Main Features of POA 1992 | Programme of Action

In the series of reforms, the next milestone was the Programme of Action in the year 1992. This one was a plan to improve and modify the National Education Policy 1986. Hence, a committee reviewed the NPE 1986 and came up with a detailed programme/plan of action. The review committee included six education ministers, eight educationists under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N Janardhana Reddy. Other than this, twenty-two taskforces including educationists and government officials were also constituted (for varied subject areas) along with a steering committee.

Let’s discuss the POA 1992 in detail.

The Need and Goals of Programme of Action 1992

Education policies in India aim to reorganize the structure of education across different stages. Post the NPE 1986, the POA 1992 aimed at the realization of the long-term goals such as universal enrollment and retention.

Gender Parity and General Rates of Literacy

In 1991, the literacy rates of males and females were 63.86% and 39.42% respectively. Around 197 million females were illiterate in the country, and 70 million males could not read and write. (please refer to section 1.2.1 of the education ministry’s official document). Even the urban-rural disparity was huge in the case of women. Only 50% of the rural women were literate in comparison to the urban women.

Drop Out rates with SC and ST Numbers

Even after a series of reforms, India could not eliminate the rates of school dropouts across all categories. The table below shows the drop-out rates in the years 1987-88 (Source- Section 2.1.3 of the ministry’s official document). The idea of universalization of education supported the cause of bringing down these numbers.

Class	SC	ST	General
I to V	51.6	65.21	46.97
I to VIII	68.81	80.01	62.29
I to X	81.98	87.62	75.3

Implementing the policies of NPE 1986

Due to a shortage of funds, many recommendations of the NPE 1986 could not be implemented on the ground level. The POA suggested revision, monitoring, and strategies to implement the policies with minimum costs.

Safeguarding the rights of minorities

The POA also addressed the challenges of safeguarding the rights of educationally backward minorities. It launched some centrally sponsored intensive programs for educationally backward minorities under medium-term measures.

Programme/Plan of action POA 1992 - main features.

Here’s a look at the main recommendations of the POA 1992:

Early Childhood Care and Education

In order to materialize the aims of the NPE 1986, the POA highlighted the need to strengthen the programs along with their components. It suggested a coordinated functioning of the government and non-government agencies to meet the goals of the ECCE programs. Under this POA, early childhood and care were given special importance. And it proposed special training (through training centers) for the Anganwadi workers to improve the quality of early childhood education.

Universalization of Elementary Education – UEE

Another aim of the POA was to achieve the targets for UEE. It suggested many innovations and revised schemes like the ‘Non-Formal Education’ for students who cannot attend full-time schools. Other than this, it also focused on 10 states (educationally backward), wherein the shared responsibility was between the center and state government in the ratio of 50:50.

Secondary Education

Plan of Action 1992 acknowledged the need to further expand opportunities for secondary education. Like other education policies in India, the NPE had also envisioned better participation of the backward classes. However, the POA 1992 increased the autonomy of the Boards of Secondary Education and reorganized them.

This action plan also came up with a visionary idea to improve digital literacy and technological skills in students. And this vision was helpful for the future, as in the present times we do have full-fledged online schooling and digital learning options.

Navodaya Vidyalayas to Improve the Quality of Education

The POA 1992 envisaged opening of Navodaya Vidyalayas across the nation. These schools were planned to help the high achievers irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds.

This proposal was quite beneficial to improve the quality of schooling for the masses. Because almost 40.7% of the students were already below the poverty line.

Women Education

Women education was also a top priority as per this programme of action. It suggested more development programs, and aimed at enhancing their legal literacy (about their rights).

It suggested running gender and poverty sensitization programs to curb issues like gender disparity. Besides, all teachers were to be trained through innovative training programs to be the agents of women empowerment. Through institutions and women organizations, it also envisioned creating new women study centers.

Adult Education and Micro-Planning

Under the Non-Formal Education initiatives, the committed suggested improving the educational opportunities for adults. Innovative programs like distance education and open school system were suggested for female students residing in remote, rural, and urban areas. For students living in tribal areas, educational micro-planning was suggested. Besides, there was also a special focus on the education of adult illiterate women. This was a legendary step under its micro-planning design.

Skill Development and Employability

For the programs related to post-literacy and continuing education, the POA suggested building entrepreneurial and managerial skills in neo-literates. The opening of Shramik Vidhyapeeths and institutions in the non-formal sector was a great step suggested by the experts. In the past, policies had already covered areas like vocational education in institutions. But the POA categorized skills under ‘communication’ ‘survival’, and ‘functional capabilities’ to make the neo- literates more employable and productive.

Entrance Tests and Examination/Evaluation Reforms

To streamline the examination reforms proposed in the NPE 1986, the POA suggested a CCE system (Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation) at the elementary stage. For this, the Department of Education would constitute an inter-institutional committee with representatives from the NCERT, UGC, AICTE, and state-level organizations. The state’s concerned agency would prepare a scheme for CCE that covers Cognitive, psychomotor, and affective areas of a student’s growth. This comprehensive proforma will be a record of the evaluation.

This POA suggested a collaboration between the state government and the UGC to promote and encourage entrance examinations at the higher education level.

Education for Students With Disabilities

For 12.59 million children with disabilities, the committee suggested some important steps. To meet the needs of special students, teacher training was to be reoriented as per the inclusive classrooms. And similarly, the need to reorient non-formal and adult educational programs was also highlighted.

The POA also suggested some special training centers for single-disability trained teachers. It also highlighted clearing the backlog of this teacher shortage to promote special education under multi categories. The experts also came up with the idea of aligning guidelines for child-centered education by the NCERT for special students.

How did the POA 1992 help in restructuring the Indian education system?

The Plan of Action 1992 was yet another important step towards the complex task of restricting the education system in India. Of all the previous education policies in India, this one focused the most on the development of scientific knowledge and preempted the need of 21^st-century schooling. It aimed at a substantial improvement within our education system. And gave attention to the aspects that can determine the progress of our developing nation.

What Went Wrong?

Despite the vision of a more student-centric learning environment, POA 1992 did not suggest any concrete steps to help with this goal. It did not highlight the changes needed in the textbooks, pedagogies, and teacher training to create a more learner-centric schooling system. Even at the university level, there was no proper planning shared for resource mobilization as suggested in the POA. In terms of suggestions, the POA can be considered the most futuristic plan at that time as it touched upon areas like employability to make youth productive. But the problems of cascading the policies of educating the girl child did not make it to the masses completely. And once again funds mattered and these policies could not be 100% successful.

Final Thoughts on this Education Policy:

It is not an easy task to make educational reforms in a country. For decades now, our policy-makers have taken some great steps to improve the condition of education in India. With NPE 1986, India got some visionary ideas to work on the core of its educational system. And the Plan of action in the year 1992 did help in modifying these as per the changing needs of the times.

Let’s take up the National Curriculum Framework 2005 next!