India: Primary Schools Project, Andhra Pradesh. Tripartite Review of Pilot Project

Abstract

In 1983, the Indian and British Governments agreed to carry out a primary schools building project in Andhra Pradesh. The objective was to improve the quality of primary education by designing and building new classrooms in rural areas and combining this with a programme of in-service training in child-centred techniques for class teachers, head teachers, school inspectors and district education officers, which would significantly alter the traditional way of teaching at primary level. There was no attempt to change the curriculum. 11 districts out of a total of 23 in Andhra Pradesh were chosen to participate in the project. The main purpose of this review is to assess the success and impact of introducing purpose-built primary school buildings and child-centred learning methodology into Andhra Pradesh in order to reach conclusions on whether and how further financial resources might be allocated to primary education projects in India.