THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN INDIA [PART 2]

Last week, I had written about the cracks in our education policy. In this blog I wish to look at the possible policy actions that can plug these loopholes.

Access

The number of students enrolled in primary and secondary school is way below global average. Therefore the focus of the policy makers must be on increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). The Right to Education Act, 2009 has done a great deal in making enrolment in primary schools nearly universal. The trends noticed thereafter suggest that the children tend to drop out when they reach high school. Therefore the best policy approach, atleast for the foreseeable future, would be to amend the Right to Education Act and expand its scope upto Class 12. A rights/entitlement based approach is the best way forward for now.

Quality

To enhance quality we have already embraced e-learning, however it is a well-known fact that internet penetration in our country is very low. To enhance the use of ICT in schools, the government must fasten the pace of laying optical fibre network to enable the internet to reach every village of this country. Once the fibre network is ready, we can fully exploit the benefit of ICT through Digital India programme and the National Knowledge Network.

Another important area of focus must be regulation of Teacher Training Institutes. The government must bring in a Law to regulate all private educational institutions and it must evolve a comprehensive Education Code. Any institution violating that Code must be dealt with stringently.

Equity

In the last blog, I had illustrated the extent of absence of equity in our education system. To enhance equity and make education inclusive, the government must initiate targeted programmes outside the Ministry of Human Resource Development. These could be through the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Tribal Affairs, Social Justice and Women & Child Development. If this is done, the implementation will become easier as these ministries will have first-hand knowledge of their target population and therefore sector specific schemes can be formulated without much additional financial burden.

In the next blog I wish to explore the possible reforms in our Curriculum and Examination framework.

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Varun Hari Prasad

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