21

Opening speeches

Introduction

The International UlA working group on Educational and Cultural Spaces has focused systematically on the interplay between education and culture for the creative use of space to match changing socio-economic needs and realities. The Xlllth International UIA/UNESCO seminar was well attended and provided an international forum for planners, architects, educationists, administrators and interested or concerned professionals from governmental and non-governmental organisations in developing and developed countries, to translate the Education for All policy into educational architecture.

Education is the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may build systematically, further levels and types of education and training determining the skills base and competitive advantage of nations. The theme and venue of the International seminar were chosen in the light of the sweeping economic changes affecting the region as well as the need for educational expansion in order to fulfill the global commitment towards providing education for all.

The Seminar aimed to determine a strategy to achieve universal access to educational facilities, drawing upon architectural and technological developments in the field while keeping • in mind the overall considerations of affordability and contextuality. Papers and discussions during the seminar, suggested innovative concepts and radical redefinitions of accepted terms such as "school'', "adult education centre" or "daycare centre."

Seminar Structure

While the seminar dealt with spaces for a variety of clientele ranging from early childhood care and education/ primary schooling, non-formal centres such as literacy centres, continuing education centres, open schools and distance education to integrated spaces for literacy, skills training and lifelong learning, most of the discussions focussed on one or more of the following cross-themes -

  • Affordability: low-cost building materials & construction techniques and maintenance

  • Participatory approach to design: microplanning and involvement of local clientele

  • Innovation: creative use of old and new buildings/techniques for efficient use of spaces

  • Appropriate technology: suitability to rural or urban context, sustainability of design

  • Technology, non-traditional media: role in redefining delivery systems & spatial planning

  • Sensitivity: design for special needs, gender concerns, mixed age-groups.

The participants included government officials, field officers and advisors of bilateral and multilateral development organisations, representatives of non-governmental organisations, engineers, architects, educationists, social workers, students and other interested persons. This ensured a lively ongoing debate on various issues such as scaling-up, definitions of "school", the pros and cons of the participatory approach, etc. It also provided an invaluable meeting ground for professionals who, otherwise, rarely interact or have much common ground. We hope that this initiative will prove to be the first step, in an open and constructive dialogue between design professionals and educationists.





24

XIII INTERNATIONAL UlA / UNESCO SEMINAR

affordable spaces for education for all



Context and Themes

Mr Jal Aria and Ms Archana Patkar

This presentation was prepared for the second pre-seminar workshop held at the Academy of Architecture, in order to discuss the historical context of EFA and the various themes that would emerge as discussion points in the final seminar. An abridged version was presented during the introductory session of the final seminar.

The Historical Context

The World Conference on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs, Jomtien, Thailand, March 1990

1500 participants representing 155 countries adopted the World Declaration on Education for All and renewed their commitment to providing basic learning opportunities for all the people of the world.

In India - The Education for All Summit of Nine High-Population Countries, New Delhi, Dec. 1993

Representatives of the nine countries unanimously adopted the Delhi Declaration and a framework for action, pledging to universalize primary education for all and expand learning opportunities for children, youth and adults by the turn of the century.

Education for All - Meeting Basic Learning Needs

Every person - child, youth and adult - shall be able to benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs. These needs comprise both essential tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy, and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values and attitudes) required by human beings to be able to survive, to develop their full capacities, to live and work in dignity, to participate fully in development, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions,

and to continue learning. - Article 1.1

Basic Education is more than an end in itself. It is the foundation for lifelong learning and human

development on which countries may build, systematically, further levels and types of education and

training. Article 1.4, World Declaration on EFA

Why Education for All ?

Today over 1000 million adults, with women as the silent majority are labelled "illiterate".

Over 130 million children, 81 million of them girls in developing countries, have no access to primary education.

More than one-third of the world's adults have no access to the information, skills and technologies that could improve the quality of their lives and help them adapt to change.

More than 100 million children and countless adults fail to complete basic education programmes; millions more satisfy the attendance requirements but do not acquire essential knowledge and skills.

EFA: Meeting Basic Learning Needs

- Access

- Retention

- Completion and Achievement

Access To Education

The Supply-Side of the Equation Existence of a facility

Location of educational facility Design & type of structure Suitability to environmen Attractiveness

Cost/Affordability

Durability

Innovative use of structures Multiple use of spaces Attractiveness of interior Ease of maintenance Contextuality

Sensitivity to different clienteles



Seminar Sub-Themes

Spaces for Early Childhood Care and Education Spaces for Primary Education -

-Formal

-Non-formal

Spaces for Adult Education

- Literacy & numeracy;

- Education in population, health, environment, legal issues - Continuing education & lifelong learning

Spaces for skills training and technical education

- Income generation - Animal husbandry - Agriculture, etc.

Spaces for Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) ECCE (age group 0-6)

Objectives:

- Preparation of children for primary school

- Support service for girls in PE

- Support services for working women in low-income groups

Types of Spaces

Pre-primary schools run by government/municipal corporations/NGOs

Pre-school services/creches run by private agencies/organisations

Balwadis / day-care centres run by voluntary agencies

Anganwadis run by the ICDS scheme Home Based Model/Family Day care

Spaces for Primary Education PEs: (age group 6-11)

Objective: Universal enrollment of all children -

- Provision of primary school. within one kilometre of walking distance and the facility of non-formal education for school drop-outs, working children and girls who cannot attend schools

- Expansion in number of upper primary schools

Types of spaces:

-All primary schools (run by government/voluntary/private agencies - NFE initiatives targeting children

Spaces for Adult Literacy & Education in Population/Health/Environment/Continuing Education

Target Group: 15-35 years, dropouts and left-outs' of the formal system, as well as out-of-school children (9­-14 years)

Objectives:

To impart functional literacy as well as a basket of other socially relevant messages

Types of Spaces:

- All centres/structures used by the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC)

- All non-formal centres for adult literacy/education

- Post-Literacy Centres & centres for Continuing Education

- Centres for Open Basic Education (OBE)

Spaces for Skills Training & Technical Education

Income generation skills Animal husbandry

Agricultural techniques Home-bound industries Marketing

Types of Spaces:

- Community centres

- Primary secondary schools

- Universities

- Post Literacy and Continuing Education Centres

Affordable Spaces for Education for All Seminar Cross-themes

Affordability

Participatory Approach

Innovative Approach

Appropriate Technology

Sensitivity

Non-traditional Media & Technology

•

Affordability

Cost of land

Cost of materials

Cost of maintenance

Cost-consciousness in design

Efficient use of space Multiple use of spaces

Participatory Approach

Consultation with local clientele in all phases of planning, Needs-analysis and profile of target group , Resource mapping preceding school location, Involvement of community in building phase, Community involvement in maintenance & renovation activities , Community involvement in day to day running of centre/school.

Some examples

The Kenyan harambee schools & pre-schools, The Colombian bench schools ,The ICDS Scheme - The GOI and the Urmul Trust - Bajju , The APPEP - Andhra Pradesh

Innovative Approach

Creativity in spatial planning and design,

Redefining concepts - "creche", "school", "library" , Targeting hard to reach populations

Some examples

Mobile libraries , Shishu Shiksha Kendras, Pavement Schools, Doorstep Schools

Appropriate Technology

Suitability of design to local conditions, Sourcing, fabrication and use of building materials , Cost-effective techniques & materials , Use of local skills and knowledge , Skillful incorporation of new technology.

Sensitivity in Planning & Design - Equity in Access Gender

Design of single-sex schools

Separate toilets for girls

Building boundary walls

Day-care centre attached

Location of schools sensitively planned

Mohalla Schools (Pakistan, Mali, Kenya & Bangladesh)

Feeder/satellite schools in Bhutan & Bangladesh

Disadvantaged Groups

Ashram Schools for migratory, Alternatives schools ,Cycle Guruji The Physically Challanqed


Sensetivity in design for mainstreaming of mildly diabled

Recognition of heterpeneity of clientele in planning & design of facilities Revamping of existing building norms to include the physically challanged.

Non-Traditional Media & Technology

Rethink the "school" & "training centre"

Redefine spatial planning Nodes instead of Spaces?

Response to Changing Delivery Systems:

Distance Education, Computer-based learning modules, Television- based programmes , Video - Home-study programmes

" There is no need to see only one school type as the answer. It is possible to have a dozen school types. It is possible to marry the formal and informal approaches. It is essential to have different types schools for different clienteles."

Fay Chung Education Cluster, UNICEF
28

Inaugural Speech

Mr Manohar Joshi


The Honourable President of Council of Architecture , The President of Rachana Sansad : The Hon. Director of Academy of Architecture and the Convener of the seminar, The President of the Commonwealth Association of Architects, The President of the Indian Institute of Architects, The President of PEATA, The representatives of the U.I.A., UNESCO , the World Bank , the Distinguished Guests, Ladies, Gentlemen and Students ,

I am pleased to be in the midst of professional architects to inaugurate an important seminar on "Educational Spaces". By profession I am an educationist and I am also in construction field. As such, besides being the Chief Minister, I feel I am also more eligible to inaugurate this particular seminar, which is going to deleberate on the Affordable Spaces for Education. I am happy that you have chosen this subject for the seminar as it is of great concern to my Government, the Government of Maharashtra. It interests me more, because it is being held in Mumbai, which is the Capital of Maharashtra, which is a progressive State.

I am deeply concerned with both the subjects i.e. Education and Construction and it makes me feel that I belong to your.group - the builders and the educationists. I personally feel that this issue of affordable spaces for education, needed to be discussed sometime by the professionals from two different points. One is as related to rural areas and the other in urban context. The problems in these two areas are different and need to be looked into depth.

The problem in rural areas of spaces for education is not as serious as it is in urban areas. There the problem is of infrastructure and funds for building. In cities like Mumbai (so far known as Bombay) there is no space at all for new constructions. However, education is important as our country has pledged to bring in 100 percent literacy to all Indians.

It is time that everyone must be educated. Good education depends upon good environment. It must be excellent so that the children feel happy and pursue their studies with joy. In my opinion, this seminar is very useful to us from the point of view as to what type of buildings and spaces should be created for learning even in the congested cities like Mumbai.

In olden times the pupils sat around a "Guru" under a tree. There were hardly any buildings. The quality of education, even in absence of buildings was very good. Sometimes I wonder, whether in rural areas there is at all a necessity to construct regular buildings to teach the young children, when lot more open space is easily available ?

The only construction that the villagers made to conduct a school was perhaps , a small platform. And that was the only architecture with the teacher as it architect. The renowned educational institution in West Bengal started by Guru Rabindranath Tagore, is the excellent example of open- air school.

It is possible to conduct classes in the natural environment in rural areas. However, it is not always possible to find such ample space in urban locations. In absence of nature, one can always create and build natural environment around educational buildings in towns and cities. I have a strong feeling that better atmosphere will definitely create better citizens for the country.

I feel that constructing school buildings is a specialised job and cannot be handled by any architect alone. He also needs to consult the educationists and take them in confidence, before he makes plans. I have decided that if my Govt. has to make progress , I will advise the concerned Ministries that before they plan buildings, they should consult architects, administrators and educationists. As the Chief Minister of a progressive state I would always depend upon their advice, as I am much concerned about what kind environment they create for imparting education. For me the word "Affordable" is very important as we have limited funds and many priorities.

I personally feel that your seminar is a great service, not only to the city of Mumbai, not only to the State of Maharashtra or to India, but to all nations in the World, where people need to be educated and where funds available for educational buildings are limited. I am sure, experts from all over the world will contribute useful suggestions through their papers, which will be discussed in this seminar.

I am very happy to inaugurate this U.I.A./UNESCO Seminar on "Affordable Spaces for Education For All" which has been sponsored by the Council of Architecture and hosted by the Academy of Architecture. I wish you good luck. Friends , it is my great pleasure to address important architects from all over the world.

I thank you very much for inviting me to inaugurate your International Seminar. I now declare the seminar open.





31

Keynote addresses

XIII INTERNATIONAL UIA / UNESCO SEMINAR

affordable spaces for education for all



INTEGRATED LEARNING CENTRES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC



Ms. Hiroko Kishigami, Architect UNESCO Representative

It is my great pleasure to have the opportunity to be here and to participate in the XIII th International UIA/UNESCO Seminar on "Affordable Spaces for Education for All". I would like to extend my warm regard from my colleagues in UNESCO, Paris, Mr. Rodolfo Almeida and Ms. Ann Goodwin Dias, who could not come to this meeting and with whom UlA had a long working relationship over the years.

As in the past, UNESCO continues to place "Education for All" at the forefront of its contribution towards human development. Reaching the unreached, that is, all those who have no access to basic education must still be considered an absolute priority. However, we find that those who were once reached, feel unreached now. This is because contemporary societies are undergoing accelerated changes, which place increasing demands on individuals to acquire new knowledges and skills in order to cope with both the challenges of social transformations and the changing requirements of the world of work. The volume of scientific knowledge is growing in an increasing number of domains and the life-span of knowledge is decreasing. The absence of adequate education and training opportunities responsive to this demand has contributed to the growing marginalisation, unemployment and functional illiteracy among young people and adults. Education must therefore be made responsive to the changing needs of society and focus on empowering individuals throughout their lives.

In this context, education can no longer be conceived of as a one-chance affair, restricted to a specific period of a person's life. It should be seen as a continuing process whereby individuals are offered learning opportunities, not just once, but a number of times throughout their lives. No longer can human beings be expected to prepare themselves during the initial phase of their lives for a fixed set of occupations, which will constitute their future. Basic education for all is but a first step - though an essential one - towards future learning. That is why fostering access to "life long education for all" will be a top priority for UNESCO within the Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-2001.

We have to take note of the huge amount of tasks ahead of us in the Asia Pacific region in which we live, as there are about 700 million adult illiterates in the region, out of which 281 millions are in India. In addition, there are about 75 million "out of school" children including those who do not complete primary education in the region, of which 35 million are in India.

Acknowledging that education is increasingly necessary but less and less available, the concept of Community Learning Centres as delivery mechanisms for lifelong education for all, was put forward at the first workshop of UNESCO co-action learning centre programme in Malaysia in 1992. Last year it was finalised as Volume VIII of Training Materials for Continuing Education Personnel (ATLP-CE) for Asia Pacific Programme for Education for All, which is the result of series of workshops held with the co-operation of member states in the'region, including both GO and NGOs.

The idea of Community Learning Centres as delivered mechanism for EFA is gradually taking root and spreading in the region. Recently I have undertaken missions to establish seven centres in Myanmar, three more, centres in Laos and once more in Vietnam following the successful launching of several learning centres in Laos and Vietnam in 1994 and four temple learning centres in Cambodia in 1993.

Convinced also that Community Learning Centres can function as efficient delivery mechanism for UNESCO programmes, such as technical and vocational education, population education, cultural tourism and preservation of cultural heritage sites as well as in an area of Human Resource Development in Asia and the Pacific Region, co-operation with other sectors of UNESCO in Learning Centre Projects will be strengthened during 1996 and 1997.

I hope that this seminar will offer the opportunity that we all seek in sharing our

experiences and drawing upon unique architectural and technological developments in the field and contribute in achieving our common goal of Education for All by the year 2000.

COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTRES FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION

Provision of continuing learning opportunities in the Community Learning Centre would further strengthen the chance of achieving our common goal of Education for All by the year 2000.

At the macro level, the project is expected to receive active social participation through the provision of better quality of literacy and post literacy, community education with strong culturl awareness and preservation for villagers, women, school dropouts, with the social mobilization of village leaders.

At the micro level, the project is to develop the better facilities and quality of basic education by establishing grassroot community learning centres where active community action can take place through involvement of village leaders, teachers, women for enviornmental education, skill development, functional literacy, early childhood development, income generating activities and cultural awarness.

Innovative approach to the problems

  • Establishment of provincial and community steering commitee; with leadership training components to improve managerial, analytical and technical capacity.

  • Establishment of Information and Communication Channels to reach Community Learning Centre level and training of media personnel at village level.

Linkage with GO, NGO, UN agencies, member states in the region to share experience and information through technical co-operatin and publication.

  • Use of UNV specialists in basic education-vocational and handicrafts skill training.

  • Link with income generation; skill training through functional literacy material in weaving, pottery, wood carving, etc., will not only activate the community life but also provide possibly the skills for producing some artisanal work for income generation.

  • Creation of training package according to the needs of each community; women's nutrition and health education, family planning and population education, handicraft and weaving, literacy and post literacy, enviornmental awareness programmes, cultural programme, agriculture, marketing and simple accounting, etc.

  • Creation of learning society at grassroots level; The above action will eventually improve quality of life in the village.

Resource Mobilisation at Village Level - Innovative Approach

  • Use of local material, labour and improved technology

  • Existing facilities such as temple or mosque, clinic, schools, shops houses, factory and farm in the community; These facilities can be borrowed as training place as needed.

  • School teachers, religious leaders, technicians, youth leaders, disabled, old people, persons with special skills in the village; These people can become a steering committee member or be trained as leaders or trainers.

  • Self financing through sale of village products and crafts and village women's banking system.



35

XIII INTERNATIONAL UlA / UNESCO SEMINAR

affordable spaces for education for all





SCHOOLS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: AFFORDABLE SPACES

Dr Warren L. Mellor

UNESCO representative, New Delhi

I am emboldened to talk to a group of international architects only in that I am not going to talk about architecture at all, knowing, as I do, nothing whatsoever about it..I am going to talk to you about education ­which I do know something about. Moreover, I am going to take advantage of the theme of the conferenec ­that is, "spaces" - and not talk much at all about schools in the traditional sense of a physical structure or even a pedagogical concept. Rather, I am going to talk about an open concept of education which is relevant to the twenty-first century and which calls for a radical rethink of the concept of educationl space.

Let me first pick up where our UNESCO and architectural colleague, John Beynon, left off at a similar meeting in May 1993 when he called for an in-depth dialogue between educators and architects. we need educators who can converse meaningfully with architects, and architects who can communicate with educators:

"Despite our enthusiasm for promoting participatory building practices, there is a danger of prioritising buildings over all else. Agents of change should be agents for educational action as well as for construction. We must think about the total educational environment, not about buildings alone. " (Beynon, John. "International Developments in Peoples's Architecture", in Lok Jumbish, Rural School Architecture and Building Development, reprt of a Regional Seminar, april 27- may 1, 1993, jaipur: Lok Jumbish Parishad, 1993)

Challenge of Educating All in India

The magnitude of the educational task in India is well known, and no doubt will be discussed in detail by other speakers at this conference. By the year 2000, the number of teachers at first and second education levels in India will be about 6,300,000; the number of the students in schools will be about 200,000,000. Today there about 1885 teacher training institutions with an annual enrolment in excess of 143,000 There are many more 'instructors' who play a significant part in non-formal education activities; under the National Literacy Missions, for example, over seven million volunteer instructors have been mobilised.

Average class size at primary level is given officially as 45 in 1992-93, in upper primary schools as 43. Most of the teachers in India work in small schools. Just over 60% of all primary schools have two teachers or less, though in some States this figure rises closer to 80%. World Bank estimates that, if EFA is to be achieved by the year 2000, an additional half a million teachers would need to be trained in the next four years. Not only would there be a large infusion of new students of school age, but also there would be the 'graduates' of the National Literacy Mission, as well as the increased numbers remaining in school for five years as a result of 'dropout prevention' strategies (at the moment, the average child who enters Grade 1 drops out before the end of Grade 4; the average female child who enters Grade 1 drops out before the end of Grade 1). The reality for most teachers, beginning or well into their careers, is that they will teach in small (rural) schools with large multigrade classes and in the company of no more than one other colleague.

According to the fifth educational survey of India, out of 735,771 schools in the country, only 446,079 (60.63%) have permanent buildings. Another 122,534 (16.65%) are in semi-permanent buildings; while 88,868 (12.08%) are in kachcha buildings; 32,372 (4.04%) are in thatched huts; 3,007 (0.41%) are in tents; and 42,911 (5.83%) are functioning out in the open. Inevitably, the proportion of permanent building schools is higher (78.21%) in urban areas compared to 57.84% in rural areas. Only 56.26% of the total number of 528,730 primary schools have permanent buildings - that is, 43% of the primary schools are being housed in semi-permanent buildings, kachcha huts, tents, and out in the open.

A large number of schools do not have basic amenities such as urinals for boys and girls. Drinking water is frequently not available on the school premises. A majority of the permanent primary schools are poorly designed two-room structures, with extremely low quality construction. They suffer from low light and poor ventilation. Many have roofs

which leak during the rains and may even be dangerous, cracked floors to sit on, no safe storage space, and a host of other structural problems ("What's Wrong with our School Buildings ? A National Perspective", in Lok Jumbish. Rural School Architecture and Building Development, Report of a Regional Seminar, April 27 ­May 1, 1993. Jaipur : Lok Jumbish Parishad, 1993).

The bottom line in this discussion is whether we can possibly provide sufficient spaces - classrooms in the traditional sense - in order to meet the goals of EFA by the year 2000. It is an even more fundamental question as to whether we can ensure that the activities that take place in those traditional classrooms will lead to quality learning achievement.

Alternatives to the Formal School

UNESCO's Director General made it clear at the recent World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen that investment in education is an absolute requirement for social development. Education is the key to empowerment, to combating the current social crisis, to creating equitable economic growth, a sustainable environment and a democratic and peaceful society. Only literacy and basic education can empower individuals. Educating women enhances the quality of life for everyone. Yet, The fact quite clearly is that the formal school system cannot alone deliver the goals of EducatiOn for All by the year 2000, nor has it yet sufficiently adapted to the new technologies. The formal school system needs a'n infusion of new ideas and new practices.

In 1993 UNESCO established a programme to assist in building a world system of open education. This programme, called Learning without Frontiers, is encouraging the development of alternative delivery systems which reach out across the frontiers, across the barriers, that divide communities. Such frontiers are obviously international- but there are also the social barriers within communities such as prejudice, language, ethnicity, religion, caste, distance. These programmes closely linked with another of UNESCO's Associated School programmes, to which I will refer again later.

Learning without Frontiers seeks to 'devise means enabling all people to obtain access to all forms and levels of education within the context of lifelong education and to establish a continuum between universal primary education and higher forms of education.' Great emphasis is placed on the use of distance education's"ability to facilitate open learning at the global level through networking between centres active in the field. A series of international seminars has also referred to the importance of this 'open learning' (UNESCO. Learning without Frontiers. Memo from Jan Visor to UNESCO Director General, 29 July 1994).

Affordable Spaces in the Twenty-first Century

UNESCO is not proposing that open learning can solve all educational problems nor even that it can perform the essential tasks of education better than the formal school system. No doubt there will always be a need for some physical buildings called "schools". In an ideal world the formal system will adapt and incorporate in itself the essence of open learning. The guiding principle should be to 'deformalize' the formal system rather than to formalize an alternative system.

Nonetheless, modern electronics and telecommunication technologies have made feasible an alternative model of 'schooling' or of education. According to that model, legitimate education activities can take place at many different locations and under many different circumstances. Learning and education are, self evidently, not at all concepts that are dependent upon one definition of school though student evaluation and credentialling may well be. Learning,. education, 'schooling' thus become dispersed throughout the community.

This 'dispersed site mode 'stresses the removal physical barriers between school and community - a school without walls. More than simply tearing down the school fences, it projects the school's location out into the community. "School is all over town" (H Beare, A plan for Education in New Towns and Cities.Cranberra. Australian Government's Publishing Service, 1975). Under this system there would be a whole series of sites, each devoted to specific educational functions. These sites could be called learning stations, learning resources centres, community

information centres, or even 'schools'. Each site is open to use both by school pupils and by community members, indeed, the distinction is blurred, so that students are encouraged to see themselves as citizens and citizens to see themselves as students.

The basic objectives of the model is to integrate educational activities with community activities by de-emphasizing the role of traditional and costly buildings devoted solely to 'schooling'. Education takes place wherever and for whomever it is appropriate and relevant. Trained teachers are dispersed throughout the various communitie sites ,and sometimes education is carried on by persons with no formal qualifications. Administration is conceived as decentralized, with much decision making taking place at the dispersed sites themselves and by the people involved. The role of the centralised administration is to provide costly services and to effect a policy which integrates the programmes and activities of the various dispersed sites (Melton-Sunbory Interim Co-ordinating Committee. A Cluster Model for Education and Community Services. Melbourne : Llewelyn - Davies Kinhill, 1978)

In such an open system, course credits can still come by examination. The difference simply is that a student may seek credit for a subject or for a course without formally fulfilling what is known as "seat time". Having pursued learning in his own time and at his own pace - according to his own 'cognitive map' - he can pass an examination in that subject or course as if he had attended class.

Open Learning and Affordable Spaces

I would be the first to acknowledge that such a concept is radical. It assumes that the purpose of schooling is not to fulfil 'seat time' or to create employment for larger numbers for teachers. The function of a school is to coordinate and network a database of 'accredited' learning opportunities of all kinds and thence to ensure that a credential or certificate of appropriate equivalency is available for learners who seek it.



Nonetheless, the purpose of exposing you to these ideas at this stage is to 'unfreeze' our thinking, as it were to open up our minds to the possibilities of totally different concepts of educational strategies and hence of educational spaces than we may hitherto have been prepared to contemplate. It is time to begin to build for the twenty-first century, physically and conceptually; time to give some substance to the rhetoric of Of it. educational innovation and change. In India particularly, the magnitude of the educational problem calls exactly for such innovative, such radically different solutions.



The following are some of the principles that should guide and transform such rhetoric (for your ease of reference I shall continue to refer to this radically innovative entity as 'school')

  1. The education/community resources centre (that is the school) should have a clear set of aims. It should be designed purposefully yet flexibly to achieve those aims and to achieve the as efficiently as possible over time in response to changing needs.

  2. The school should view education as a lifelong process, accommodating a variety of services for individuals of all ages. Education should be seen as capable of occurring in a wide range of locations both within and beyond schools provided by both formal and informal agencies, constituting something wider than is contained in stated curricula.

  3. The school should provide for the transfer of societal information, ensuring that individuals develop certain social survival skills such as numeracy, literacy , communication and basic hygiene. It should also allow individuals to develop in such a way as to enable them to cope with their next phase of life and to function fully as members of their society.

  4. The school should be organised as resource for the community so that people feel free to use it. Members of the community should be able to participate when and where they wish. The location of services and their times of operation should take account of user needs.

  • The school should draw on skill and facilities available in the community. Optimum use should be made of the facilities presently available in the community, and future facilities should be planned for multiple use where appropriate.

  • The school should be designed to permit members of the community to have access to, and influence on, issues relevant to them. There should be an element of community responsibility in decision making, where the sharing and exchange of information is of critical importance.

  • The school should be responsive to changing community requirements and expectations. It should maintain mechanism for monitoring community needs and responding to them creativity and effectively.

  • All schools, while different one from the other, should be organizationally compatible to facilitate student transfer, as well as the transfer of teachers, community service workers and others. This includes preparation of students for transition to subsequent education or employment.

  • Inter-agency co-ordination should be developed to ensure effective delivery of services. This arrangement should be consistent with the requirements for autonomy of the individual services.

  • Structural units must balance the advantages of a large coordinated framevJork with the benefits of small localised facilities. They should be of 'manageable size' (Melton- Sunbory Interim Co­ordinating Committee, A Cluster Model for Education and Community Services, Melbourne : Llewelyn-Davies Knhill, 1978).

The Link between Architecture and Pedagogy

I am not competent to rule on the 'Affordability' of educational spaces. It seems to me that many of the principles outlined above can be achieved with minimal cost. One might even argue that they can sometimes be achieved without the construction of any schools at all. In fact, we could look closely at the adaptation of existing 'community spaces' for educational purposes before we jump to the conclusion that new constructions are necessary.

Space utilisation studies in Australia have often found that existing 'educational facilities' are significantly' under-utilised and the most cost-effective solution to an apparent educational problem is not to construct at all, but rather to convert existing spaces for new purposes and functions. If we define 'educational facilities' rather more broadly than the traditional school, for example taking into consideration some of the innovative concepts outlined in this paper, it would no doubt be found that such under-utilisation is even more extensive.

In villages and communities where community halls already exist, it may be possible to harne-ss them to educational purposes, meeting the growing community demand for facilities which can be used for Multi­purpose educational and social functions. Mosques (as in Pakistan) and temples may be called into educational service rather than expending the funds or simply the time consumed in constructing new buildings. Cinemas, libraries, museums and other community structures may be similarity pressed into service. There is, to my mind, no inescapable reason to conclude, ispo facto, that education must be conducted indoors.

So, in this paper, architecture and engineering considerations have not been my concerns. Rather, I have to impress upon you not been my concerns. Rather, I have been intent on impressing upon you that the architecture of learning space - the environment of schools - plays a significant role in determining pedagogy : what is taught and particularly how it is taught. Egg crate classrooms lead inexorably, if not inevitably, to teacher-directed role learning. Flexible and innovative concepts of educational spaces, on the other hand, may well lead to more open learning, instruction individualized according to the unique capabilities of students, student-centred and activity-based instruction. Those spaces will have the flexibility for different class groups, mass gathering, art displays etc., the aesthetics for an enlightening or inspiring learning environment and, of course, affordability by the community that owns them (Constantios, Fecadu. Innovation


in Management of Primary School Construction. Multi-purpose Primary School Buildings in Bangladesh. Educational Building Report 18 Bangkok: UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 1988).

It is in 'community ownership' that we see that affordable, flexible and innovative concepts of educational spaces may lead even further to fundamental reforms - reforms in the reorganisation of curricula and examinations, reforms in the continuing professional development and training of teachers, reforms in access to libraries and learning resource centres through twenty-first century telecommunications technologies, and reforms in management issues such as the involvement of parents and community in educational decision making through decentralisation, panchayat raj institutions and Village Education Committees.

Conclusion : Architecture for International Understanding

With all this in mind, let us conclude with,. a final injuction to ensure an architecture for international understanding. UNESCO is an international organisation dedicated to 'constructing the defences of peace in the minds of men and women' Schools which have dedicated themselves to this worthy goal are managed according to the universal principles of peace, tolerance, democracy and international understanding, and bear the distinctive signs and logos of UNESCO Associated Schools.



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XIII INTERNATIONAL UlA / UNESCO SEMINAR

affordable spaces for education for all



SPACES FOR EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS

Mr.Laurie Baker

Delegates and Friends,

I am thankful to the organisers of this International Conference for inviting me to address on the problem of Spaces for Education. I must admit that I know very little about education, as much I know about other parts of the world. I was born and educated in Briton and remembered very little about Education System there. I spent few years in China, America, Australia and Africa., but I settled down in India. I was'nt much interested about education here as I found the Schools were dingy dark places. I therefore, asked to myself as an Architect, why the buildings are like this and how to deal with this enormous problems which faces India.

I was first concerned with Affordability. When I was asked to convert some homes into a hospitals for leaprosy patients in India, I was sent by the Royal Institute of British Architects to India to do some 93 homes for leoprosy patients. Due to the nature of the disease, these houses were not near towns or cities.Usually, one needed to go either walking or in a bullock-cart. I used to hire a bicycle to reach these remote places.

When I started constructing the buildings with local materials and verncular technology, I was faced with a problem. I had never heard of materials such as mud or bamboo or never had seen any construction of the type that was prevalent in English villages.. My knowledge from Briton, where modern methods using reinforced concrete, steel, glass was of no consequence. Referring to my text-books of Building Materials and Construction was useless. I had to take lessons from local masons and carpenters and people who built houses for themselves. They were my real teachers in architecture.

In the beginning, I was completely ignorant about the people and their life-style. When I travelled through length &-breadth of this vast country, which is spread over 1000 miles, I found people were different, languages were different, living styles were different, also the climate and the terrain of the region was different. The materials they used and the modes of construction they applied was also different. There was nothing like Indian Architecture with common features found in different parts of India. The buildings were different in high mountain areas, in deserts, tropical rain forests, at the sea coast, depicting different features. This was education for me, a foreigner wanting to practice in India.

When I am thinking about this Seminar, I think the type of buildings in different parts of India can be examples for buildings anywhere in the world.. The question of affordability ! Who is going to pay for the cost of building ? Surely not the educationist or the designer. However, an Architect and Engineer like me cannot excuse himself. We cannot muddle up the stability of the structure at any cost. The cost of the construction is to be reduced substantially for all kinds of buildings in most parts of India, as well as in most under-developed countries. I mean the building has got to stand up. It has not to fall down on the people within. Also, it has to last as long as possible.

I do not believe in cutting down on cost of quality of materials as well as strength of structural members. I have evolved very simple ways of reducing the cost to 50% of the orthodox cost. If you, break up a building into all its component parts, there is drilling building foundations, putting in floors, erecting walls, setting doors and windows and laying the roof. But when you really look at all these and question "Is everything necessary in every building?" There are quite a few things that you do in a building, you need not do. Is it unjustified in wasting money or using money unnecessarily, where it could be saved ?

The another aspect of affordability is related to energy,. Energy meaning fuel to produce electricity or power. We have, as you know, very little oil. However, we have wonderful sunny days all over the country, and this could be used to create energy for everyday use.

Space is a continuous extension viewed with or without reference to the existance of objects within. Another word for space is atmosphere. Do we really need to enclose the space ? I wonder whether it is an error or a sin to enclose universal space by walls. The outside space is enclosed by clouds, mountains or trees or whatever, just like inside space by walls. They are two different things , but means the same. One is natural, the other one is man-made. We can either improve the space or we can spoil the space with what we build and what we do to it. However, it has a lot to do with education of children, Do we actually ever consult children and try to find out what is on their mind when we create spaces ? Do we also consult their teachers or educationists?

Lack of education made me design and build a school , that was my first building. Only one teacher taught. He was a wise man who started with 20 children and slowly the strength grew to about 100 students. The children were from all ages i.e. from 3 to 17, who came from many communities. A building with row of class rooms with a long corridor is useless as one teacher cannot go on running along all class rooms. It just can't work that way. After my first school, I designed the classes in a circular form with a few stone walls which were constructed by teacher and students. They also learnt to put roofs with wood and slate from local place. However, it made very interesting structures. There were no seats in the class. I brought up the foundation wall little higher so that they could sit on the wall. There was nothing for robbers to steal. We did'nt need walls except on one side from where rain came. In exchange of my service, the villagers broughts bundle of fire-wood, few eggs or chicken or milk. I learnt to build my buildings on these principles.

Now I wonder why we abondon those techniques which was to me the first hand education. I have spent most of my time working in villages, working for people in rural India. In cities, the space is limited. Wherever open space is there, it is covered with garbage and occupied by slum-dwellers. There is hardly any appropriate land to construct school building ,But it is possible to recycle the existing space for multi-purpose uses, including education.

I have some ideas on multi-purpose use of space in cities, particularly in the slums. The students of architecture can work on the ideas of creating space for education while keeping in mind, the afforability . I am sure, their ideas will be put in practice by the Government. The Government should make money available for such new experiments. I think we are quite capable of solving the problems of space for education provided funds are made available.





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XIII INTERNATIONAL UlA / UNESCO SEMINAR

affordable spaces for education for all



EDUCATIONAL SPACES

Mr. Geoffrey Bawa

Architect, Sri Lanka

Formal education per se can happen even in the simplest of space that allows for a direct interaction between educator and the educated. There are some theoretical aspects of pedagogy that can be incorporated into the planning of educational buildings:-

  • Physical comfort : Planning and construction that allows for ideal ambient temperatures, ample light and sufficient shelter from the weather - in Sri Lanka this has been addressed by resorting to generally open pavilions with wide overhanging roofs; sometimes with simple screen walls around and between different rooms allowing for a free flow of air and the penetration of light without glare.

Low maintenance : An important aspect of affordability in a building is maintenance. However affordable it is at the beginning, or however much it may fulfil the sophisticated demands of a pedagogy - if it cannot be easily maintained by the community, it fails. Simplicity of materials is important .to me - a fairface concrete, lime plaster, walls, bricks and stone put together in the simplest possible detail.

  • Undemanding appearance: An educational building must be in harmony with the best aspects of its surroundinOs - It need not assert its presence or distract. The most important task is to craft a building that epitomises the harmony of elements that go into making it.

  • Allow for incidental meeting places : and when it comes to centres of learning, particularly in a set-up for liberal education - more is learned outside the classroom than in. Thus I have always attempted to pay great attention to the "in between spaces", which become places of chance encounter and inspiration.

In essence I have aimed, through these spaces to create an ambience in the architecture that is sympathetic to the climate, environment and people.

The lecture was accompanied by slides of excellant examples of school building designed in vernacular style with local materials.







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XIII INTERNATIONAL UlA / UNESCO SEMINAR

affordable spaces for education for all

SPACES FOR EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS


Mr. Adriaan Verspoor

Eduation Adviser, The World Bank Group

The vision of EFA developed at Jomtien links qualitative improvement with quantitative expansion, supported by national and international partnerships. India has responded to this challenge with DPEP which soon will be operational in 11 of the 15 major states. So far the emphasis has been on the educational aspects. Yet the challenges of physical planning are enormous. They involve the construction of more than 150,000 classrooms, repairs to as much as 30% of the existing stock of classrooms and the provision of water supply and toilet facilities to many others. The challenge of DPEP is to develop designs for classrooms that can be built on a large scale by craftsmen with limited skills but are at the same time affordable, cost-effective and supportive of a child-centred pedagogy. Much of the focus of space planners has so far been on design issues but experience to date suggests that the effective resolution of the issues of construction management are the key to meeting this challenge.


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