Seoni (MP), Dec 7: It is 4.30 pm. Khodajeri, a dusty Adivasi hamlet about 40 km from here, is reverberating with children's noise. They are busy chasing, teasing each other in a thatched shed, unmindful of returning to their tolas (habitation). A board close by says `EGS school'.The school mirrors Madhya Pradesh Government's Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS), promising elementary education facilities, mainly to the vast majority of tribal and Dalit children.Introduced in 1996, the EGS has set up over 30,000 schools in the state and has enrolled over 8 lakh children. Prompted by the success of the Madhya Pradesh experiment, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre is contemplating introducing it in states with a poor primary education track record.Nearly 70 per cent enrollment comprises tribal and Dalit children. Of these, 45 per cent are girls. Says R Gopalakrishnan, secretary to Chief Minister Digvijay Singh: ``It's a gigantic task considering the 34 per cent tribal and 14 percent Dalit population in the state.''Enrollment of SC/ST children under the EGS is as high as 97.1 per cent in Dhar, Khargaon (94.2), Ratlam (88.4) and Betul (84.7). A sample survey of 31 districts revealed that barring three districts, the enrollment of girls is above 40 per cent.The EGS is aimed at setting up a primary school where there is no such facility within a distance of a km. The demand for the school has to come from the residents. A minimum of 25 children in tribal areas and 40 in non-tribal areas is a must for starting the school. Once this criterion is met, a guruji (teacher), who has to be a local matriculate, is appointed on monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000. The school, for which the accommodation is provided by local residents, begins functioning within 90 days.While a Village Education Committee (VEC) handles the administration, the gram panchayat provides teaching-learning material and the honorarium to the teachers. The school functions on people's participatory concept,with the local population primarily responsible for its management. Government's role is limited to that of a provider of finances and materials.
