Evaluation Of Ashram Schools In Odisha

Abstract

In pursuance of the directives of the constitution and the special provisions made there in for the scheduled tribes, the Government of India have been implementing special programmes for the socio-economic development of the tribal groups.Ashram Schools (ASs) are one of the most important intervention mechanisms of the Indian government to promote education among the tribal population. Ashram schools have been viewed as effective institutions to meet the educational needs of tribal children and aims at reducing the incidence of student absenteeism in school, improve the standard of education at the primary level and reduce burden of their parents from incurring expenditure on their children's education. The evaluation study has been undertaken focusing on Ashram School Programmes in imparting general and formal education, vocational education, role of teachers and parents in educating tribal children, role of SMC and PRI members for enhancement of quality of education, raising level of standard/performance of students, providing school environment, safety and security of boarders, participation in curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and the overall functioning of Ashram Schools. The study covered 27 schools from 6 districts and the findings highlights that Ashram schools have helped a lot in improving the educational attainment of tribal students. Besides,standard of the students and performance of students was assessed by conducting different types of tests on English, Odia, Math and Social Science and on the basis of marks obtained in the last annual examination conducted by the school respectively and It was found that overall the Ashram schools are functioning as per the guidelines and meeting the desired objectives. The evaluation study has also recommended certain administrative as well as policy reforms and suggests that immediate action need to be taken for infrastructure development and human resources of Ashram Schools by the SSD department, Government of Odisha to achieve greater success of Ashram school programme