How schools function in the districts affected by left-wing extremism in India

Abstract

Purpose – The present paper provides an educational status related to instructional days at elementary level in the districts identified as focus districts of left-wing extremism (LWE). The focus districts are those which have high intensity and presence of LWE. Educational development is not only influenced by the LWE, but many others, such as socio-economic, political and cultural, etc. Accordingly no direct correlations can be drawn between low educational development or otherwise with the influence of LWE. However, instructional days in school is an important physical indicator on school functioning. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on the secondary analysis of District Information System for Education (DISE) data, which provides comprehensive information of school-based indicators, facility indicators, enrollment based indicators and teacher-related indicators for every year. The DISE data relating to number of instructional days for the years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010 is studied among the districts identified as LWE districts. For the purpose of analysis, the number of days is classified into seven categories, and the schools functioning at district level is analyzed. Findings – Education is critical in the LWE districts, which are areas with low literacy, large percentage of rural and backward sections of population. It was found that though there is an apparent improvement in the schools functioning, still number of schools fell under the category low/non-functional schools. In two out of five years, other districts had significantly lower average instructional days than focus districts. Hence, in terms of instructional days the situation is not all that bad. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on the secondary analysis of the DISE data. A large data related to number of students goes unaccounted and unregistered. The data is analyzed on mean instructional days at district level. Further down at sub-district and village level could provide a much more realistic picture. Originality/value – The research paper analyzes the number of instructional days, which is an indicator that provides the basic empirical information related to schools functioning. Before policy makers can think of quality, it is pertinent to know whether the schools are working for the number of days that they are expected to. As of now hardly any study has taken place to provide information on the LWE districts in relation to elementary education.