Education for All in West Bengal, India: Towards Context-Relevant Quality Indicators and Evaluation Policies for Primary Schools∗

The fast-approaching 2015 deadline for developing nations to meet internationally-set targets for universal primary education and gender equality has caused governments and development agencies around the world to examine what has and has not been achieved to date. Earlier goals set by UNICEF’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Educational For All (EFA) initiatives are undergoing a serious re-evaluation. Given that backdrop, this study sought to broaden definitions of educational quality at the primary level in more comprehensive and child-centered terms, taking into account local and regional context factors (namely, historical, governance, economic, culturalreligious, community, and family-based variables). The method employed is a policy theory analysis, based on a literature review relevant to a regional case study focusing on the state of West Bengal, India. The paper uses the case analysis to (a) suggest revised indicators of educational quality, (b) derive a context-based logic model, and (c) recommend two-tiered monitoring strategies that support program development at the community level while meeting macro-level information needs.