On the occasion of 72nd Independence Day, we bring opinions from educationists on Education in Independent India - successes, challenges and opportunities. NexSchools wishes all of you best wishes on Independence Day and reaffirms commitment to spreading awesomeness in education and parenting by introspecting and informing.
More than seven decades after independence, we stand at the threshold of challenges outpacing our achievements in education. Gaps are visible in many areas and are evident in deteriorating values in our socio-fabric, growing distress among our children, losing human values, access to equitable education as per paying capacity vis-à-vis, 5 star facility schools, dwindling government schools, geographical divide in rural and urban education and ofcourse 21st century global challenges including digital education and technological advancement are posing different kinds of knowledge based challenges.
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We have received many different views from eminent educationists…..
Let us shift our focus and keep it straight in two areas access to equitable education in preschools, primary level schooling and secondary level or post-compulsory level to be precise in the school system of education and deteriorating value-based outcomes in the education.
"Why Equality in Education?
Education in India is a means to social inclusion, jobs and security for living a comfortable life. Education in India is also a key to moving up on the economic and social ladder. There could be no equality without access and quality education for everyone."
Equitable Access to Quality Education in Schools
Accessibility and equitable education in preschools, primary level schooling and secondary level or post-compulsory level are still not near ninety percent if not perfect hundred.
“The 12th Five Year Plans (2012-17) envisioned: ‘Faster Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth’, are we near inclusion in education?”
We face two-pronged obstacles in our system besides many other:
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Failure of the public education system in almost all states except Delhi as an exception in the last couple of years.
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Secondly, the growing and unregulated rampant growth of the private school system.
Both the above factors are increasing the gaps between accessibility and equality. This leads to unrest in the society and in youth in particular. This will have downward repercussion in the times to come on the growth of the country as well as the wider divide between have and haves not.
“Let us not keep ourselves focused on some urban schools and private branded chains of schools which are suddenly finding greener grass in urban pockets of our country, these are catering only to the fraction of education need. The focus has to be on glaring inequality which happens to make up a third of world’s poor dwellers in India.”
In fact, India alone is home to a little less than one-thirds (40.4 million; 32.2%) of all the young illiterate people in the world (UNESCO, 2010)
Primary Schooling in India
Primary schooling has witnessed considerable improvement in the last few decades. The accessibility has increased and consequently, the literacy rate of the country has also gone up. To bridge the difference between quality and accessibility concrete steps are required - reformulate policies, management of resources and implementation of laid down policies.
Free and compulsory education for children upto grade 8th or till the age of 14 years got further thrust with the Right to Education Act. The number of children receiving primary education swelled to double and literacy rate increased to 95% but due lack of focus in the secondary education resulted in high drop rates at the threshold of secondary school. Only 44% of the elementary school going children pass grade 10th.
Secondary Schooling in India
The world bank supported central government ’s scheme for secondary education Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, the national programme to promote universalisation and access to secondary education drew the attention of our nation towards imparting quality and access to education for secondary level.
Secondary education is critical to the development of India and securing jobs, honing skills needed in the fast-paced technically advancing world. Greater access is vital in improving equity. Today most secondary schooling is are fee paying, most government subsidies disproportionately in the favour of higher rather than lower income households. It makes secondary schools private and exclusionary.
To bring social mobility out of poverty for all the sections of the society from the poorest of the poor to the marginalised people will require effective secondary education. This can be achieved with proper allocation of financial resources with accountability at every level.
"Failing to provide secondary education opportunities would be a huge loss to the nation which is soon to see the largest and youngest workforce the world has ever seen."
Well developed education and training system must take center stage in our policy building and probably political agenda. Even when we know the benefits of education we have yet to see the urgency in the development agenda of our nation.
The number of children completing primary education rose to 95% while only 44% pass grade 10th and access beyond higher secondary schooling is mere 10%.
Imbalanced Pattern in Public Expenditure
The imbalanced pattern in school education in India is clearly visible in India. The more allocation of resources towards elementary education and focus on the tertiary model has skewed secondary schooling. Secondary education in India faces a number of challenges.
To deal with educational change emphasis needs to shift from strategic planning to strategic thinking; from planning strategy to implementation on the ground, from transforming people into transferring opportunity.
Although we have taken some strides forward in the school system yet the road is long, the path has to be wide for inclusion with the socialist model of reforms in our education system, as many other countries in the world have achieved it. Accessibility will also come when the quality education is affordable, which will pave way for equal and fair opportunity to everyone.
References
https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2017/02/Education.pdf
ASER - http://www.pratham.org/file/ASER-2012report.pdf
Education for All: Towards Quality with Equality http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002298/229873E.pdf