CPI(M) To Accelerate Process Of Universal Education In Bengal

B Prasant

THE Bengal unit of the CPI(M) has resolved to ensure that no child above five years would remain outside of the schools and education centres in the state. The Bengal CPI(M) has also decided that the mid-day meal scheme existing in schools would be further expanded and the infrastructural facilities of the schools further improved in a planned manner. 

The resolutions were adopted at a meeting where the district leadership of the CPI(M) and functionaries of the different mass fronts were in attendance.  State CPI(M) leaders present at the meeting were: Shyamal Chakraborty (who presided over the meeting), Surjya Kanta Mishra, Madan Ghosh, Dipak Dasgupta, and Kanti Biswas.

The meeting took up in some detail the universal education drive under way in Bengal and looked at the points of strength and weakness. It was decided that during the school entrance session from May 2 to June 30, it must be ensured that no child above five years was left outside of schools and education centres.  It was also resolved that efforts in the direction would be initiated from the grass roots’ tier of the Bengal CPI(M) and of the mass fronts.

During discussions, the problems of accommodation, toilets, and potable water supply came up.  If any problems remained in these sectors, utilisation should be made of funds that are available with the state Left Front government by the school authorities to provide schools and education centres with proper infrastructure that would discourage student from staying away.

The discussion highlighted the fact that the ongoing mid-day meal scheme in schools had been quite effective in preventing dropouts. However, strict monitoring was called for in the task of keeping the children in schools throughout the academic sessions.  The village education committees and the ward education committees have an important role to play here.

Earlier, it had been decided to set up child education centres in isolated areas and secondary education centres in areas where there were no junior high schools and secondary schools.  Subsequently, the state Left Front government had gone on to establish primary, junior high, and secondary schools in these areas. The continuation of two sets of educational institutions has created problems. The meeting resolved to ensure that the problem was tackled through shifting of the pattern of education centres currently existing.

It was decided to scientifically set up an education structure that took consonance of the population density and infrastructure available.  An ‘educational institution map’ was drawn up in this regard.  The map would delineate the educational institutions from the level of child education centres to colleges and libraries in a particular area.

It was decided to bring within the fold of non-formal education those of the young boys and girls of the 9-14 years age group who could not be made part of the formal education structure. The marginal stagnation noted in the spread of the literacy movement was taken note of and it was resolved to strengthen the movement further. It was also decided to run a larger number of non-formal education centres for the young and the old in the districts in a coordinated manner.

At a time when large numbers of children from poor families have entered the portals of education, it was necessary to assist the students with continuous coaching and tuition, and to ensure that adequate teaching staff was available.  Voluntary teaching could be gone in for where the number of the teaching staff was not adequate for the purpose.  The meeting called for making a success of the drive for universal education in Bengal involving not merely units of the CPI(M) but also of the different mass fronts.