Available literature says that the system of formal
education started in Sikkim as Monastic education which was based on myths and mystics
of Buddhist Lamaism. This was the education imparted in the monasteries to the
Buddhist children for monkhood. There is no any evidence of formal system of
education in the State other than Monastic Education.
History
The Educational History of South Sikkim
District goes back to 2nd half of the Nineteenth Century. The formal education
started in the district when Christian Missions started schools in the
district. English, Finis and Scottish Missions had very significant
contributions towards the educational beginnings of the district. Vok, Sadam, Namthang, Temi, etc. are some of
the lucky villages of district where these missions worked for education before
the kingdom’s regime thought for the formal education of general children.
The record of the school establishment of the
district shows that Nain Tshering Lepcha (Wak) Government Secondary School is
the oldest government school of the district, which is established during the
regime of the Chogyal Thotub Namgyal in the year 1881A.D. However, Shri Prem
Thulung, a retired Joint Director of Education Department writes in his book
‘Sikkimma Shikshako Vikash (Sangchhipta Parichaya)’ published in the year 1998 ‘…the
senior citizens of the locality remember that Vok School is established in 1890
A.D. by an Englishman, named Makerland.’
The second oldest school of district is Sadam
Government Senior Secondary School. It is established in the year 1887 A.D. As
per Shri Thulung, this school is first established by Scottish Mission in 1886.
The records show that there were only two schools viz. Wak and Sadam in the district till the end of
19th century. Sumbuk Government Secondary School is the next school
that is established in the year 1923 A.D. after Wak and Sadam School.
Slowly and gradually, the education began to
flourish when it crossed the threshold of nineteenth century. The social
workers and general public who fall in the category of little bit well informed
group mobilized the people to establish schools. In this way, the community
schools began to emerge in the district; which were popularly known as
“Committee Schools”. But the progress was quite slow as the conditions of the
people were not good and the prevailing situation of the kingdom was also not
encouraging. However, the Maharaja of Sikkim seemed supportive towards
education. The book ‘Educational Administration in Sikkim’ written by Baldev Mahajan,
Srilekha Majumdar and D.C.Agnihotri and published by NIEPA in 1995, writes “The
royal family of Sikkim took a keen interest in education and considered it to
be a social service; one of the councilors of the royal ‘darbar’ generally
looked after it. In 1920, the Maharaja of Sikkim reorganized the education
department and placed it under the administration of a full-fledged Director of
Education who was assisted by a ‘Board’ under the headship of a President. In
1922, the Education Department was placed under the Judicial Secretary.” However, many of the senior and retired
officials of the department say that in 1950, an officer was given the charge of
the Education Department; in 1953 the first Executive Councilor of the
department was appointed and a full-fledged Director of Education was appointed
only in the year 1954. The first Inspector of Schools was appointed in Sikkim
in 1945.
In between 1880-1945 AD, almost within forty
five years, only ten schools were established in the district. However, after
1945, there was a marked increase in the number of schools and it is
surprisingly increased to 70. The chart given below gives the
details of decade-wise number of State Government schools established in the
district before its merger in Indian Union.
The establishment of schools after 1975 AD
got fillip when Sikkim is merged in Indian Union. The highest numbers of school
are established in the decade of 1976-85 AD. Almost 42% of the total schools of
the district at present are established within this decade. This is considered
as the most fertile period in the history of Education of the district. The
schools established in this decade are with proper mapping and planning and
many of these schools are, at present, upgraded to higher schools. The table
given below throws the light on decadal establishment of schools in the
district after 1975:
Decadal Establishment of State Government Schools
in South Sikkim District after 1975
Decade
|
Numbers of School established
|
Percentage
|
Remarks
|
Upto 1975
|
80
|
34
|
There are
237 State Government Schools in the district at present. The percentage is
calculated on 237.
|
1976-1985
|
94
|
40
|
|
1986-1995
|
36
|
15
|
|
1996-2005
|
14
|
06
|
|
2006-2012
|
13
|
05
|
Source:
DISE
The above table shows that 157 schools are established in
the district after 1975 which is about 66% of the total state government
schools of the district at present. The
table also shows that maximum numbers of schools were established between 1976 and
1985 and there is gradual saturation in subsequent decades.
Regarding the establishment of private
schools in the district, the district has no traces of evidence private schools
before the merger of Sikkim in Indian Union barring some of the community
managed unaided schools. The available records reveal that the establishment of
private schools started only after 1975 AD. A table is given below to show the
decadal growth of private schools in the district.
Establishment
of Private schools in South Sikkim District on Decadal Basis
Decade
|
Numbers of School
established
|
Percentage
|
Remarks
|
Upto 1975
|
0
|
0
|
As above,
the total number of Private Schools in the District is 124 and the percentage
is calculated on 124.
|
1976-1985
|
4
|
03
|
|
1986-1095
|
22
|
18
|
|
1996-2005
|
63
|
51
|
|
2006-2012
|
35
|
28
|
Source:
DISE
The given table shows that the establishment of private
schools was the highest during the decade 1996-2005 AD. The trend of
establishment of private schools is fast growing. The trend of enrolment is
also going high in private schools showing remarkable decline in the enrolment
of government schools. The decline in trend during 2006-2012 is due
to the criteria mandated by the RTE Act for starting of private schools.
The above chart indicates that the establishment of the
government schools began to decline after 1985 and on the contrary,
establishment of private schools got its tempo after the same year. The logic
behind the establishments of government schools are for the provision of
schooling access to the children of different habitations as per the norms of
neighbourhood mapping. However, the establishment of private schools is the
indication of educational awareness and the attainment of affording capacity of
civil society on education of their children.
Involvement of Community and PRIs in School Management
The involvement of community in schooling
process in Sikkim started when the community thought about the formal education
of their children. It was the community who voluntarily came forward to start
the schools in the rural Sikkim. They contributed land, constructed
school buildings and managed the salary of community appointed teachers. These
schools were called Committee Schools as these schools were managed and run by
the Committee.
Contrary to
present form of School Management Committee, there were clear cut division of
responsibilities between the teacher and the school committee. No teachers were
given any portfolio in the school committee and had no saying in the school
managements. They were solely given the
responsibility of curricular works of the school. Any person having command
over the people of the village or respected by the people of the village were
made presidents of the school committees. The presidents of the committees were
considered important persons bearing sole powers and they were the steering
bearer of the school developments. The structure of the school committee was
very simple consisting of only 4-5 members. The post of President was the
important post and one treasurer called khajanchi
worked under the president. The work of the khajanchi
was to keep the accounts and records of the assets of the committee. Very often khajanchi had the duty to visit the parents’ houses to collect
monthly parental contribution for the payment to the teachers.
The curriculum of these community-run schools
was very simple. “Thulo Barnamala”, a book (primer) written by Kashi Bahadur
Shrestha, was the only book for class I, which consist of alphabets, number
charts, simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The medium
of the instruction was Nepali and the board was ‘West Bengal Board of Secondary
Education’ for matriculation. The schools were like present single teacher
school, mostly having one teacher appointed by the school committee. As decided
by the committee, the children used to give rice, cereals, salt, oil,
vegetables etc. to the teacher called “Masterji” as monthly fees.
After Sikkim’s
merger in Indian Union, almost all these community-run schools were taken over
by the government as formal schools. The management of the school was entrusted
to the school-heads and slowly the communities were ignored in the management
of schools. In late 1990s, after the panchayat election of 1997 which was
conducted on the line of the Seventy-Third Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992,
the matter of inclusion of PRIs in the School Management Committee of
elementary schools became mandatory in
the district. Before this, the PRIs were rarely included in the School Managing
Committees. In March 2000, the Director of Education served a Circular vide No. 541/Est/Edn dated 15.3.2000,
just after the reopening of the schools for the academic session 2000-01,
regarding the constitution of School Management Committee in the schools upto
Junior High School level under the chairmanship of concerned school heads. The
circular reads like “… The school managing committee under the
chairmanship of the primary/JHS (Junior High School), Headmaster would include
the local panchayat, a member of the block panchayat, teachers’ representatives
and two parents’ representatives as member… This form of school managing
committee should beset up in the secondary and senior secondary schools, wherein
the Principal/Headmaster will be the chairman and a member of the Zilla
Panchayat will be co-opted along with other school committee members as in
Junior High Schools to help the administration of the school,” which
gives idea about the structure of the school management committee. However, there was no special mention of the
inclusion of women, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe in the School Management
Committee.
The Circular has
also the mentions of responsibilities of School Management Committee in two
spheres viz Administrative and Academic. The responsibilities mentioned in the
circular were as under:
- Administrative:
a.
Attendance and punctuality of
teachers and students.
b.
Maintenance of discipline in
the school. Ensuring proper turnout of the students in the school uniforms.
c.
Maintenance and repairs of the
schools and its compound.
- Academic:
a.
Maintenance of teachers’ diary.
b.
Timely completion of the
syllabus within each semester.
c.
Ensuring homework is given and
checked by the teachers.
d.
Extra classes be organized for
weak students.
Another
beautiful aspect of the circular was the instructions incorporated in it. The
instructions can be summarized as under:
a.
SMC meets once in a month to
discuss administration and review the activities organized in the school
b.
The school heads will submit
quarterly reports of SMC meetings including the proposals for improvement of
school functioning, requirement of furniture, maintenance of school building,
vacancies of teaching and non-teaching staff.
c.
The school heads try to
inculcate in the teachers and students civic sense by getting the school campus
cleaned on regular basis.
d.
The school heads and teachers
educate the children the social obligations by looking after all public
property and developmental schemes undertaken in their areas by the government.
e.
One period a week could be set
aside for extra-curricular activities (Co-scholastic activities)
However, none of
the above statement has mentions about the role of the PRIs in the school management
committee. This shows that the organization was reluctant
to involve PRIs in the management of the school education.
The next
panchayat election was conducted in October 2002. After this election another
development has happened in the composition of school management committee of
elementary schools as it was instructed that the chairman of school management committee
should be the member of PRIs and the school head remain as member secretary of the
committee.
The latest
change in the composition of School Management Committee took place after the
enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009
in the State. The Human Resource Development Department, Government of Sikkim
served a Circular vide Ref. No. 721/l/SPO/SSA/HRDD; dated 27/05/2011 directing
the elementary schools to reconstitute the school management committee as per
the composition norms laid by the Act. The Circular has mentioned that the
constitution of School Management Committee is compulsory in every school,
other than unaided schools and to be reconstituted in every two years. It reads
the following for the composition of new School Management Committee:
1.
75% of the strength of School Management Committee (SMC)
shall be from amongst parents or guardians of children;
2.
Remaining 25% of the strength of the School Management
Committee (SMC) shall be from among the following persons, namely
a)
One-third of members from amongst the elected members of
Local Authority, to be decided by the Local Authority;
b)
One-third members from amongst teachers from the school, to
be decided by the teachers of the school;
c)
Remaining one-third from amongst local educationist whose
children are in the school, to be decided by the parents in the committee;
3.
50% members in total shall be female
To manage
its affairs, the School Management Committee shall elect a Chairperson and Vice
Chairperson from among the parent members. The Head of the School or where the
school does not have a school head, the senior most teacher of the school,
shall be the ex-officio member-convener of the School Management Committee. The
School Management Committee shall meet at least once in a month and the minutes
and decisions of the meetings shall be properly recorded and made available to
the public.
The Circular
also has the mentions about the functions of the School Management Committee.
The excerpt from the Circular is given below:
The School
Management Committee shall perform following functions:
a)
Monitor the working of the school;
b)
Identify the needs, prepare, recommend and monitor the
School Development Plan;
c)
Monitor the utilization of grants received from the
appropriate Government or Local Authority or any other source;
d)
Communicate in simple and creative ways to the population in
the neighbourhood of the school, the rights of the child as enunciated in the
Act; as also duties of State Government, Local Authority, school, parent and
guardian;
e)
Ensure the enrolment and continued attendance of all the
children from the neighbourhood in the school;
f)
Bring to notice of the Local Authority any deviation from
the rights of the child, in particular mental and physical harassment of
children, denial of admission, realizing capitation fee/donation from
students.
g)
Ensure that no teacher shall engage himself or herself in
private tuition or private teaching activity;
h)
Ensure that a teacher appointed shall perform the following
duties:
i.
maintain regularity and punctuality in attending school;
ii.
conduct and complete the curriculum specified by the State
Academic Authority;
iii.
complete entire curriculum within the specified time;
iv.
assess the learning ability of each child and accordingly
supplement additional instructions, if any, as required;
v.
hold regular meetings with parents and guardians and apprise
them about the regularity in attendance, ability to learn, progress made in
learning and any other relevant information about the child.
i)
Monitor the identification and enrolment of, and facilities
for learning by disabled children, and ensure their participation in, and
completion of elementary education;
j)
Monitor the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal and quality
of education in the school;
k)
Prepare an annual account of receipts and expenditure of the
school.
This is the
first Circular served by the department which has clear mentions about the
roles and functions of School Management Committee. In addition, the Secondary
and Senior Secondary Schools having elementary classes should have separate
School Management Committee for elementary level as per the composition norms
laid by the RTE Act.
It has been
found in various researches that the active involvement of community (parents) and
PRIs (Local Authority) in school management increases the efficiency of the
school. There are lots of examples in the district how community contributed to
schools. The community and PRIs have constructed buildings to meet up shortage
of classrooms, constructed playground, pavilion, footpaths, engaged volunteer
teachers during the shortage of teachers in the school, donated land for school
establishment, donated materials like cements, rods, etc. for school repair, etc.
On the other hand, it is also important that the school should welcome and
encourage their involvement in school management. The community hardly refuses
to be the part of school management because they know that their children are
being benefitted because of their involvement. However, the school needs to
make them feel how their contributions have increased the school performance
like increase in children’s attendance and punctuality in the class, increase
in children’s achievement levels, increase in children’s retention in the
school, increase in participation of girl children in school, etc. The most
important point is that the degree of their contribution depends on the
accessibility provided by the schools for their involvement in school
management.
References:
1.
Government
of India (2009). The Right of Children
to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. New Delhi.
2.
Government of Sikkim (2006). The Sikkim Panchayat Manual – A compilation
of Notifications relating to Panchayats in Sikkim 1993 – 2006. Gangtok:
Rural Development Management and Development Department.
3. Government
of Sikkim. (2010). The
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010. Gangtok: Human Resource
Development Department.
4.
Government of Sikkim. Annual Work Plan & Budget (2003
to 2012). Namchi: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Human Resource Development
Department, South Sikkim.
5.
Government of Sikkim. Circulars.
Gangtok: Human Resource Development Department.
6.
Government of Sikkim. Reports generated
by DISE (District Elementary System for Education) (2003 to 2012). Namchi:
Human Resource Development Department.
7.
Mahajan, Baldev; Majumdar, Shrilekha &
Agnihotri, DC, (1995) Educational Administration in Sikkim (Structures,
Processes and Future Prospects), New Delhi, National Institute of
Educational Planning and Administration.
8.
Thulung,Prem. (1998). Sikkimma Shikshako
Vikas (Sanchhipta Parichaya), Namchi: Prem Thulung, Thulung House, Boomtar
Namchi.
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