Restructuring Indian Education System: Opportunities & Challenges

  Restructuring Indian Education System: Opportunities & Challenges  

Relevant Quotes

• Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela
• Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family. Kofi Annan
• “Learning gives creativity, creativity leads to thinking, thinking provides knowledge and knowledge makes you great” – Abdul Kalam
• “Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time” – Rabindranath Tagore
• “Intelligence plus character that is the goal of true education” – Martin Luther King

 

Introduction

• India, one of the youngest countries among large economies with a median age of 25 has seen a countinous spur in growth and overall development of the country. Education is a major variable in influencing this development as it has tended to play a critical role in development stories for nations. Education is important for the personal, social and economic development of a nation. Education is important to live with happiness and prosperity.
  Education empowers minds that will be able to conceive good thoughts and ideas. Great philosopher Rabindranath Tagore has also dwelled on education. According to him, the aim of education is creative self-expression through physical, mental, aesthetic and moral development.
• For the smooth and progressive growth for a nation, the essence of education in society is indispensable and cohering, which is why society and knowledge cannot be ever separated into two distinct entities. It is often said that an Education Institution, is a building Block of a Nation and if this building block is overlooked than nothing can stop a building to collapse.Given the fact that India is going to be the youngest nation by 2020, Education will play a vital role in social and economic transformation of society.
• The Present Education system in India mainly comprises of –Primary education, Secondary education, and Higher Education. So far, the progress of Education has been of mixed success. Although soon after independence in 1947, making education available to all had become a priority for the government but the discrimination on the basis of caste and gender has been a major hurdle in the healthy development of the Indian society, which in turn has also restricted the educational development of the nation as a whole.
• The statistics shows about 59 million children under the age limit 6-14 are out of school and about 41 million people are registered in the different employment exchange across the country. The unemployment is not because of there isn’t sufficient opportunity for the job seekers but the educational system made them inapt for employment. While the country made major progress in raising literacy rates and has emerged as an important player in the worldwide information technology there are still various issues in the education system which needs to be addressed and call for restructuring of Indian Education system. We are governed by a system of education that was made with accordance to the society at the time of 1960-1990 it served us well enough, but now it would be imprudent choice to ride on an bicycle that is very much rusted to the core.
• Temporal Elaboration

• Our country has always been famous for gaining education since the Vedic period. The earliest education system to develop in India was known as ‘Vedic system’ with the ultimate aim being complete realization of self. This system was based on ‘Gurukul’ which fostered a bond between the Guru & the Shishya .
• The world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC and the University of Nalanda was built in the 4th century BC dominated by Indian scholars like Charaka and Sushruta, Aryabhatta, Chanakya, Patanjali etc.It made seminal contribution to world knowledge in diverse fields as mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medical science and surgery, etc.
• Until the 17th century, India was considered one of the richest country in the world. However, due to the arrival of the foreign colonizers and the wrong policies of the then rulers, India lost almost all its richness wealth wise as well as knowledge wise. Lord Macaulay brought the modern school system to India, including the English language, in the 1830s
• During the freedom struggle, several leaders like Gokhale, Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi worked for better education for our people, particularly women. Indigenous model of education was a major component of Gandhi’s conception of Swaraj and Swadeshi. Post-Independence, the importance of education as a precondition for development was very well recognized by the leadership.
• In the last 20 years, education discourse in India has undergone a major transformation and new concepts such as rights-based approach to elementary education; shift in emphasis from literacy and basic education to secondary, higher, technical and professional education; the endeavour to extend universalization to secondary education; reshape the higher education scenario

 

• Drawbacks in Present Education System that call for its Restructuring

• Lacks of A Firm Base: Present system critically lacks a firm base with balance. Purpose of education is not only limited to gain knowledge but to mentally mold a child in order to give a course to Nation. But instead present system tends to make them pessimist which is detrimental for escalation of a progressive nation.
• Narrow scope: The scope of education system is also very narrow, instead of producing thinkers we produce apparatuses for machines and if piece of equipment is of good quality it will deliver itself to better landscape (foreign).
• Heavy baggage: The present system of education burdens the childhood of future of this nation with heavy baggage (school-bags) and tiresome (boring and dull) lectures which ultimately encourage them for “RATTAFICATION”. An education system resolutely requires a basic framework in order to encourage children omitting the element of force.
• Apathetic system of Examination: India, a student has to appear for dozens of qualifying, selection, entrance and periodical exams in a short span of 4-5 years after leaving school. In the process, students lose interest in sports, creative pursuits and everything else that could be important.
• Hefty fee structure– The major downside of the prevailing system of education is that it is not easily affordable. Nowadays in India, more than 37% people are living below poverty level. Therefore, they cannot afford education even at primary level.
• Chalk and talk system of teaching: The Indian education system is firmly stuck with the old and traditional system of ‘chalk and talk’. Technology plays a little or no role , and there is little or no attempt to modernize student assessment processes, teaching methods, etc.
• Focus upon theoretical knowledge: The biggest challenge that lies within the education system in India is the quality of education that is been delivered to the students, as most of the education that is delivered to students in India is generally theoretical in nature, its lacks the practical aspect .In the process, the students lose the curiosity which could have helped them learn better, and at a much faster rate
• Little room for World Class Research: There is little or no room for world class research in the Indian education system. Even if a university student has great ideas but he or she deviates from what a professor with outdated knowledge thinks and believes in, the student is likely to get no funding for research, average grades or no recommendation in future.
• Cast reservation and paid seat:: In Indian education system, seats are reserved for reserved cast and rich students(paid seats).  In India, the child of good a rich family gets good education just because of ample money whereas the child of a poor family hardly gets the primary education.Further,the merit is sidelined as a major chunk of the “limited” seats is reserved for studentswho are born in certain communities, whether their parents happen to be peasants, industrialists or IAS officer.
• Issues and Challenges of Indian Education System
• Lack of infrastructure: Most of the villages in India do not have proper schools, which makes the students to travel few kilometers to attain their basic education.
• Lack of funds: The education institutions in india-schools,colleges Universities etc in India lack funds .These institutions don’t have enough funds to enhance the quality of education and hence lacks in the infrastructure facility, teaching environment and quality teachers. Infrastructure facilities at schools and colleges across rural areas dispense very poor quality of education. The teachers are not paid adequately, as they are not much qualified so they are not willing to work hard.
• High drop outs and low attendance: Secondary education reflects a very high level of dropouts and low attendance especially for vulnerable groups because of poverty, social restrictions or lack of belief in usefulness of education. It is the mentality of the Indian families that more and more people of the family should earn, little kids are send out to earn the daily bread and butter of the family instead of going to school and attain their basic education
• Absence of basic facilities: Most of the education institutions lacks basic facilities for students like well equipped libraries, E-LABS, playing grounds, for their athletic advancement, Clean toilets safe –drinking water and so and so forth.
• Rising Cost of Education: Due to mushrooming of private schools the cost of education is rising. More than 80% of schools in India are managed by the government. Private schools are very expensive and are not affordable by the poor.
• Commercialization of Education – Schools and Colleges have become money making institutions rather than providing quality education. E.g. capitation fees, excessive fee hikes, additional costs for uniform, books, etc.
• Low Budget Allocation: According to the Economic Survey 2017- 18, India’s average expenditure on education is 2.8% of GDP. However, if we measure the expenses on education as a percentage to GDP, India lags behind some developed/ developing nations.Developing countries like South Africa and Brazil spend about 5.8% whereas neighboring Bhutan spends more than 7% of its GDP on education.
• Issue of Capacity utilization Another challenge to be addressed in strengthening the Indian education system is to improve the capacity utilization of institutions, especially higher education institutions. In case of certain states, there are a lot of unfilled seats in institutions. we need to ensure that institutions/ colleges/schools created for providing higher education fully utilize the capacity created.
• Lo Student-teacher Ratio: Another challenge for improving the Indian education system is to improve the student teacher ratio. In India, this ratio is very high as compared to certain comparable countries in the world. For example, while in developed countries this ratio stands at 11.4, in case of India, it is as high as 22.0.
• Demand Supply Gap: Failure of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in producing a skilled labour force in the country. Skills training continues to be departmentally-scattered and fragmented in the country Higher education system has been aloof from the skills ecosystem. The Sharda Prasad Committee Report, released in 2017, explains how private training partners have made a “mockery” of skills training by dolling out short-term courses.
• Regulation Issues: Regulators like MCI, UGC, AICTE continue to be marked by inadequate financial and human resources, nepotism, corruption and favouritism.
• Inadequate research facilities: Currently research in India is suffering from low standard, quality as well as lack of interest towards research as a career due to paltry and unsustainable stipend amounts. More students prefer to go abroad for research due to better facilities, laboratories, more favorable culture of research.
• Political Interference: Higher education is fast emerging as a lucrative business and a number of education institutions have cropped up which are owned by political leaders. In addition, there is a growing political interference in running educational institution as seen in the case of Delhi University.
• Inadequate facilities for Students with special needs: India has huge population of children with special needs (Differently abled) who inspite of provisions in RTE for statutory right to education continue to be denied this right. A recent report of CAG has highlighted that transport, aid and appliances were not provided as envisaged in the act to all the eligible children with special needs.
• Increasing Rate of Crimes: While schools are regarded as “Temples of Learning”, in recent times they have become breeding grounds of crime against children! In 2017, a seven-year-old boy was found murdered inside a school in Gurugram and the next day a five-year old girl was raped in a school in Delhi.

 

 

ü  Government Initiatives ·           Atal Innovation Mission ·           Saakshar Bharat ·           Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme ·           National Medical Commission Bill ·           Beti Bacaho,Beti Padao ·           Mahila Samakhya ·           Swachh Vidyalya ·           Udaan ·           Pragati ·           Kanya Saksharta Protsahan Yojana ·           Saksham for students with special needs ·           National E-Library ·           Ishan Uday ·           Ishan Vikas ·           Sakshar Bharat ·           Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ·           National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA)

 

 

Suggestions

• Given that we need to compete globally in the 21st century, our education system should adopt certain benchmarking techniques for improving instruction models and administrative procedures in universities/colleges to move forward
• It is suggested that we need a thorough study and evaluation of models implemented elsewhere and work out strategies to adopt such models in our system.
• Lots of technological and scientific improvements are taking place in India and therefore the courses are Graduate and post graduates must be updated as per the industrial and technological development.
• The education system should give equal chance to all students irrespective of their cast and creed.
• As education has to be made affordable to all deserving and poor students, there is a strong need for educational institutions not to over-commercialize education but to uphold ethics in the business of education as well
• If education has to reach all deserving students, it should be made affordable.
• India needs to learn from examples of countries like UK whose model of vocational education called Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) which integrates skills and higher education.

Conclusion

• India has one of the youngest populations in an aging world. By 2020, the median age in India will be just 28, compared to 37 in China and the US, 45 in Western Europe, and 49 in Japan. Education with a holistic perspective is concerned with the development of every person’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials.
• To leverage the advantage of demographic dividend India needs to invest into its abundant human capital through quality education, reforming the curriculum and pedagogical processes, improving delivering by utilizing public-private partnerships, evolving an efficient audit and accountability mechanism and resolving the existing lacunae in the current institutional system which will help unleash the true potential of Indian citizens and lead to economic and social prosperity.
• The people in power must understand that the Indian education system requires serious reforms. The system must change to develop students spiritually, morally, physically as well as mentally. It is the high time to understand the importance of changing this old system for the better future of the children as well as the country as a whole.