The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Primary Education : A Study of Six NGOs in India
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) extend education to underprivileged children in India, and develop innovations that improve the quality of primary education. In this study of six NGOs working with school-age children in India, the author shows...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/01/891730/role-nongovernmental-organizations-primary-education-study-six-ngos-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19714 |
| Summary: | Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
extend education to underprivileged children in India, and
develop innovations that improve the quality of primary
education. In this study of six NGOs working with school-age
children in India, the author shows the potential benefits
of a government-NGO alliance to achieve universal primary
education. The author emphasizes several areas in which
collaboration can be particularly fruitful. 1) Targeting
under-served children: The Government could support the
efforts of NGOs to bring out-of-school children into
schools, through timely supply of teachers, classroom space,
and other resources. Targeted action is needed to reach
different types of out-of-school children - those who work,
those who live in slums, those on the street, those who are
members of tribes, or of migrant families, and those who
live in places without schools. To encourage young,
first-generation learners to stay in school, requires a
supportive, and nurturing environment. To help make learning
interesting, and worthwhile for such children, teachers in
government schools could receive special training in new
methods developed by NGOs. 2) Enhancing quality: Improving
the quality of education requires working closely with key
agents of change, such as teachers, school heads, school
management committees, and village education committees. To
develop a cadre of trainers for primary school teachers,
teacher training institutes would do well to evaluate, and
learn from NGO models for teacher training. Teachers need a
range of knowledge, and skills to teach underprivileged
children effectively. Here again, NGO models would be a
useful tool for teacher training institutes. NGOs, and the
government could collaborate in developing appropriate, and
flexible learning assessment tools, in line with innovative
teaching, and learning methods. But without safeguards,
large-scale replication by the government of such NGO
innovations as the "alternative school" and the
"voluntary teacher" could lower the quality of
education. 3) Government-NGO links: The Government and NGOs
will need to share a common vision on how to achieve
universal primary education if India is to reach this goal.
NGOs can be credible partners with the government in shaping
policies for primary education. This entails collaboration,
rather than parallel initiatives by NGOs. To stay at the
cutting edge in education, NGOs should continually evaluate,
and refine their models. If NGOs are to play a policy role
in education, two areas that have been neglected will need
to be addressed - NGO capacity building, and organizational development. |
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