Stagnation and Wastage in Primary Schools

Abstract

The Government of Madras has been alive to the problems of wastage and stagnation for nearly 40 years. As early as 1926, several measures were adopted to reduce these evils. On the recommendation of the Hartog Committee, Mr. Champion, the first Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Madras, submitted a report recommending a scheme for the consolidation of elementary schools. The main object of the scheme was to reduce the number of single-teacher schools in which stagnation and wastage was very large and to replace them, to the extent possible, by multi-teacher schools. The next step was taken by Mr. B.M. Statham, Director of Public Instruction, who launched a drive known as ‘Statham Drive’ for the reduction of wastage and stagnation.