PROBLEMS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION AMONG THE CHILDREN OF

COALMINERS: A STUDY IN MARGHERITA SUBDIVISION OF TINSUKIA

DISTRICT OF ASSAM.

XIX Refresher Course in Education

14 febuary to 6 march 2017

Submitted By

Mrs. Pratibha Bezbaruah

Roll no 03

Asst Professor Deptt. Of Education Margherita college

Tinsukia , Assam
INTRODUCTION:

It has been universally accepted that education is the major input to human resource development and primary
education constitutes a very important part of the entire structure. At this stage, the child starts going to a formal
institution. The education which he or she receives there, provides the foundation of physical, mental, emotional,
intellectual and social development. Sound primary education gives a fillip to sound secondary and higher education. “It
(Primary education) is not concerned with any class or groups, but has to deal with the entire population of the country. It
touches life at every point and it has to do most with the formation of national ideology and character than any single
activity- social, political, or educational. Most of us who are concerned with the great work of primary education should
therefore visualize its problems and objectives, not in the context of the dark, dingy buildings but against the background
of its ultimate ends and purposes.”( Saiyadin, K. G.: 1962 )

The various artic le sof Indian Constitution provide for education as fundamental right. Article 45 of our
Constitution has laid down the provision for making available the opportunities for free and compulsory primary
education for all children up to the age of fourteen years. In order to fulfill this constitutional liability, primary education
becomes the joint responsibility of the Central Government, various State Governments, various Local Bodies as well as
Voluntary Organizations.

The real expansion of primary education started after passing of the Primary Education Act of 1947. The State
Primary Education Board was formed in that year. In Assam also many acts like the Primary Education Act of1947,
Basic Education Act of 1954, Assam Panchayati Act of 1959, Assam Elementary Education Act of 1962, Assam
Panchayati Raj Act of 1972, Primary Education Act of 1974 were passed with aview to impart the free and
compulsory primary education. A separate Directorate of Elementary Education was created in 1977 by the Govt. of
Assam. The National Policy of Education( 1968, 1986, 1992) recommended a number of schemes for universalization
of elementary education. National Literacy Mission (NLM) also played an active role in eradication of illiteracy
throughout the country. The Operation Black Board Sche me came into force to ensure the provisions of minimum
essential facilities in school materials as well as learning equipments. During Eighth Five Year Plan, two other major
initiatives were also taken- one being the District Primary Education Programme(DPEP) and the other being
NutritionalSupport to Primary Education( Mid Day Meal). The District Primary Education Programme was followed
by Sarba Shiksha Abhiyan in 2002 which is the biggest ever national plan for primary education in the country. It
involves the Central and the State Governments and the community as a whole. The present milestone for the progress of
primary education in our country is the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act passed by the Indian
parliament on 4th August 2009. This Act describes the modalities of free and compulsory education and India became one
of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the Act came into force on 1st April 2010.

1. NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY:

Due to the various efforts mentioned above, there appeared marked improvement in elementary
education in the country. The literacy rate which was 18.33 percent in India in 1951, rose to 64.84 percent in 2001and
74.04 in 2011 as per census report of 1951,2001 & 2011,govt of India. Despite all the efforts, there is a long way to go to
achieve universalization of elementary education(UEE) in the country. The country still needs lakhs of additional
teachers in the primary schools to meet the norm of 1:40 teacher-pupil ratio and thousands of additional schools to
meet the norms of accessibility of primary schools within one kilometer of walking distance. More than half of the
population of India is from unprivileged sections or backward sections of the society like the scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes, coalminers andother backward classes. Due to their comparative aloofness in geographical
situation leading to transportation and communication problems, having nobody to think and speak for them, these
backward classes or backward areas are not getting due attention in their educational development. So universalization
of primary education in these areas of our country is a far cry.
3) REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE:

Review of related literature is an essential aspect of research project. An attempt will be made to review the
work that has been done in the area of primary education. A number of research studies have been conducted at national
as well as state levels relating to the problems of primary education. But there are only limited studies about this problem
with regard to the backward communities and not a single study is found till now regarding the problems of primary
education among the children of coalminers in Assam. Most of the studies conducted on backward communities in
Assam are confined only to the tea garden primary schools in limited districts. Some of these are mentioned below.
Though they are not directly related to the present study , but have bearings in carrying it out.

1 - Dutta, M.L, Education and Employment of Tea Garden Labourers of Assam with Special Reference to the District of
Sibsagar, , unpublished Ph. D Thesis , Education, G. U, 1985.

Major findings:

From the pupils admitted in class I , only 17.82% continued their education upto class IV. Wastagnation at the end of
class I and class II appeared to be 52.95% and 68.68% respectively. Wastage and stagnation were not computed
separately. Total wastagnation in primary stage was found to be 82.18% among tea garden community.

2- Mrs. Saikia, Menoka, Development of Primary Education in the Karbi Anglong District (1951-1981), , unpublished
Ph. D Thesis, G. U, 1989.

Major findings:

The Karbi’s primitive informal institution was JINKEDAM for training the youths in agricultural, cultural tradition and
day-to-day activities of life. The MAISSIONARIES first established and introduced formal type of primary schools in
this backward hill district. Girl’s education was neglected due to the old beliefs and tradition. Existing practices of
inspection and supervision did not include all the points necessary for proper evaluation.

Government’s apathy, faulty administrative problems such as lack of school building, trained teachers and teaching
materials, lack of financial grants and material grants from the Governmenthindered the progress of primary education in
this district.

Defective curriculum of primary education could not meet the demands of local needs and requirements. Wastage and
stagnation were the two major problems.

3- Deka, Harichandra, Elementary Education in Assam with Special Reference to Darang District: An
Analytical Study, , unpublished Ph. D Thesis , G. U, 1991.

Major findings:

There were 30 below matric, 32 matriculates, 19 H.S passed and 4 B.A passed Headmasters in the 85 primary schools,
the percentage being 35.30, 37.64, 22.36 and 4.70 respectively. Out of 280 primary teachers, 83.93% was male teachers
and 16.07% was female teachers . The percentage of trained male and female teachers were 81.87 and 18.13
respectively. There were 15.29% one-teacher schools, 30.59% two-teachers schools, 28.84% three-teachers schools and
25.58% more teachers schools. The average number of teachers per school was 3.29.The percentages of pucca, semi
pucca and kacha (thatched) buildings were 24.71, 60.00 and 15.29 respectively.87.00% schools had no almirah, only
37.65% schools had desk and benches and 20.00% schools still used mats for sitting. 70.00% schools had no teaching
aids. Only 43.53% schools had drinking water facilities and 3.00% schools had permanent urinals. 65.88% schools had
temporary urinals. The primary schools were seldom inspected by the school inspectors. The percentages of boys’ and
girls’ enrolment were 59.56 and 40.44 respectively. The rate of wastagnation was 39.84% for boys and 66.16% for girls.

3.7 Sarma, Nirmala, A Study of Wastage and Stagnation in Primary Level of Education among the Tea Garden
Labourers of Jorhat and Sibsagar Districts of Assam, , unpublished Ph. D Thesis , G. U, 1993.

Major findings:

Dropout rate was higher for boys, 47.46% than for girls, 34.65%. But stagnation rate was higher for girls, 42.04% than
for boys, 28.48% resulting gross wastage for boys and girls to be 75.94% and 76.69% respectively. The wastage due to
dropout was highest in grade I. Dropout rate was also high in grade II. 71.50% of the total dropout took place in grade I
and II .Causes of wastage were—a) academic b) economic c) social and d) miscellaneous in order of position. Causes of
stagnation were—a) miscellaneous b) academic c) social and d) economic in order of position.

4.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

The various objectives envisaged for the study are:

i. To find out the development ofprimary education among the children of coalminers in Margherita subdivision
of Tinsukia district of Assam.
ii. To know the attitude of teachers, parents and the colliery management towards primary education of the
children of these coalminers
iii. To find out the problems encountered by the coalminers for primary education of their children.
iv. To identify the factors responsible for the low progress of primary education among the children of coalminers.
v. To evolve remedial measures for solving the problems
5.0 HYPOTHESES:

The following hypotheses have been formulated for the present study:
i) Coalminers have lack of interest for education of their children.
ii) The coalminer’s addiction to alcohol affects directly the education of their children.
iii) The colliery management’s apathy plays a vital role to retard the development of primary education among
the children of coalminers.
iv) The coalminer’s illiteracy hampers the education of their children.

6.0 METHODOLOGY:

The present study will be conducted through a descriptive survey method. This method is conducted to
collect detailed descriptions of existing phenomena with the intent of employing data to justify current conditions and
practices or to make more intelligent plans for improving them . Sources for the collection of data will comprise of
both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources will be the parents, Asstt. Teachers, Headmasters of the 16
primary schools situated in or near the collieries of Margherita Subdivision of Tinsukia district and the officers of the
collieries. The secondary sources will comprise of statistical handbooks, census reports, some project reports , annual
reports, some offices , libraries and books as given in Bibliography which are related with the topic.

The information and data thus collected through the ways described above will be presented in tables using the
statistical methods.
The tools for the collection of data will be observation, interview and schedule . These will help to gather the ground
realities of the problems of primary education among the children of coalminers . . As the coalminers are mostly
illiterate, interview method will be most suitable to get information about the problems related to primary education
of their children.
The population for the present study will be as given below:
i) All the 5collieries at Margherita subdivision of Tinsukia district.
ii) All the 16primary schools situated within or near the 5 collieries.
iii) 16Headmasters/Headmistresses of the 16 primary schools.

iv) 33 Assistant teachers of the 16 primary schools.

v) 63 Officers of the 5 collieries.
vi) 1601 coalminers of the 5 collieries.

There are only 5 collierirs in Tinsukia district and they come under the Margherita subdivision of this district. More
than 60 percent of the children of coalminers working in these collieries read in the following 16 primary schools
situated within or near the collieries:

Since the number of primary schools in the collieries are not more, all the 16 schools, 16Headmasters/Headmistresses
and 33 Assistant teachers will be taken as sample. The information that will be received from the Headmasters/
Headmistresses and the Assistant teachers will be recorded in SCHEDULE 1.

Agent, Colliery Manager and PersonalManager of each colliery will be taken as representative samples from
management side. The information received from these officials will be recorded in SCHEDULE II.

Except the parents( coalminers) of the primary school going children, no other coalminers will be considered for the
sample of the study. 10 percentparents of the total students of each school will be taken as sample and to make it a
representative one, it will be kept in mind that the sample contains at least 2 percentparents from each class. In
drawing the samples, Random Samplingmethod will be followed. The information collected from the parents will be
recorded in SCHEDULE III.

6.1 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

i) The study will be restricted to the collieries of North Eastern Coalfields, Margherita, Assam.
ii) The study will be confined within the children of coalminers of North Eastern Coalfields in Margherita
subdivision.
iii) It will cover only the 16 primary schools situated within or near the collieries where more than 60
percent students are from coalminers. Other primary schools of Margherita subdivision will not be taken under the
study since there are no primary school going children from coalminers in those schools.
iv) Data collection will be restricted for 10 years from 2004-2013.
v) Samples for the investigation will be confined only to the teachers, parents and colliery officials of the
coalfields
vi) As the students in the age group 6-10 years are too tender to be interviewed, they will not be
considered for sample in the present study.
7.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

A) REOORTS & RECORDS:

1. Project Report of Assam Institute of Research for Tribals and Scheduled Castes, Guwahati, 2010-2011.
2. The Story of Assam Railways and Trading Company Limited, Centenary Volume, 1881-1981.
3. Statistical Handbooks , Govt. of Assam, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Guwahati.
4. National Policy of Education( 1968,1986, 1992) , Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
5. Annual Report of the Office of the Elementary Education Board of Assam, Guwahati.
6. Official Records, Office of the Elementary Education, Margherita.
7. Official Records, Office of the SarbaShikshaObhiyan, Margherita.
8. Library, Gauhati University.
9. Library, Dibrugarh University.
10. Library , North Eastern Coalfields, Margherita.

B) BOOKS:

1) Kochhar, S. K. : Pivotal Issue in Indian Education, Starling

Publishers Private Limited, New
Delhi, 1991.
2) Nanda, S. K. ; Indian Education and Its Problems Today,
KalyaniPublishers, New Delhi,1991.

3) Koul, Lokesh : Methodology of Educational Research. Vikash

Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.,New Delhi, 1998.
4)
5) Best, J. W &James, V. K. : Research in Education, Prentice Hall of India
Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,1992.
6) Agarwal, J.C. : Development and Planning of Modern
Education, Vikash Publishing House,
New Delhi, 1997.