What is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of the above criterion, if any?
Per Capita income of the country is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries.
The two main limitations of this criterion are –
a. It takes into the account only the economic aspects and ignores some crucial factors such as – literacy rate, infant mortality rate, etc. which are among the most important indicators of the development.
b. This method is unable to provide the distribution of different levels of income.
Usually, behind each social phenomenon, there would be several contributing factors, and not one. What in your opinion are the factors that came together for the development of schooling in Himachal Pradesh?
Following factors have contributed to the development of schooling in the state of Himachal Pradesh –
a. Government initiative and willingness – The state government has a clear motive of promoting education and therefore it opened schools on a massive scale. The government ensured that all the schools have teachers, classrooms, toilets and drinking water, etc. More schools were opened and facilities expanded in time.
b. State budget allocation – Himachal Pradesh is one of the states which spend more on education than the national average spending on education. In the year 2005, in comparison of Rs 1049 per child of average spending by the government in Indian states, HP spent Rs. 2,005 per child.
c. Education, A Social norm- In HP the norm of a minimum of 10 years of schooling for children gradually made its ground.
d. Lower gender bias – In HP a welcome trend is the lower gender bias. HP parents have higher educational goals for their girls similar to that of boys. Thus, a higher percentage of girls have completed middle school and moved to secondary classes.
In what respect is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?
UNDP compares countries on the basis of educational attainment of the people, their health status and per capita income. On the other hand, World Bank uses per capita income of the countries to measure the development.
Do you think there are certain other aspects, other than those discussed in the chapter that should be considered in measuring human development?
Yes, there are some more aspects that should be taken into account to measure human development –
a. Life expectancy at the time of birth.
b. Level of education and literacy rate.
c. Access to public facilities such as roads, electricity, fresh drinking water, etc.
d. Health indicators and government’s provision and accessibility to people.
e. Level of employment and gender ratio in employment.
Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.
We use averages as it is useful for comparing differing quantities of the same category. For example, in order to compute the per capita income of a country, averages are used because there are differences in the incomes of the people. Averages are useful for comparison however, there is a limitation to the use of averages that they hide disparities. For example, the infant mortality rate or IMR of a country does not represent the data of the male and female infants born in that country. This kind of average hides the gender of children dying before the age of one.
What lessons can you draw about the importance of income from the fact that Himachal Pradesh with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab?
As a development goal, people would like to have better income as well as other things too. They wish to have a secured future for their children and better education as well as a safe environment. Income and per capita income of the nation are not the true and only indicators of development. It is necessary to have the development of humans too which plays a vital role in development. It is necessary for the government to undertake adequate steps to provide a secure future with sound education and good healthcare facilities in addition to better per capita income. When a small state like Himachal Pradesh could attain better human development with better education even with lower per capita income and low accessibility of resources, then the whole country could do much better.
Based on the figures in Table 6, fill the following:
Out of every 100 girls above 6 years of age, ______girls had studied beyond the primary level in Himachal Pradesh in the year 1993. By the year 2006, this proportion reached _____ out of 100. For India as a whole, the proportion of boys who had studied beyond primary level was only _____out of 100 in the year 2006.
i) 39
ii) 60
iii) 57
What is the per capita income of Himachal Pradesh? Do you think higher incomes can make it easier for parents to send children to school? Discuss. Why was it necessary for the government to run schools in Himachal Pradesh?
The per capita income in Himachal Pradesh is 1.82 lacs/annum as per 2016-2017. Definitely, higher income would make it easier for the parents to send their wards to the schools. In case of low income, parents avoid spending on buying study material and paying school fees. Instead, they wish their children to go out and work to earn some money.
Since Himachal Pradesh is a hilly state and it is difficult to construct schools and provide good education it became necessary for the government to run schools in here. The rate of literacy and number of schools were very low at the time of independence thus it is a welcome step taken by the government to develop a good education system at very low or no cost for the parents.
Why do you think do parents accord less priority to girls education as compared to boys? Discuss in the class.
There are the following points that a learner could use to discuss –
a. Boys as hope for old age.
b. Temporary status of a girl in the family.
c. Historic and orthodox thinking.
d. Gender disparity and social reasons
How does the gender bias affect when the women work out side of the home?
a. Working women are financially independent and self–confident. They have stronger say in decisions related to household and other family matters and are equally respected by the members of the family.
b. Working women also expect their daughters to work outside the home after marriage. There is an inverse relationship between working women and gender bias. We witness lower gender bias against women who work outside their homes as they enjoy respect from the family and society.
In the class 8th you read about the Right to Education Act. In the light of what you have read in this chapter and already know, discuss the importance of this Act for (i) children, and (ii) human development.
The government of India brought the Right to Education Act in 2009. The importance of the RTE for children can be discussed as follows:
a. The act makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6-14 years.
b. Schooling is free of cost and cost would be borne by the government.
c. There is a provision for all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children belonging to the low-income group of society.
d. A learner who completes his elementary education shall be awarded a certificate in recognition of the same.
e. Professionally qualified teachers will be appointed to improve the quality of education.
f. Efforts will be made to improve the infrastructure in the school. The expenses for the same will be shared by both the state and the central governments.
ii) Human Development.
a. Education is the key component of human development. It serves as a building block to get a quality elementary education.
b. Education adds quality to the available human resource which is the most important factor and element in the development of the nation.
c. The state with the help of all expounders should fulfil this commitment. It is indispensable for the development of society as a whole.