Effectiveness Of Multi-Grade Teaching And Monograde Teaching At Elementary Stage -A Comparative Study

Abstract

Multi-grade schools are schools with only one or two teachers teaching more than one class/grade/age group students at a single time. Developing countries, with dearth of human and financial resources, have to opt for this type of schools specially in remote rural areas, where population is very scarce. For developing nations it is not even wise to appoint more teachers, in schools with strength less than 60/70. Such schools are found to be boon for ensuring Education For All (EFA). The work of teachers in such schools become very heterogeneous, as they have to handle more than one class/age group/grade at a single time. So a research question arises, whether to what extent is teaching effective in such school set- ups? Should such practice be adopted to educate the future generation of a nation? Can they contribute meaningfully in the development of a nation? There may be a prevalent notion that such schools can not do justice to the education of their children. Especially when it is measured in terms of their academic achievement. The present study attempts to gauge the effectiveness of teaching in such schools. The study is conducted on a sample of total 397 students both in monograde and multi-grade schools. The effectiveness is measured in terms of academic achievement of students in terms of three main subjects viz. Hindi Language, Social Studies and Math. The findings support fact that is contrary to the prevalent belief.