AGENCIES OF EDUCATION • Formal agencies, Non-formal and Informal Agencies • Home as an active and Informal agency • Community as an active Informal agency • State as active informal Agency

 III AGENCIES OF EDUCATION

What is the use and role of Education?

The education of children is the responsibility of different agencies.

 As a teacher, you should be aware of the present agencies of education. 

One may appreciate the role of different agencies of education or one may not be satisfied with their roles. In any case, you may like to contribute to the improvement of their functioning. 

The direct involvement of a person may not be possible in some of the agencies but indirect participation is possible. 

 The preamble of the Indian constitution emphasises the establishment of a socialist, secular and democratic society. 

After the independence, continuous efforts have been made in this direction. 

Still, a lot remains to be achieved. Traditionally Indian society has been a hierarchical one. 

The family has also followed the hierarchical order. 

But now we see a change in society with liberty and social justice.

As an agency of gather education, one has to view the role of the family from this stance. 

Similarly, the community and media have to transform their role to nurture the idea’s cherished in our Constitution.

 The three types of education viz. formal, informal and non-formal should not be viewed in isolation.

 In fact, it is difficult to discriminate between them in terms of agencies exclusively responsible for each. Various agencies of education may be categorised, as formal or informal. 

The concept of different types of education shall be more clear to you if you are familiar with the concept of education and its types. 

An ancient definition of education is “Sa vidhya ya vimuktayage”.
The popular definition of education given by Gandhiji as “drawing out the best in child and man-body, mind and spirit” may serve also the purpose. There are many more definitions of education given by famous educational thinkers. These definitions may differ in their wording but the concept of education implied in each is mostly the same. 

Formal agencies

Formal education is imparted by an institution or agency specially established for this purpose. Such an institution has its own structure. 

For example, a school is an agency for formal education. The school has its own structure and organisation. It is governed by rules and regulations prescribed by the state. The school has a head of the institution. The teachers work in the school; therefore teachers are responsible for imparting education. 

In this sense the school as it exists and functions in our society can be compared with the factory.

 In formal system of education, all these are determined in advance and continuous efforts are made to achieve the grade-specific objectives of education.

 These days the concept of formal education is being perceived in a different manner. Instead of achieving the objectives of education, a trend has emerged to stress students’ achievement in terms of marks. 

The parents, the community, the media all emphasise achievement in terms of marks only. Because of this wrong emphasis, all evils have appeared in education. The achievement of children in terms of marks secured in the examination has emerged as the sole objective of education and all are considered fair in this respect. This has created cut throat competition and has led to a variety of conflicts and value crises. 

As a teacher one has to ensure that real rather than distorted objectives of education are achieved by students. 

The system of ‘pass’ and ‘fail’ must go. Schoolgoing children should be assessed in terms of how far they have achieved the objectives of education. 

Non-formal 

Non-formal education has emerged as an alternative system of education. 

Due to limitations of formal system of education and also because of individual requirements and circumstances, a child may not be able to attend the school regularly.

 Consequently, s/he may not be able to complete the education even at the primary level. Thus a large number of children in India are not in a position to go to school. 

Therefore, the need for the alternative system of education was felt and non-formal education was organised to provide the facility of education to all the children who are not the part of formal system of education for whatever reason. 

As a teacher, one is expected to know the characteristics of schooling and how these characteristics have become a hurdle for the target group. 

For example, a girl child may not go to school regularly on fixed hours as she has to look after her young siblings at home. Obviously, an alternative system of education has to be designed for her.

 The nonformal system has the following characteristics. 

Flexible and suitable timings l

Shorter duration l

Flexibility of participation 

Condensed courses 

Greater relevance to the needs of the target group 

Equivalence to school system 

Various agencies at the state and at national levels are involved in the development of teaching-learning materials. Thus all efforts and resources like formal system are put to use to ensure that a non-formal system of education can function as an alternative system of education.

 Informal Agencies

All the experiences gained by a child which can be used by him / her during lifetime are part of education.

In a broad sense, education is a life-long process. 

While school provides education during fixed hours, the community and the media also function as sources of education. 

The education provided by the family, community or media is called informal education.

 

Family, community and media contribute primarily to the language development of a child.

 A teacher is expected to utilise the vocabulary of the child for his further development. 

The objectives of informal education are neither fixed nor formalised. 

Each family provides experiences to enable the child to learn its customs, traditions, beliefs, attitudes and values but these differ from one family to another.

 A formal course is not prescribed by any agency for informal education.

The sources of informal Agencies include, for example,

TVs

newspaper

Advertisement

Radio

The target group that is continuously receiving instructions, training, modification, changes, etc. under informal education is not conscious of the process of education. As informal education in a family is hidden in love, anger, hate etc. of the family members, the individual continuously learns to respond to these according to accepted norms of the family.

• Home as an active and Informal agency

Home/Family is the first institution of education for the child.
The child first learns language and expected norms of behaviour through his experience in the family.

 These experiences shape the psychological, social, emotional and moral aspects of his personality.

 For child, the family is a social system, which provides opportunities for training. 

The family influences the child during his formative and most impressional years. 

 Adler (personality psychologist) has explained at length the development of personality during childhood. 

 A child imitates his family members. 

Thus she/he learns many new concepts things and facts through imitation and observation. 

The boys follow the behaviour of their father while the girls imitate the behaviour of their mother.

 The basic vocabulary is acquired by the child in the family. 

The customs, values and beliefs of a family are unique. 

In metropolitan cities, these unique features tend to become blurred. However, in rural areas, these differences exist more markedly in families. 

 Therefore each individual in the family acquires basic norms of behaviours from the day-to-day behaviour of the entire family/home. The tradition of respecting the elder members of the family still continues in a large number of families. 

• Community as an active Informal agency

What is a community?

When many families live together at a place a community is formed.

 Social interaction among the members of the community is the outcome of living together. 

Community members meet to discuss issues related to the education of its members especially the children. 

A community usually consists of people of the same religion, race occupation or even common interests. 

However, multi-religious communities also exist though not as a norm.

 People use the terms “community” and “society” interchangeably, but they are not the same.

 Community contributes to the education of its member. A close relationship exists between the school and the community. 

A school also contributes to the community development program. 

The problems and social issues that a community faces may have a direct bearing on the functioning of a school. 

Similarly, the problem or issues faced by a community may influence the education of its members.

 Community resources may be utilised by school; the community may on the other hand offer to support the school in order to ensure that its children are educated by its culture mores and norms of acceptable behaviour. It may also organise educational institutions for a particular type of education it feels its children should have. 

The Indian constitution provides for all these educational initiatives.

• State as active informal Agency

State is also an informal agency of education. 

The proper management of education is an important task of the state. 

Apart from school, family and society, the state also educates as an informal agency of education.

 People always learn something or other from the state without any definite rule, place or time. Briefly, the main duties of the state as an educational agency are given below.

· Instead of taking the place of the individual or the family, the state should help in the development of both.

· It is the duty of the state to establish its own schools and provide assistance to private schools.

· State is responsible for the change in the form of schools according to needs.

· State is to establish interrelationship among various agencies of education.

· It has to establish relationships among various schools in order to avoid wastage so that a higher standard of education may be established.

· It should prepare a list of minimum achievements for school and lay down broad guidelines for them.

· State should keep education free from local cries by allowing some local elements to participate in the process of education but subordinating them to the national system of education.

· It should provide a sound attitude to parents towards education.

· Arrangement of free and universal education for a definite period is an important task of the state.

· State is to take responsibility for educational expenditure and persuade other institutions for this task.

· Proper arrangement of training for teachers is to be made by the state so that the standard of education may not be full.
· State should give proper advice to educational institutions. State is expected to organize suitable committees and commissions for this purpose.

· State should pay special attention to the security of nation’s culture.

· State is expected to help inculcate a feeling of duty to the nation in the minds of its citizens and it should contribute to the development of normal ideas for social efficiency.