The disparity of education in India

 

Education: More Than Degrees and Classrooms

When most people hear the word education, they think of formal schooling — classrooms, exams, and degrees. But education is much broader. It also includes the knowledge and skills we gain informally: through traditions, stories passed down across generations, from books and movies and lessons learned from everyday experiences. True learning is not confined to textbooks; it is part of how we live, observe, and grow.

In today’s world, however, formal education has become almost mandatory. Schools, colleges, and universities are gateways to success, and certificates or degrees have become the accepted proof of achievement. Intelligence and capability are often judged by the possession of such qualifications. For most professions, entry into employment requires furnishing these degrees, making formal education a prerequisite for participation in the workforce.

While this system provides a standardized measure of competence, it also exposes deep inequalities. In India, students in metropolitan cities often benefit from better facilities compared to those in rural areas. Even within cities, differences persist, private schools generally offer more advanced infrastructure than government schools, and among private institutions themselves, there is a divide between elite schools catering to affluent families and those serving less privileged communities.

Education today has become commercial There is a mad rush to open schools, colleges, and learning institutions, though often the intent behind it is commercial gain rather than providing learning. Coaching classes sprout up on almost every street of a locality in the Metropolitan cities. This is not to belittle the ones doing so but at the same time it is important to face the underlying reason behind this. To make money. Many times, it is the teachers and professors from different schools and colleges who invest money to open such classes and encourage them to join to get enhanced learning. In the old days, most teachers would concentrate on teaching students in the classroom itself and only when they found a student truly weak in some subjects that they would gently suggest that the student sign up for some after school classes which the teacher would conduct at her own residence or in some cases visiting the student’s residence and charging a small sum of money for the time spent. Today nearly every child has joined coaching classes or other which raises the question of what kind of education is being imparted in the schools themselves. The pressure to enrolls children in coaching classes also imposes a financial burden on many families already struggling to make ends meet. There have also been instances when some centres have leaked exam papers of schools to their students to give them an edge over other students and get higher results which they then use to promote their classes.

There are also many government initiatives to push education in rural India. But if one examines this closely it would be found that they are mostly for show. The quality of education provided in the government schools is substandard and the qualification of teachers questionable. Let me illustrate an example. In my hometown in Gujarat there are a few government schools and a high school which has been there since ages. My house help’s daughter who moved up to 9^th std asked me for some help in learning English which she had been already learning since the past 4 years. She is seemingly a bright student and has been bringing home high grades of A and A+. But when I started coaching her, I was appalled to note that not even the basics of English had been covered. She had no idea of what were the vowels or the tenses, verbs and nouns or conjunctions etc. It seems the teacher would just go through the motions of teaching the subject without truly covering anything of significance. During the exams, the children would get passing marks or high grades if they had even done a semblance of answering the questions well. In fact, when I studied one of the school exam question papers, I found the paper itself replete with many mistakes. Leaving aside English I found that there was a lack of knowledge about even basic information of other subjects. Yet this girl was awarded with high grades through the years and promoted from one class to the next. I have no intention of belittling this girl who is a very decent girl and overall, quite smart, and intelligent. It is not her fault about receiving a low quality of education in her school. But again. this raises the question of what will happen once she completes her education and journey and is ready to join the work force. Will she be able to compete with so many other job aspirants many of whom have attended better private schools and received a high standard of education. The most likely option for her would be to join a government job. One now can realise the reason for the mediocre service offered by many government institutions.

The biggest drawback in India still stuck in the list of developing countries is illiteracy. Education which needs to be on list of high priority is woefully ignored. The gap between quality of education offered in government schools’ vs private schools needs to be bridged. Teachers need to be trained better to impart education not just the learning of information but also other aspects of life and culture. They need to be offered better incentives to take up teaching in the rural areas to bring the rest of the country at an equal level of learning. The government needs to increase the budget level for education. It is a shame that far more money is being spent on the political campaigns than on education in our country thus giving rise to the sentiment that politicians consider an illiterate electorate easier to control and gain votes from. Also, when political parties seek to politicize the learning syllabus of schools and colleges rather than concentrate on improving it, the future of improving literacy in the country seems unachievable. Right now, in certain states in India there is a push for people speaking and learning the local language. While it certainly isn’t unreasonable it is deplorable that violence is being used to enforce this demand. This of course is more about politicians using this to enhance their images rather than concern about the citizens of their state. While it is a positive thing to be bilingual in different languages of the country it is impossible to learn each language of the country. India is a democratic country and people have the right to travel to any state to seek their livelihood. But to make it mandatory for such a person to learn the language of the state is unfair and unreasonable.

As India rises and find its place in world affairs it must accept and understand that the common language of communication in the world is English. Without belittling the languages of our own country, it is important for us to learn English if we are to participate in the global economy. English is an essential language to learn if one wants to work in the field of travel & tourism, Aviation and hotel industries, International call centres, International Banking etc. Therefore, the short-sighted politicians instead of enforcing knowledge of the language of the state needs to push for better education facilities for its citizens to be able to participate on the global stage.

We often deplore the increasing divide between the poor and the elite but unwittingly we ourselves help perpetuate it with not working to strengthen and increase equal opportunities to receive high level education facilities for all classes in India irrespective of caste, religion, or social standing. Only then can India truly be able to be considered a rising power.

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