ಸಮುದಾಯ ಮತ್ತು ಕಲಿಕಾ ಪ್ರಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು

(Community and Learning Process)

Community is an informal and active agency of education. It is defined as a group of families settled
together in a particular area with common practices, ideals, ideas, values and culture. It is a dynamic
form of organization for the betterment and progress of its individuals. It provides general and
liberal from of education by socializing its members. There is also a better coordination between
school and community and home and community.

Educational Functions of Community:

(1) Increasing attendance in school:

Community helps in increasing attendance and enrolment of the students in school by motivating its
members

(2) Providing physical facilities:

It helps in providing physical facilities like buildings, teaching aids, teachers, and other elements for
better education for the community school.

(3) Financing education:

It provides financial assistance or donations for educational purpose. It seeks helps from different
generous individuals for extending their support for educational development of the community.

(4) Maintaining good atmosphere in school:

Community takes the responsibility of school and helps in maintaining discipline, and decorum in
institution. It also helps in farming timetable of the schools taking the needs of the community.

5) Providing media of informal education:

Community extends support for all-round development of its members in the school through its
informal agencies like museums, art galleries, libraries, music drama centers, recreation centers,
religious and secular institution, etc.

Role of NGOs:

1. Access to education for the hard-to-reach children:

Full access to primary education remains a very daunting prospect in India.

one third of the school-going population in India, are outside the purview of

schooling.

2. School based quality improvements:

The NGOs surveyed have worked to bring quality improvements at the school level. Their
interventions have focused on the school as the unit for reform and change. NGOs have expanded
the scope of quality improvements within the school.

3. Building school-community link: All the NGOs surveyed viewed community participation as an
extremely valuable contributor to increase the quality of school education. Participation of parents
in school management increases the accountability of schools and attendance rates of teachers and
children. The school-community link is considered indispensable and pursued as a central strategy by
all the NGOs surveyed.

4. The voluntary teacher:

The NGOs pioneered the concept of the “voluntary teacher”, essentially to counter teacher

absenteeism and to bring in local accountability. The strategy was to recruit under-qualified

youth from the community, provide training and to use them as teachers in remote, rural

schools that suffered from high teacher absenteeism

5. Teacher Training:

The teacher training programs adopted by the NGOs surveyed differ significantly from those offered
through the Government system in both style and duration. The NGOs have demonstrated that in-
service teacher training is crucial to bring quality improvements. Practice teaching is much more
important than lectures. Observation oriented and reflective practices are the hallmark of the NGO
teacher training programs.

6. The Alternative to Formal Schooling:

A new breed of ‘non formal’ schools have emerged under the label ‘Alternative School’ with
voluntary, community teachers. While these approaches originated from the voluntary sector to
make appropriate schooling available for remote and school-less habitations, the adoption of these
models by the Government sector has been primarily as ‘lower cost’ options for universalizing
primary education.