Maharashtra to form school clusters to improve education

Yogita Rao
Now, clusters of five schools will be able to decide their own teaching methods and activities for students of classes IX to XII. The state’s school education department is planning to set up think-tank committees to implement quality improvement programmes at the grass-root level. Each cluster will have its own think-tank committee to bring about a change in the quality of secondary and higher secondary education.
The strategy, proposed by the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada), has been accepted by the state and will soon be implemented. Yashada is the state’s administrative training institute and is helping it improve the quality of secondary education under the Centre’s Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikshan Abhiyaan (RMSA). RMSA is a programme similar to the Sarva Shikshan Abhiyaan (SSA), aimed at improving higher secondary education.
Nandkumar, state project director for the Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad, said, “State officials have liked the model proposed to us by Yashada and we are looking at implementing it. Currently several officials, including teachers, are being trained in the institute. These teachers will then act as resource persons for each cluster.”
The cluster coordinators will set up their own think-tank committees. These committees will decide on different quality improvement programmes at different levels. “They will introduce different activities, use of new and innovative teaching aids, etc. The measures will be mainly aimed at high quality achievement. Quality is not just determined by marks scored in Board exams but aims at improving students’ understanding of the subjects,” said Nandkumar. Periodical training will also be provided to resource persons under the same programme.
Several other projects have been proposed under the RMSA for quality improvement. Some of them are awaiting the Centre’s approval. A proposal for digitised textbooks and bring about a major change in the curriculum is still pending with the Centre.