w w w. c p r i n d i a. o r g

w w w. c p r i n d i a. o r g

Are Government Schools Monitored Effectively? Public Accountability and Governance in Education

Focus of the Study To understand the institutional structures and mechanisms of government monitoring To capture perceptions of monitoring from frontline officials District Block School To analyze the institutional framework based on the structure and processes, status of schools and perceptions of frontline officials

Broad Findings Monitoring is implicit the larger role of the department officials not separately defined Monitoring is ineffectual, as evident from status of schools and high proportion of pending issues found in each school Institutional arrangements are marked by Incoherence in structures and processes Lack of ownership of roles and responsibilities by frontline officials Lack of an enabling environment and inadequacy of resources at lower levels of the bureaucracy Missing or misplaced accountabilities throughout the system

Understanding the structure and processes of monitoring Who are the monitors? What do they monitor? How do they monitor? What are the feedback and follow up processes? What action is taken on the monitoring reports?

Survey Sample Level Interviewee Numbers Sample School Head Teacher 166 Rural Urban Cluster Cluster Resource Person 48 Himachal Pradesh (81.85%)* Odisha (70.22%)* Rajasthan (61.44%)* Delhi (86.32%)* Bangalore (88.61%)* Block Block Resource Persons Block Officer Education 20 19 District District Project Coordinator 4 *Literacy rates District Education 7 Officer Total 264

Institutional Structure Implementing Structure Monitoring Structure Department SSA Department SSA National MHRD MHRD State Education Secretaries & Project Directors JRM by GoI Regional State Principal Secretary SIS (SPD) MI District DEO DIET DIS ( DPC) Block BEO BRC BRC Cluster CRC CRC Community State Coordinators District Level Committee Village Level Committee

For the Department the role of monitoring is implicit in overall responsibilities For SSA there is a separate monitoring structure, but most of it is to be found on the internet rather than on the field. The areas that each structure monitors have been separated Department looks at establishment matters [admin, salaries, appointments, service matters] SSA looks at programme implementation [teaching, learning, infrastructure, quality, MDM]

State Innovations RAJASTHAN S SAMBHALAN What is Sambhalan? In 2013, the Government of Rajasthan initiated a statewide monitoring mechanism for evaluating quality of learning. This is known as SAMBHALAN Who does it involve? Officials from the Education Department and SSA, Collectorate, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Social Welfare and Revenue jointly monitor roughly 11,000 schools every year What is monitored? Reading and writing abilities through tests on the following: Child who is not able to answer any questions Child who requires some support in answering questions Child who is able to answer questions on his own without any support Ranking of schools is prepared ODISHA S SAMIKSHA [Samakhya] What is Samiksha? In 2010, the Department of School and Mass Education (DSME) Odisha initiated a state-wide monitoring mechanism for evaluating the overall quality of the school. This is known as SAMIKSHA Who does it involve? 4800 Cluster Resource Coordinators & other field functionaries from SSA and the Education Department monitor 40,000 elementary schools every month What is monitored? 51 indicators have been included in the Samiksha process [down from a previous list of 80] These include: Key Performance Areas such as: School Environment CCE & Sahaj (Reading and Writing Campaign) Other Curricular Components School Community Linkages School Management MDM Programme

Who is monitoring the schools? District Education Officer Block Education Officer Block Resource Coordinator Cluster Resource Coordinator Average number of government schools each official is in charge of Himachal Pradesh CRC BRC BEO DEO 6 87 133 1766 Odisha 13 223 233 2586 Rajasthan 8 138 206 1399 Delhi 47 421 30 114 Bangalore 43 108 113 NA

Schools as % of total sample 80% 70% 60% % O F S C H O O L S T H A T H A D A V I S I T B Y M O N I T O R I N G O F F I C I A L S 78% 67% 57% 50% 40% 39% 30% 20% 10% 0% 12% 9% 2% 1% 1% 13% 5% 2%

What do they monitor? % OF OFFICIALS WHO MONITOR THE FOLLOWING INDICATORS CRC BRC BEO DEO D ISCRIMINA TION 0% 21% 14% OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN 0% 63% 29% MDM 88% 95% 71% FINA NCE 83% 95% 89% 57% INFRASTRUCTURE 98% 86% QUALITY OF TEACHING 96% 95% 86% QUALITY OF LEARNING 96% 86% TEACHER A TTENDANCE 92% 85% 71% CHILDREN'S ATTENDANCE 98% 71% There is almost no attention to actual quality of learning and monitoring what is happening inside the classroom.- HT Kumbhalgarh

How do they monitor? HOW DOES THE OFFICIAL CHECK CHILDREN ATTENDANCE? CRC BRC BEO DEO CHECK BEFORE A ND A FTER MDM 8% 20% 32% 0% A SK HT/ TEACHER 42% 25% 42% 29% COUNT MANUALLY 69% 75% 84% 71% LOOK AT REGISTER 92% 95% 89% 71% HOW DOES THE OFFICIAL CHECK TEACHER ATTENDANCE? CRC BRC BEO DEO A SK CHILDREN 19% 30% 42% 14% A SK HT 27% 40% 42% 29% COUNT MANUALLY 54% 45% 68% 71% LOOK AT REGISTER 85% 90% 71%

How do they monitor? HOW DOES OFFICIAL CHECK QUALITY OF LEARNING? CRC BRC BEO DEO LOOK AT TEACHERS' ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN 65% 80% 68% 57% LOOK AT NOTEBOOKS 85% 95% 95% 86% GIVE A TEST 54% 85% 68% 71% HOW DOES THE OFFICIAL CHECK QUALITY OF TEACHING? CRC BRC BEO DEO A SK HT 42% 70% 58% 29% A SK STUDENTS 63% 55% 68% 43% LOOK AT TEACHER D IARY 77% 95% 95% 71% CLASSROOM OBSERVATION 90% 90% 86%

How do they monitor? HOW DOES THE OFFICIAL CHECK INFRASTRUCTURE? CRC BRC BEO DEO CLEANLINESS 96% 86% A D EQUATE NUMBER OF TOILETS 69% 90% 84% 86% SEPARATE TOILETS 85% 90% 89% 86% WATER AND SANITATION 98% 86% On reporting problem of incomplete school building: Bataane se kya fayda HT, Koraput

Recording Observations from Personal Visits in formats A significant number of observations are recorded, in various monitoring formats Ex: Samikhya in Odisha has 51 indicators in 6 thematic areas Ex : Himachal Pradesh has a Monitoring cum Mentoring Format

But not recording all information either Ex. Monitoring formats rarely capture test scores given by monitoring officials Does the official include test scores of children in the school monitoring format? BRC 50% 50% Yes CRC 27% 48% No 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Some observations recorded in school registers only % of schools where officials record monitoring visits with signature/comments in the registers Himachal Pradesh CRC 45% 10% 31% 92% Odisha BRC 42% 26% 6% 92% Rajasthan Delhi BEO 30% 15% 0 33% 75% Bangalore DEO 14% 0 0 66% 34%

General comments recorded by visiting official

General comments recorded by visiting official

Leaving a record in the school Not all schools have a copy of the officials monitoring report based on the personal visit % of schools that had a copy of the officials' monitoring reports CRC 24% 30% 90% 83% 0 Himachal Pradesh Odisha BRC 25% 79% 14% 50% 17% Rajasthan Delhi BEO 30% 62% 13% 83% 0 Bangalore DEO 0 67% 66% 0

Number of formats filled by each official Aggregate number of formats filled by each official State CRC BRC BEO DEO Himachal Pradesh 17 8 4 0 Odisha 17 5 1 3 Rajasthan 7 10 3 1 Delhi 7 1 Bangalore 17 6 2 NA 1 1 Thus, the total number of formats reaching the block office is humungous! For instance, in Himachal Pradesh, the formats just for our sample is 12 (Number of clusters)*17 (No. of formats filled by CRC) + 4 (Number of Blocks)*8 (Number of formats filled by BRC) + 4(Number of Blocks)* 4 (Number of formats filled by BEO) +12(Number of clusters) * 19 (Number of formats filled by HT not captured in CRC details of formats) = 480 (for just 48 schools). Unko (DEEO) kagazon mein bandh diya hain - BRCC, HP

Information BOOOOM MDM Utilization Certificate School Monitoring Format Model Calculation Sheet Finance School Grading Population Data Quarterly Report on School Quality Dimension Form Annual Compilation Report Baseline & Endline Results Achievement Test Children s Uniform & Fee Distribution Village Education Register Establishment IRDP Scholarship Infrastructure SMC Resolution & Pay Claim CWSN SC/ST SC/ST Stipend Form CTS Sahaj School Development Plan Tablets Books Inspection Report Quality Monitoring Report DISE Monthly School Review Surprise Visit Format Quality Performance Review School Mapping School Learning Gap Health Consumption Format Enrolment Tour Diary Mashik Talika Cluster Monitoring Format CCE School Information System Computer Aided Learning WIFS Special Training Centre Format Block Monitoring Format

% of officials What happens to information collected? 90% 80% 70% P R O P O R T I O N O F O F F I C I A L S W H O S A I D R E V I E W M E E T I N G S A R E H E L D 80% 69% 89% 60% 50% 43% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% CRC - Block level BRC - District level BEO - District level DEO - State level

But... Rarely is there discussion of monitoring visits in the review meetings The agenda of each meeting is predetermined and relates to routine administration matters As far as all this paper work is concerned we don t know the details and consequences of this data. Such as who is analyzing, where is it being analyzed and what are they doing with the data that is being analyzed HT, HP There should be a karvai on the monitoring report that officials make CRC Rajasthan In the current system, the CHT/CRC is asked to supply data constantly. Is it a part of monitoring?

Fixed Timelines No? A R E T H E R E F I X E D T I M E L I N E S F O R A C T I O N? ( A S P E R H E A D T E A C H E R ) 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 87% 88% Himachal Pradesh 7% 8% 66% 2% Odisha Rajasthan Delhi Bangalore Yes No 92% 8% 0% There is no time bound program; have written 12 times for playground but there is no action. HT Kumbhalgarh

Fixed Timelines Yes? T I M E L I N E S F O R F O L L O W U P A N D A C T I O N ( A S P E R S S A O F F I C I A L ) CRC BRC 200% 180% 160% 140% 120% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 72% 75% 50% Himachal Pradesh 83% 83% 92% 83% 50% Odisha Rajasthan Delhi Bangalore

Pending issues in schools Pending issues in schools Shortage of teachers Infrastructure related problems Finance related problems Himachal Pradesh 60% 81% 30% 9% Problem of textbooks Odisha 87% 98% 73% 19% Rajasthan 38% 79% 13% 6% Delhi 58% 75% 17% 33% Bangalore 58% 50% 67% 8% We are all waiting for this building to collapse on its own so that atleast then the officials will listen to us and we will get a new building HT Rajasthan

Status of Schools Himachal Pradesh Odisha Rajasthan Delhi Bangalore CLASSROOM FOR EVERY CLASS 30% 8% 23% 92% 67% BOUNDARY WALL 57% 15% 51% 92% 92% PLAYGROUND 51% 12% 28% 83% 42% ELECTRICITY 85% 25% 40% CLEAN DRINKING WATER 85% 75% 74% 92% SEPARATE ROOM FOR TEACHERS 34% 6% 19% 58% 8% FUNCTIONA L TOILETS 72% 21% 55% 67% There has been no change because of monitoring. We have gone up till the BEO. God knows if he takes it forward. We can only hope. HT Rajasthan

1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105 109 113 117 121 125 129 133 137 141 PTR Teacher positions Teacher for every class 5% Multigrade teaching in rural primary schools Teacher for every class, 15% Multigrade teaching in rural upper primary schools 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Multigrade classrooms 95% PTR (Rural) Multigrade classrooms, 85% If each class doesn t have a teacher, education will not be effective. HT, Koraput

Institutional factors that disable effective monitoring Internal Incoherence in structure and processes, especially at lower levels of the bureaucracy Lack of ownership of roles and responsibilities by front line officials Inadequate resources and lack of an enabling environment at lower levels of the bureaucracy Missing or Misplaced Accountability throughout the system

Incoherent structure Parallel structure of SSA and the Department with little convergence of coordination of information SSA as Society and Department as State with implications for taking action Confused Authority structures There is also a gap because of the separation of 2 departments i.e. Project SSA and the Department of Education. There is no synchronization between the two. BRC HP Can tell CRCs for implementation but cannot take action against the CRCs because they are not authorized to do so, and by position, the CHTs are senior than the BRCs. There is very little monitoring of the CRCs. The BRC sees their records in schools. BRC HP

Incoherent norms Presence of norms against which the monitors inspect Discrimination Out Of School Children 0% 0% 14% MDM 13% 35% 11% 14% Finance Infrastructure 8% 8% 20% 20% 5% 5% 29% 29% CRC BRC BEO Quality of teaching 10% 25% 5% 14% DEO Quality of learning 15% 25% 5% 14% Teacher attendance 6% 25% 5% 14% Children attendance 6% 20% 42% 29% There are guidelines only for the Reading Campaign. BEO Rajasthan

Differing norms within states Norm according to BRC for monitoring visits to schools (Himachal Pradesh) District Kangra District Kullu Dharamshala Nurpur Naggar Banjar BRC 1 Each school once a month No fixed criteria 10-15 schools a month No fixed criteria BRC 2 Each school once a month 10 schools a month 2 schools a month

School Visits as stated by each official CRC BRC BEO DEO As per norm stated by each official Himachal Pradesh 42% 43% 25% 50% Odisha 42% 33% 0 50% Rajasthan 83% 50% 50% 50% Delhi 50% 0 57% Bangalore 50% 50% 50% 0 Below Norm as stated by each official Himachal Pradesh 50% 57% 50% 0 Odisha 58% 67% 50% 0 Rajasthan 17% 50% 50% 0 Delhi 33% 14% 0 Bangalore 50% 50% 50% NA There are insufficient resources and so it is not possible to do monitoring according to norms. BEO Kishanganj

No knowledge of norms % of officials who did not know the norm for school visits or did not respond CRC 8% 017% 0 Himachal Pradesh Odisha BRC 0 Rajasthan BEO 25% 50% 0 29% 0 Delhi Bangalore DEO 50% 50% 50% 0

Incoherent information system Poor understanding of data and evidence at front line levels Poor design of formats Poor quality of information collected Poor use of information As far as all this paper work is concerned, we don t know the details and consequences of this data that we keep sending, such as who is analyzing it, where it is being analyzed and what are they doing with the data that is being analyzed. HT HP There are too many indicators in the Samikhya format. BEO Odisha

Indicators on the Samakhya format

Samakhya formats filled by CRC; illustrates example of same data recorded over 4 consecutive visits; Teacher problem, Boundary wall and Playground problem

EMIS [Education Management Information System] or TMIS [Too Much Information System]? Do you end up duplicating information in many places/ formats? - Yes CRC BRC BEO DEO Himachal Pradesh 75% 72% 25% 50% Odisha 33% 25% 25% 0 Rajasthan 50% 33% 50% Delhi 50% 14% 0 Bangalore 67% 50% 0 NA Even adequate data is not there. And collecting data is useless because there is no action. BRC Kangra

Information not put to adequate use Review Meetings at the block or district level do not refer to information collected during monitoring process; instead agenda at these meetings is pre-determined and revolves around administrative matters alone. Monitoring information is not used for purposes of planning either. Instead the DISE data capture format is used as the planning tool Schools send prastavs through the SMCs, but there are already targets of DPCs and so there is no meaning of the prastavs. BEO Rajasthan

No of schools No of schools No of schools No of schools Divergence from DISE 20 18 No of monitoring visits made by the CRC (Himachal Pradesh) 35 No of monitoring visits made by the BRC (Odisha) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 Survey DISE 30 25 20 15 10 5 Survey DISE 0 0 visits 1 visit 2 visits 3 visits 4 visits 5 visits More than 5 visits 0 0 visits 1 visit 2 visits 3 visits 4 visits 5 visits More than 5 visits Are there separate toilets for boys and girls? (Odisha) Is there clean drinking water? (Delhi) 50 14 45 40 12 35 10 30 25 20 Survey DISE 8 6 Survey DISE 15 4 10 5 2 0 Yes No They don t ask details about water, cleaning facilities for toilets so they don t really give anything to make it functional or take any action on their own. HT Rajasthan 0 Yes No

Lack of ownership of roles and responsibilities Poor role definition : Are they monitors or mentors? CRCs see themselves as resource people, providing academic support not as monitors.. Teachers also view them as mentors not monitors I am a resource person, I am imparting knowledge, I am imparting training to teachers also CRC, Odisha I am happy to go back to teaching I am not here to change the system, as I am not capable of changing the system instead the system itself is changing me.. BRC, HP. The HT has no power. The CRC is only a middleman and consolidates data. The BRC is a teacher like us. The BPO also only takes data to the Dy. Director. However, the Dy. Director has the power to bring change. HT HP

Lack of ownership Misplaced priorities Dak ki monitoring zaroor ho rahi hain (Information is definitely being monitored) BEO,HP Additional charges and additional responsibilities More than 50% of BEOs had additional charges ; I am not satisfied with my own monitoring of schools since most of my time is consumed by paper work like I have to take care of arrears and increment cases, I have to prepare for court cases and I don t have any help there, I also need to travel to Shimla and Kullu as and when required BEO, HP I don t like the role of CRC. I am just a messenger. I have no role CRC, Odisha

Lack of Ownership Autonomy and Agency I am a snake without poison. I can only hiss. Do you take action on the spot? - Yes CRC BRC BEO DEO Himachal Pradesh 17% 43% 50% 50% Odisha 0 25% 25% 50% Rajasthan 17% 33% 50% 50% Delhi 0 0 0 0 Bangalore 0 0 0 When I revisit a school and the teacher asks me where is the boundary wall you said you would make. I get offended and feel helpless ABEO, Odisha

Inadequate Resources Do you have sufficient resources for monitoring? -Yes CRC BRC BEO DEO Himachal Pradesh 17% 43% 25% 0 Odisha 25% 0 0 50% Rajasthan 9% 33% 0 Delhi 16% 0 14% 0 Bangalore 17% 0 50% NA If there is no capacity, you can keep on doing monitoring but it will make no difference. HT kishanganj

Inadequate Human Resources Himachal Pradesh (4 offices) Sanctioned number In position Vacancy (% as share of sanctioned posts in parantheses) 46 25 21 (46%) Odisha (3 offices) 35 29 6 (17%) Rajasthan (3 offices) 58 25 33 (57%) Delhi (7 offices)* NR NR NR Bangalore (2 offices) 34 32 2 (6%) There is resource misallocation. There is enough money in the system but it is not being utilized properly. - CRC Borigumma

Inadequate Physical Resources Separate office Computer in office Photocopying machine Fax machine Regular internet Vehicle Regular electricity CRC Himachal Pradesh 67% 0 0 0 0 0 83% Odisha 58% 8% 0 0 0 0 8% Rajasthan 25% 0 0 0 0 0 25% Delhi 67% 0 0 0 0 0 83% Bangalore 33% 0 0 0 0 0 33% BRC Himachal Pradesh 29% 0 57% 0 Odisha 75% 75% 0 0 75% Rajasthan 83% 83% 83% 0 Delhi 0 0 Bangalore 0 0 0 BEO Himachal Pradesh 75% 25% 0 0 Odisha 50% 75% 75% 50% 75% 0 Rajasthan 50% 0 0 50% Delhi 71% 86% 86% 43% 86% 29% 86% Bangalore 50% 0 DEO Himachal Pradesh Odisha 50% Rajasthan Delhi 50% 50% Bangalore NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

Inadequate training % O F O F F I C I A L S W H O R E C E I V E D T R A I N I N G O N B E I N G A P P O I N T E D A S A D M I N I S T R A T O R S 60% 54% 50% 40% 30% 30% 32% 20% 14% 10% 0% CRC BRC BEO DEO

Misplaced Accountabilities Do you fix responsibilities for lapses found on monitoring visits (Education Department) DEO BEO Himachal Pradesh Learning levels Quality of teaching Teacher attendance Infrastructu re Children attendance Out of school children Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 50% 0 50% 0 Odisha 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 0 Rajasthan 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% Delhi 50% 50% 50% 50% Bangalore NA NA NA NA NA NA Himachal Pradesh 75% 75% 75% 50% 75% 25% Odisha 75% 75% 75% 75% 75% 50% Rajasthan 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% Delhi 86% Bangalore

Misplaced Accountabilities Who is responsible for lapses found in schools? Answer by frontline officials (in this order): Parents Community SMC Teacher Little acceptance of responsibility or introspection of responsibilities within the adminstration; tendency to pass the buck especially on to the community

Perceived Impact on School Functioning Does monitoring have an impact on school functioning? - Yes HT CRC BRC BEO DEO Himachal Pradesh 51% 67% 71% 75% 50% Odisha 52% 75% 50% 50% Rajasthan 51% 50% 50% 50% 50% Delhi 75% 83% 86% Bangalore 67% 50% 50% NA If they don t come, we will become lazy; we will not know if we are right or wrong HT Kumbhalgarh

Perception of Monitoring Exercise Has monitoring become a data-gathering exercise? - Yes HT CRC BRC BEO DEO Himachal Pradesh 43% 75% 43% 75% 50% Odisha 58% 33% 0 0 50% Rajasthan 41% 67% 16% 0 Delhi 42% 50% 0 0 0 Bangalore 59% 83% 50% 0 NA

Conclusion Monitoring as an important part of governance has not been adequate conceived of by the administration and appropriate institutional arrangements for its effective functioning are therefore not in place. Frontline capacities are woefully inadequate to the tasks expected at those levels Incoherence in structures, norms, role definition, information systems mark the institutional arrangements at lower levels of the bureaucracy Misplaced or missing accountabilities, lack of resources and support and lack of ownership of roles or of the policies add to the poor capacities to perform at frontline levels