Operation

Blackboard, to be extended to upper primary level also.

Attainment

Achievement of minimum levels of learning by approximately

all children at the primary level, and introduction of this

concept at the upper primary stage on a large scale.

Monitoring

Local level committee, with due representation to women and

teachers, to assist in the working of primary education to

oversee its functioning and

Improvement of the monitoring system for UEE.

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Future Information Requirements

Once the reliable targets are set-out, the next important task is to

work-out additional number of children who will be joining education

system over a period of time which is required annually so as to know

number of beneficiaries which cannot be reliable unless detailed

enrolment projection exercises are undertaken. For example, a

number of schemes are proposed in the DPEP project which are most

likely to benefit children in the schools, it would be an additional

advantage, if disaggregated estimates of enrolment are made

available at the block level separately for boys and girls, rural and

urban areas and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes children.

Therefore, apart from the past and present information, information

on a number of variables in future is also needed which may or may

not be readily available. Before a list of items on which future

information required is presented, we first examine enrolment

projection techniques, methods and models with particular reference

to availability of data (see for details, Mehta 1995,2).

The techniques of enrolment projections can broadly be classified

into two groups, namely, mathematical and analytical methods

(Mehta, 1996,4). Mathematical methods require aggregate enrolment

data at least for ten years, and only total enrolment can be projected

by employing both linear and non-linear equation methods. These

methods involve an extrapolation of the past into the future and

assume that the past trend in enrolment would continue into the

future. On the other hand, in analytical methods, apart from actual

enrolment, estimation, assumptions and targets on items mentioned

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above are required. The demographic pressures on education can

also be captured in the analytical techniques as the computation of

entry rate is based on the population of school entrance age `6' years.

This rate has a significant bearing on future enrolment. Analytical

methods are based on Student Flow Analysis which starts at the point

where students enter into an education cycle i.e. Grade I. If the

information on number of repeaters is available, the method is known

as Grade-Transition method, otherwise it is known as Grade-Ratio

Method. Thus, an element of judgement in terms of policy variables

can be introduced in analytical methods, therefore, the method is

appropriate for detailed enrolment projections (for details see Mehta,

1996,2). The method requires following set of data:

Future age-specific (6-10 & 11-13 years) and single age

population (`6'), say up to year 2000-01

Grade-wise enrolment for at least two consecutive years and

Grade-wise repeaters (optional) for the same years of which

enrolment is available.

The above list reveals that age-specific and single-age population are

two important variables on which future enrolment is significantly

based upon. Projection of age and sex distribution of population

requires detailed information on base year vital rates and assumptions

on a number of items mentioned above. Thus, keeping in view scant

demographic data at the state level, it is not possible to undertake

detailed population projection exercise. Similarly, future population

of age `6' plays an important role from which the system is expected

to receive continuous flow of students through Grade I in years which

follow but the same is not available on regular basis and whatever is

available is through Census publications once in a decade. Future

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estimates on the variable is rarely available at the sub-national level

and whatever is available is at state and all-India level and the same

for 1991 is not even released at the state leve (Mehta 1996,5).

However, for fifteen major states estimates of the Standing

Committee of Experts on Population Projections (1989) set-up by

the Planning Commission for the period 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005

are available. Both age-specific and single-age population separately

for male and female population is available but the same is based on

population up to the 1981 Census. Thus, the Standing Committee

estimates are bound to change as and when revised estimates based

on 1991 Census are made available. However, population projections

is rarely available at the district level and hence, there is no option

but to undertake independent exercises. The available expertise at

the district level do not suggest that they are in a position to

undertake independent population projection exercises but Mehta

(1996, 95) has recently identified that Ratio Method of Population

Projections is appropriate for the micro level projections and do nor

demand detailed set of data on vital indicators which are generally not

available at the micro level. Therefore, unless reliable estimates of

population are available, different indicators of planning would

continue to present mis-leading picture.

The variables required in future can be grouped under population,

enrolment, teachers and cost of education apart from some

information on future indicators of efficiency. Broadly, following are

the items (quantitative) on which information in future is required:

Demographic Variables

(I) Population (Rural & Urban & SC & ST)

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* Total Population

* Age-Sex Composition of Population

* Rate of Population Growth

* Single Age Population and

* Age-specific Population: 6-10, 11-13 & 15-35 years.

(ii) Literacy Status of Population

Literates and Illiterates in different age-groups and distribution

of literates according to educational level.

II. Educational Variables

Enrolment

* Total

* Stage/Level-wise

* Grade-wise

Indicators of Coverage

* Gross Enrolment Ratio\Net Enrolment Ratio and

* Age-Specific Enrolment Ratio

Flow Rates

* Entry Rate

* Promotion Rate

* Repetition Rate

* Transition Rate and

* Drop-Out Rate

(iv) Indicators of Educational Quality

* Internal Efficiency of Education System

* Input/Output Ratio

* Wastage Ratio

* Pupil Teacher Ratio

* Percentage of Non-teaching Expenditure

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* Accessibility of Educational Facilities and

* Pass Percentage in different Examination

(v) Other Miscellaneous Variables

* Projection of Teachers Requirements

* Projections of Financial Requirements

* Additional Number of Schools/Sections Required

* Institutional Building Requirements

* Subject-wise Surplus and Shortage of Staff and

* Manpower Projections.

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Data Distortions(i) Enrolment

Though state-wise enrolment is available but for many a states the

same is not available even for the year for which the publication is

latest available. In many of the remaining states, the previous year

enrolment data is repeated in the next years publication. In Andhra

Pradesh grade-wise enrolment for years 1988-89 and 1989-90 and in

Haryana, enrolment of girls reported in year 1988-89 in Grades V and

VI are exactly the same. In Madhya Pradesh both enrolment and

repeaters reported in years 1988-89 and 1989-90 are same where as

in Orissa, enrolment of Grade I in year 1988-89 is not at all reported.

In Rajasthan, enrolment in Grade I and II are jointly reported for the

same year. Further, it has been noticed that in West Bengal, grade-

wise enrolment reported for three consecutive years namely, 1987-88,

1988- 89 and 1989-90 is exctly the same. Thus, keeping in view the

limitations in enrolment data, it is not possible to undertake detailed

enrolment projection exercise in a number of states.

(ii) Repeaters

Similarly, a number of limitations are also noticed in data on

repeaters. Though, state-wise number of repeaters is available but

many a states do not collect information on it which may be due to

implementation of no detention policy upto primary level. But at the

same time, till recently states such as, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu &

Kashmir, Maharashtra, Tripura and West Bengal did not report

incidence of repetition in any grade. On the other hand some states,

such as Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, strictly follow policy of no

detention upto Grade II, where as Nagaland, Tamil Nadu and Uttar

Pradesh follows it upto Grade III. Also, in Jammu & Kashmir,

30


Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Sikkim when repeaters are taken out from

enrolment, they exceed enrolment in the previous grade which give

promotion rate more than hundred per cent. This may be either due

to mis-reporting of number of repeaters or due to large scale

enrolment of migrants from other areas to a particular grade. In

Madhya Pradesh, till recently (1989-90) a large number of children

used to repeat a particular grade but suddenly, it is reported zero.

The drop-out rate in Haryana in Grade I reduced to zero in 1989- 90

from about five per cent in previous year. For capturing the trend in

repetition rate, time-series information on repeaters is required but

the series which was discontinued in 1970-71 but revamped in 1984-

85 is available only up to the year 1991-92 (Mehta 1995,1).

Since, enrolment and number of repeaters in different grades plays an

important role in working-out indicators of efficiency and future

enrolment, unreliable data may dramatically change the future

scenario and even make the exercise meaningless and futile.

Data Gaps

Different data gaps can be grouped under the following sub-

headings:

* General Gaps

* Demography and Literacy

* Infrastructure and Schools Effectiveness

* Enrolment and Repeaters

* Teaching Personnel

* Financial Statistics and

* Miscellaneous Gaps.

31


A.General Gaps

(i) Time-series Data

Lack of time-series data at the district level is an important

limitation of the existing information system. At present district-wise

statistics on selected educational items is available for year 1971-72

and 1977-78 and for the year 1981-82, it is available only for some of

the states. As mentioned, the publication which used to disseminate

district-wise information was discontinued and hence no data is being

disseminated at the district level. The unpublished survey data of

NCERT is available for the years 1973, 1978, 1986 and 1993, which if

made available at single place may help in constructing a time-series

at at least six points of time. On the other hand statistical abstracts of

different States & UTs disseminate educational statistics at district

level but their coverage is too limited to undertake detailed planning

exercises. Also the date of reference vary from state to state and the

information available is scattered and coverage not uniform. Due to

change in boundaries and creation of a number of new districts, the

limited time-series information that is available, is not free from the

limitations.

(ii) Rural/Urban Distribution

Until 1970-71, the whole set of data was available separately for

rural, urban and all areas but the series was discontinued in 1971-72

and revamped in the year 1976-77. Also, whatever data is available

for rural areas is found to be inadequate and basic information on a

good number of variables is simply not available.

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(iii) Administrative Staff

Data on administrative and non-teaching staff is too scanty to be

useful, with the result that the total requirement of personnel and

facilities is difficult to determine.

B. Demography and Literacy

Though population figures are available from the Census publications,

projections of population in the specific age-group and single age `6'

at the state level have been found to be suffering with large margin of

errors (Mehta, 1996,5). At the district level, the projections are rarely

available and if available, not reliable. A number of indicators

required in planning is based on population which if not

available/reliable, may significantly affect the targets which are

required to set-out at different stages of planning. One of the other

important characteristics of population on which information is

obtained in the Census is literacy. In 1991 Census, on the request of

MHRD and Planning Commission, the population aged seven years

and above is classified as literates and illiterates as against five years

and above in the previous Census (see Census of India 1991

publications). At this stage, since data on age-population is not

available, the two Census figures on literacy cannot be compared.

Though, officially the school entrance age is six but studies (NIEPA,

1992, 93,1 & 95) show that a large number of under-age children are

in Grade I which do not justify the change in definition of literacy

which is also supported by NSSO data on Participation in Education

(1991). Also, the future population of age-group 15-35 years is rarely

available on regular basis at the district and its sub-units level.

33


Therefore, it is very difficult to judge the performance of literacy

promotion programmes in terms of its coverage and achievements.

C. Enrolment & Repeaters

One of the important indicators of coverage is Net Enrolment Ratio

which is based on age-grade matrix but is currently not available. In

the absence of which, progress towards UPE and UEE cannot be

judged and monitored efficiently. However, few estimates are

available at the state level but at the district level reliable estimates

are not available.

D. Teaching Personnel

In order to undertake stock of the existing situation with

regards to teachers at different levels, detailed information on number

of teachers with respect to its adequacy, distribution of teachers

according to sex, qualifications, age, training, subjects etc. seperately

in rural and urban areas is required but unfortunately information on

most of these items is simply not available or the same may be

available at the lowest level but is not properly dissminated. In the

absence of adequate data, it is not possible to ascertain whether

teachers are equally distributed in rural and urban areas or the

distribution of female and qualified teachers are even. Amongst

such variables, teachers attrition rate is an important indicator but

not available. In the absence of which, future estimates of teachers

requirement on account of attrition is difficult to obtain. However, on

sample basis some estimates of attrition rates are now available

(NIEPA, 1995). For the first time, the information on the variable is

34


collected in the Sixth All India Educational Survey but the same has

not yet been disseminated.

E. Financial Statistics

Selected Educational Statistics provides budgeted expenditure on

education as aggregate of all levels of education but capital account

budget is not given. Also, budgeted expenditure on education is not

comparable with the data given in the Education in India (Volume II).

The statistics on direct expenditure on education is available by levels

of education where as indirect expenditure is not available by levels.

On the other hand, institutions are classified into primary, middle and

high/higher secondary schools, based on the top class in the school,

which possess serious problems in estimating cost of education by

levels meaningfully.

Miscellaneous Gaps

In addition to the data gaps identified above, there is a limited

or absolutely no data available on the following items;

* Average Daily Attendance in School/College;

* Distribution of Institutions by Capacity and Size and of Classes

by Size and Space;

* Unrecognized Institutions;

* Correspondence Courses;

* Teachers by Age and Qualifications;

* Socio-economic Composition of Enrolment;

* Non-formal Education;

* Information on Scholarships;

* Free Student-ships & Free Concessions;

35


* Mid-day Meals;

* Operation Blackboard Scheme;

* District Institutes of Educational Training;

* Navodaya Vidhyalayas;

* Distance Education;

* Part-time Courses etc..

36


Conclusions

Going through the list of data-gaps identified above, one gets the

impression that the same have been identified time and again in a number of

seminars and conferences organised in the past but to no significant

improvement has been noticed.. However, sporadic attempts have been

made to bridge the gaps on the basis of sample surveys but the same had a

number of limitations in view of its periodicity and coverage. Till the items

on which information is currently missing are included in regular collection

of statistics/all-india educational surveys, the statistics so collected on

sample basis cannot serve the purpose in a manner for which they are

required in planning exercises. It has also been noticed that the existing

missing information on a number of variables is available but the same is

scattered, hence need efforts to integrate different data bases which are in

existence in the country. Time-series data at the district level is one such

gap which can easily be filled-up with the available statistics. Similarly

future information on variables of vital importance can also be generated, if

built-in procedures and routines are developed within the existing

information system. Some of the missing variables have already been

formed part of the Sixth All India Educational Survey conducted by the

NCERT with September 30, 1993 as its date of reference. The functionaries

of those who are currently engaged in data collection work at different

levels unless involved in the formulation of educational plans, the existing

limitations in the information system cannot be improved upon for which

disaggregation at the lowest possible level i.e. either at the institutional or

village level would ensure participation of all concerned at different levels.

Hence. Local-level Information System (LIS) with focus on infrastructural

facilities and classroom interpenetrations would need to be developed.

Various steps have been initiated in the recent past to develop an integrated

Educational Management Information System in the country, which if

37


developed will help us to overcome the limitations and gaps in the existing

information system. Among such efforts, DPEP proposes to develop an

EMIS at the district level which is envisaged to collect information on a

number of missing items but the same would take some more years to fully

develop, as the project is not likely to be expanded to remaining districts of

the country in the near future.

38


39

Final mis project

Education

districtspecific data

statespecific information

dissemination of district

directorate of education

higher education

department of education

village education committee

national level