Impact of Alternative & Innovative Education Programmes: A Study of Bridge Course Centres in Bardhaman District

Education is the basic requirement and the ‘Fundamental Right’ of the citizens of a nation. Elementary Education system also serves as the base over which the super-structure of the whole knowledge system is built up. This calls for bringing all children under coverage of Elementary Education, which sadly has not been possible yet in India. Policy makers have responded through various programs – two latest examples of which are the Sarva Shikhsa Mission and the Right to Education Bill. The former have been hailed as a successful instrument to remove all ills plaguing the elementary education system in India through some of its alternative, innovative, and flexible programs. In this paper we examine the performance of one of the Flagship programme under SSA – the Bridge Course Centres – in selected areas of West Bengal to evaluate its performance, identify the shortcomings, and suggest some steps for improving them. This is extremely important as the SSA is now being extended to Madhyamik Shikhsa Mission and mistakes of the former should not be repeated in the latter.