Education Issues

Education is empowering and redefining. For hundreds of millions of the young in India, education is also about discipline, development, curiosity, creativity and a path to breaking the cycle of ignorance and poverty leading to employment and prosperity. India’s demographic dividend depends on the learning level of students. The quality of education has a direct bearing on any economy.

The Indian Education System has its own share of issues and challenges which need to be resolved so as to provide better and improved education to children, who are the future of the country. Over the years, a lot has changed in the Indian education system but still, there are many loopholes and problems which need to be resolved.

The Indian education system, for a long time, is faced with the problem of inaccessibility and low-quality education that make Indians unemployable. Due to this, India is not able to use the potential of its human capital. Education is one of the vital tools that help a nation to develop. The government needs to address this issue through proactive involvement for the betterment of all Indian citizens.

Education is a significant step to achieving all other basic human rights. Education can help decrease poverty, reduce social inequalities, empower women and others marginalised, bring down discrimination and finally help individuals live life to their fullest potentials. It helps improve access to opportunities for a better life in terms of employment and business. It can also bring about peace and overall prosperity to a region. Therefore, education is one of the most important rights.

About the Indian Education System:

• In ancient times, India followed the Gurukula system of education.
• This system involved the teacher teaching student many subjects like Sanskrit, Holy Scriptures, mathematics metaphysics, etc., in his home.
• The student stays in the teacher’s house as long as he wished or until the guru felt he had taught everything he could teach.
• All learning in Gurukula was closely linked to nature and life and not confined to memorizing information like it is today.
• The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s.
• The curriculum was confined to the “modern” subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary.
• Teaching was limited to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and students.
• Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board to be established in India in the year 1921.
• Later, other boards were established in several states.
• This kind of education system underwent reforms following independence from the British Empire.
• A major shift in the education system can be observed since the pre and post-British rule till today in India. Initially, children were educated in Gurukuls which was later modified and the modern education system was introduced.
• After India became independent, the constitution committed six fundamental rights, of which one was the Right to Education. It allowed free education for every child up between the age of 6 and 14 years.
• The education system is mainly divided into pre-primary, primary, elementary and secondary education, which is followed by higher studies.
• However, there are many drawbacks and loopholes in this system which if curbed can work for the overall development of the country.

What is the structure of India’s schooling system since independence?

The Indian education system consists of the following levels of education:

• Pre-primary level: 5-6 years of age
• Primary (elementary) level: 6-14 years of age. It is guaranteed by the Indian Constitution under Article 21A. The elementary education is universalised by Sarva Shikha Abhiyan.
• Secondary level: 14-18 years of age. The government had extended SSA to secondary education through Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.
• Higher Education in India generally has 3 levels: UG, PG and MPhil/Ph.D. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme, Rashtriya Uchhattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) provides for the strategic funding to higher education institutions throughout the country.

Status of Education in India:

The Indian education and social arrangements are very inflexible on kids and completely ignore their feelings, thoughts and ambitions. Kids are pressed to study from the age of 3. Non-performers are treated as dunces and detested by parents and society.

As per UNESCO data, India has one of the lowest public expenditure rates on education per student, especially compared to other Asian countries like China.

Education in most schools is one dimensional, with an obsessive focus on marks. Added to this is the lack of availability of trained teachers at all levels. Quality teachers are the missing link in the Indian education system. Although pockets of excellence exist, the quality of teaching, especially in government schools, does not meet the standards.

With a literacy rate of 77 percent, India lags behind other BRICS nations, which have literacy rates above 90 percent. All these countries have better student-teacher ratios. So not only does India grapple with poor quality teachers, it also has fewer total teachers in comparison with other countries that do a better job at education.

Data from the Ministry of Human Resource Development show that only half of all students who enter primary school make it to the upper primary level and less than half that get into the 9-12 class cycle.

• Only 58 percent of children enrolled in classes three to five could read a class one text.
• Less than half (47 percent) were able to do simple two-digit subtraction.
• Only half of the children in classes five to eight could use a calendar.
• They were not found proficient in even basic skills; about two-thirds of the students in class four could not master the measurement of the length of the pencil with a ruler.

Study after study has shown that the true indicator of economic development in a country is the education and wellbeing of its people. Although, India has made rapid economic progress over the last three decades, one area that has not received enough attention is the quality of primary education.

Enrolment and Attendance:

• The overall enrolment of children (age 6-14) has been above 95% since 2017 and the children not enrolled in school have fallen to 3%.
• The girls’ drop-out: In 2018, the overall proportion of girls in the 11-14 age group out of school has decreased to 4.1% from 10.3% in 2006. Also, in 2008, more than 20% of girls in the 15 to 16 age group were not enrolled in school. In 2018, this figure has dropped to 13.5%.
• Private school enrolment: In 2016, 30.6% of children age 6-14 enrolled in private school. This is almost the same in 2018 as it stood at 30.9%.
• Learning Levels:
• Reading: The percentage of children in Class III who can read Class II levels has increased from 21.6% in 2016 to 27.2% in 2018. In 2018, 50.3% of children from Class V can read at least Class II level text. This figure has increased from 47.9% in 2016. About 73% of all children from Class VIII can read at least Class II level text. This figure remains the same since 2016.
• Arithmetic: At the national level, in 2018, 28.1% of children from Class III can do at least subtraction. This has not changed much from 27.6% in 2016. For the Class III government school children, this figure stood at 20.3% in 2016 and 20.9% in 2018. The proportion of children from Class V who can do division has increased from 26% in 2016 to 27.8% in 2018. The performance of children from Class VIII who can do basic arithmetic remains unchanged. Currently, about 44% of all children in Class VIII can solve a 3-digit by 1-digit numerical divisions.
• Teacher and student attendance: At the national level, there is no significant change in the students’ and teachers’ attendance. The average teacher attendance has stood at around 85% and the average students’ attendance hovered around 72% for the past few years in both the primary and upper-primary schools.
• Facilities: At the all-India level, a substantial improvement is seen in 2018 in the availability of school facilities that are mandated under the RTE Act. The percentage of schools with usable girls’ toilets doubled from 2010, reaching 66.4%. The percentage of schools with books other than textbooks has increased from 62.6% to 74.2% over the same period (from 2010 to 2018).

How did the modern education system evolve to the present state?

• As previously mentioned, the British colonial government introduced India’s modern education system.
• From Macaulay minute to Wood’s dispatch to several commissions like Sadler commission, 1904 Indian education policy etc., has built the foundation for the Indian education system during the colonial period.

Radhakrishnan Committee:

• In 1948-49, the University Education Commission was set up under Radhakrishnan.
• It shaped the education system of independent India based on the needs and aspirations of the newly-formed independent nation.
• It projected out the value system of the Indian Education System.
• Previously, the education system was only favouring the aspirations of the British government.
• For example, Macaulayism focused on eliminating indigenous culture through the planned substitution of British culture through education.
• Independent India’s education system is based on the following values as recommended by the commission:
• Wisdom and knowledge
• Aims of the social order
• Love for higher values of life
• Training for leadership

Kothari Commission:

• It gave the basic framework of the Indian education system.
• It recommended the following:
• Standardisation of the education system on a 10+2+3 pattern.
• Pointed out the need to make work experience and social and national service an integral part of education.
• Linking of colleges with several schools in the neighbourhood.
• Equal opportunities need to be provided for all to achieve national and social integration.
• Increase in the expenditure on education from 2.9% of the GDP to 6% by 1985.
• The banning Neighbourhood school system from separating students based on social or religious differences.
• A school complex system integrating primary and secondary levels of education.
• The Establishment of the Indian Education Service.
• The report by this committee paved the way for National Education Policy, 1968 which became the basis for further development of the Indian education system.

National Education Policy, 1968:

• It provided for the “radical restructuring” and equalization of educational opportunities to achieve national integration and greater cultural and economic development.
• It also increased the government’s expenditure on education to 6% of the GDP.
• It provided for the better qualification and training of the teachers.
• The three-language formula: The first language should be the mother tongue/regional language. The second language for the Hindi-speaking states should be modern Indian language. If it is non-Hindi speaking states it should be either Hindi or English. As for the third language, it can be either English or modern Indian language for the Hindi-speaking states and non-Hindi Speaking states. Hindi was encouraged in all states to promote a common language for all Indians.

National Educational Policy, 1985:

• Its objective is to remove differences and to provide equal educational opportunities especially to the marginalised sections of the society.
• It launched “Operation Blackboard” to improve primary schools across the nation.
• IGNOU was set up.
• The “Rural university” model was adopted based on the Gandhian philosophy. This was done to promote economic and social development at the grassroots level in rural India.

T.S.R.Subramanian Committee report:

• It was entrusted with the task of preparing a new education policy for India.
• It submitted a report to the government in May 2016.
• It had suggested numerous measures the government must take to improve education in India.
• Some of the key recommendations are:
• Education for children between 4 to 5 age groups must be declared a fundamental right. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is uneven across the states. So all the government schools should have facilities for pre-primary education so that too much reliance is not in private schools.
• This committee recommended that the “no-detention policy” should be upheld only till class V and not till class VIII.
• As there is an increase in the teacher shortage, absenteeism and grievances, there is a need for the establishment of an Autonomous Teacher Recruitment Board and 4 years integrated B.Ed. course.
• There is insufficient integration of Information and Communication Technology and the education sector.
• This committee recommended the enhancement of the National Skills Qualification Framework.
• The vocational training courses must be on par with the local opportunities and resources and the formal certification must be equivalent to the conventional education certificates.
• All India Education Service must be established.
• National Accreditation Board (NAB) must subsume the existing accreditation bodies.

Importance of Education for India:

• Education is the tool which alone can inculcate national and cultural values and liberate people of false prejudice, ignorance and representations.
• Education provides them required knowledge, technique, skill and information and enables them to know their rights and duties towards their family, their society and towards their motherland at large.
• Education expands their vision and outlook, provokes the spirit of healthy competition and a desire to advance for the achievements of their consciousness regenerating truth, and thereby capability to fight injustice, corruption, violence, disparity and communalism, the greatest hazards to the progress of the nation.
• Quality education is today’s need as it is the development of  intellectual skills  and knowledge  which will equip learners to fulfill the needs of professionals, decision makers and trainers.
• Education provides many opportunities in various fields for the development of the country. Education makes people independent, builds confidence and self-esteem, which is very important for the development of a country.
• The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report and the Education Commission’s Learning Generation Report, 171 million people could be lifted out of extreme poverty if all children left school with basic reading skills. That’s equivalent to a 12% drop in the world total.
• Education increases earnings by roughly 10% per each additional year of schooling
• If workers from poor and rich backgrounds received the same education, disparity between the two in working poverty could decrease by 39%.
• No country in the world has achieved rapid and consistent economic growth without at least 40 percent of its adult population being literate.
• The creation of green industries will rely on high-skilled, educated workers. Agriculture contributes 1/3 of all greenhouse gas emissions. Primary and secondary education can provide future farmers with critical knowledge about sustainability challenges in agriculture.
• Women with at least six years of education are more likely to use prenatal vitamins and other useful tactics during pregnancy, thus reducing the risk of maternal or infant mortality.
• Education has proven to benefit women and girls at a higher rate than boys. The empowerment that girls receive from an education both personally and economically is unmatched by any other factor.

What are the problems faced by India’s education system?

• Expenditure on education – More funds should be allotted for the development of the education system in India. In the past few years, many beneficial steps have been taken in this direction and if the same is continued India may soon be overcome the current challenges
• Gross enrolment pattern as followed by the UN must also be adapted by India
• Capacity utilisation – The world now needs creative minds and the Government must encourage schools to boost the students and utilise their capacities to the max and not let their ideas go unheard
• Infrastructure facilities – Better infrastructure must be provided especially in Government schools. Since Government is now focussing on digital education, they must undertake steps to provide all necessary facilities in the Government schools and rural areas as well
• PPP model – Well-designed PPPs can create models of innovation for the school system in India. Thus the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model must be taken into consideration
• Student-teacher ratio – The number of students in search of proper education is way more in comparison to the teachers and faculty available. Thus, qualified teachers must be appointed to impart knowledge to the future of the country
• Accreditation and branding – quality standards
• Students studying abroad – There are many students who choose to study abroad because of these issues in the Indian education system. The concerned authorities must work on them and students must also choose to stay, learn in India and empower the country through their knowledge

Nationwide lockdown has closed each academic institution, as a consequence of which, learners going from school-going kids to postgraduate college students, are affected. The UNESCO estimates that round 32 crores college students are affected in India, incorporating these in faculties and faculties.

• Inadequate government Funding: The country spent 3% of its total GDP on education in 2018-19 according to the Economic Survey which is very less in comparison to the developed and OECD countries.
• Pandemic impact: Some 23.8 million additional children and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary) may drop out or not have access to school next year.
  • As per ASER Report 2020, 5% of rural children are not currently enrolled for the 2020 school year, up from 4% in 2018.
  • This difference is the sharpest among the youngest children (6 to 10) where 5.3% of rural children had not yet enrolled in school in 2020, in comparison to just 1.8% in 2018.
• Digital Divide: There is a major digital divide within the country across states, cities and villages, and income groups (National Statistical Organisation Survey on Digital Education Divide). Nearly 4% of rural households and 23% of urban households possessed computers and 24% of the households in the country had internet access.
• Quality of Education: Only 16% of children in Class 1 can read the text at the prescribed level, while almost 40% cannot even recognise letters. only 50 per cent of Grade 5 children being able to read a grade 2 text. (ASER Report findings.
• Lack of infrastructure: Most of the schools are not yet compliant with the complete set of RTE infrastructure. They lack drinking water facilities, a functional common toilet, and do not have separate toilets for girls.
• Inadequate teachers and their training: The 24:1 ratio of India is way lower than Sweden’s 12:1, Britain’s 16:1, Russia’s 10:1 and Canada’s 9:1. Moreover the quality of teachers who are sometimes appointed politically or are not trained adequately is another huge challenge.
• Falling share of Government school enrolment: The proportion of India’s children attending a government school has now declined to 45 per cent; this number is 85 per cent in America, 90 per cent in England, and 95 per cent in Japan.
• Too many schools: We have too many schools and 4 lakh have less than 50 students (70 per cent of schools in Rajasthan, Karnataka, J&K, and Uttarakhand). China has similar total student numbers with 30 per cent of our school numbers.
• Huge dropout numbers: The drop-out rates in schools, especially girls, is very high. Many factors like poverty, patriarchal mindset, lack of toilets in schools, distance to schools and cultural elements lead to children dropping out from education. COVID creates new urgency; reports suggest 25 per cent of Haryana private school students may have dropped out this year due to parental financial challenges.
• Infrastructure deficit:
  • Dilapidated structures, single-room schools, lack of drinking water facilities, separate toilets and other educational infrastructure is a grave problem.

• Corruption and leakages:
  • The transfer of funds from the central to state to local governments to school leads to involvement of many intermediaries.
  • The fund transfer is drastically reduced by the time it reaches the true beneficiaries.
  • High rates of corruption and leakages plague the system, undermine its legitimacy and harm the many thousands of honest headmasters and teachers.
• Quality of Teachers:
  • Lack of well trained, skilled and knowledgeable teachers which provide the foundation for a high quality education system.
  • Teacher shortages and poorly qualified teachers are both a cause and effect of poorly paid and managed teaching cadres.
• Poor salary:
  • Teachers are paid miserly salaries which affect their interest and dedication to work. They will look for other avenues like tuitions or coaching centers and coax the students to attend it.
  • This has dual effect, firstly the quality of teaching in schools drop and secondly, the poor students are forced to spend money despite constitutional provision of free education.
• Teacher Absenteeism:
  • Absence of teachers during school hours is rampant. The lack of accountability and poor governance structures add to the woes.
• Lack of Accountability:
  • School Management Committees are largely dysfunctional. Many exist solely on paper.
  • Parents are often not aware of their rights and if they are it is difficult for them to make their voice heard.
• School closure:
  • Many schools are closed to low student strength, lack of teachers and infrastructure. The competition posed by private schools is also a major challenge to government schools.

What are the recommendations made under the Draft National Education Policy, 2019?

Early Childhood Care and Education:

• The Draft Policy recommends the development of a two-par curriculum for all childhood care and education. This will consist of:
• Guidelines for up to 3-year olds for the parents and teachers and
• Educational framework for 3 to 8-year-olds.
• This would be implemented by enhancing and expanding the Anganwadi system and integrating them with the primary schools.

RTE Act:

• The Draft Policy recommends the extending of the realm of the RTE Act to include early childhood education and secondary school education.

Reforming curriculum:

• The current curriculum structure of school education must be restructured based on the developmental needs of the students.
• The Draft Act advocates for the reduction of the curriculum load so that there is only the essential core content.
• This would give space for holistic discussion and analysis-based learning.

Teachers:

• The Draft policy suggests the replacement of the existing B.Ed. programme and the setting up of a 4-year integrated B.Ed. program that merges high-quality content, pedagogy, and practical training.
• Integrated and continuous professional development should be ensured for all subjects.
• The teachers must complete a minimum of 50 hours of continuous professional development training every year.
• The draft policy calls for the establishment of the National Research Foundation. This is an autonomous body that aims to fund, monitor and improve the quality of research in India.

National Education Commission:

• The Draft policy recommends the setting up of a National Education Commission or Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog, as an apex body for education.
• This is to be headed by the Prime Minister and must be in charge of the development, execution, assessment, and revision of the education on the country in a sustained and continuous manner.

Vocational Training:

• It suggested the integration of vocational education programmes in all educational institutions (schools, colleges, and universities) in a phased manner for 10 years.

Indian languages:

• It suggested that the medium of instruction should either be in the vernacular language until Class V and preferably till Class VIII.
• It called for the flexible implementation of the 3-language formula.

Public Education System in India:

The public education system is the primary option for millions of students in India. These institutions have become more important as the pandemic takes a toll on the economy, putting fee-charging schools beyond the reach of many and forcing thousands to move to government schools.

However, education as a public good benefits spread across society in terms of employment, economic prosperity, health and social cohesion.

The education system has been commercialized where the buyers purchase the ‘education’ at prices. Economist Prabhat Patnaik termed the process as ‘commoditization of education’. According to him, “the privatization of education which means handing the education sector to profit making entities. It is a desire to attract direct foreign investment. Likewise, in India, policy makers in education sector often talk about ‘the striving for excellence, which is nothing other than making ‘education’ as a commodity.”

COVID-induced financial woes have forced parents to shift their wards to public education institutions. About 51% students are in government schools and nearly 10% in aided schools, yet there seems to be a bias against such schools amongst wider sections of the middle class.

New Education Policy:

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister recently approved the new National Education Policy 2020, making way for large scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors. This is the first education policy of the 21st century and replaces the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.

Built on the foundational pillars of Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability, this policy is aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims to transform India into a vibrant knowledge society and global knowledge superpower by making both school and college education more holistic, flexible, multidisciplinary, suited to 21st century needs and aimed at bringing out the unique capabilities of each student.

Transforming School Education:

• Ensuring Universal Access at all levels of school education:
  • NEP 2020 emphasizes on ensuring universal access to school education at all levels- pre-school to secondary.
  • About 2 crores out of school children will be brought back into main stream under NEP 2020.
• Early Childhood Care & Education with new Curricular and Pedagogical Structure:
  • With emphasis on Early Childhood Care and Education, the 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
  • This will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child.
  • The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
• Attaining Foundational Literacy and Numeracy:
  • Recognizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy as an urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning, NEP 2020 calls for setting up of a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by MHRD.
• Reforms in school curricula and pedagogy:
  • The school curricula and pedagogy will aim for holistic development of learners by equipping them with the key 21st century skills, reduction in curricular content to enhance essential learning and critical thinking and greater focus on experiential learning.
  • Students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects.
  • There will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, between curricular and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams.
  • Vocational education will start in schools from the 6th grade, and will include internships.
• Multilingualism and the power of language:
  • The policy has emphasized mother tongue/local language/regional language as the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond.
  • Sanskrit to be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an option for students, including in the three-language formula.
  • Other classical languages and literatures of India also to be available as options.
  • No language will be imposed on any student.
• Equitable and Inclusive Education:
  • NEP 2020 aims to ensure that no child loses any opportunity to learn and excel because of the circumstances of birth or background.
  • Special emphasis will be given on Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups(SEDGs) which include gender, socio-cultural, and geographical identities and disabilities.
• Robust Teacher Recruitment and Career Path:
  • Teachers will be recruited through robust, transparent processes.
  • Promotions will be merit-based, with a mechanism for multi-source periodic performance appraisals and available progression paths to become educational administrators or teacher educators.
  • A common National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by the National Council for Teacher Education by 2022, in consultation with NCERT, SCERTs, teachers and expert organizations from across levels and regions.
• School Governance:
  • Schools can be organized into complexes or clusters which will be the basic unit of governance and ensure availability of all resources including infrastructure, academic libraries and a strong professional teacher community.
• Standard-setting and Accreditation for School Education:
  • NEP 2020 envisages clear, separate systems for policy making, regulation, operations and academic matters.
  • States/UTs will set up independent State School Standards Authority (SSSA).
  • Transparent public self-disclosure of all the basic regulatory information, as laid down by the SSSA, will be used extensively for public oversight and accountability.
  • The SCERT will develop a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) through consultations with all stakeholders.

Transforming Higher Education:

• Increase GER to 50 % by 2035:
  • NEP 2020 aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035. 3.5 Crore new seats will be added to Higher education institutions.
• Holistic Multidisciplinary Education:
  • The policy envisages broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate education with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
  • UG education can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within this period.
  • For example, Certificate after 1 year, Advanced Diploma after 2 years, Bachelor’s Degree after 3 years and Bachelor’s with Research after 4 years.
• Regulation:
  • Higher Education Commission of India(HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body the for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education.
  • HECI to have four independent verticals – National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC) for standard setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding, and National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation.
  • HECI will function through faceless intervention through technology, & will have powers to penalise HEIs not conforming to norms and standards.
  • Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
• Rationalised Institutional Architecture:
  • Higher education institutions will be transformed into large, well resourced, vibrant multidisciplinary institutions providing high quality teaching, research, and community engagement.
  • The definition of university will allow a spectrum of institutions that range from Research-intensive Universities to Teaching-intensive Universities and Autonomous degree-granting Colleges.

Other Provisions for transformation of educational sector:

• Motivated, Energized, and Capable Faculty:
  • NEP makes recommendations for motivating, energizing, and building capacity of faculty through clearly defined, independent, transparent recruitment, freedom to design curricula/pedagogy, incentivising excellence, movement into institutional leadership.
  • Faculty not delivering on basic norms will be held accountable
• Teacher Education:
  • A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT.
  • By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.
  • Stringent action will be taken against substandard stand-alone Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).
• Mentoring Mission:
  • A National Mission for Mentoring will be established, with a large pool of outstanding senior/retired faculty – including those with the ability to teach in Indian languages – who would be willing to provide short and long-term mentoring/professional support to university/college teachers.
• Financial support for students:
  • Efforts will be made to incentivize the merit of students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and other SEDGs.
  • The National Scholarship Portal will be expanded to support, foster, and track the progress of students receiving scholarships.
  • Private HEIs will be encouraged to offer larger numbers of free ships and scholarships to their students.
• Professional Education:
  • All professional education will be an integral part of the higher education system.
  • Stand-alone technical universities, health science universities, legal and agricultural universities etc will aim to become multi-disciplinary institutions.
• Adult Education:
  • Policy aims to achieve 100% youth and adult literacy.
• Financing Education:
  • The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.
• Open and Distance Learning:
  • This will be expanded to play a significant role in increasing GER.
  • Measures such as online courses and digital repositories, funding for research, improved student services, credit-based recognition of MOOCs, etc., will be taken to ensure it is at par with the highest quality in-class programmes.

Indian Education System Problems and Solutions

There are a few simple solutions which can help in overcoming the problems with the India Education System:

• Innovations required – India is moving towards digital education. This will help in budding the innovative minds of students and the youth of the country. This will bring a transformation in the Indian education system and the authorities and Government must encourage and boost the young minds to focus on overall development rather than just the book-learning
• Quality of education – There is a major difference in the quality of education being provided in the rural and urban areas of the country. Steps must be taken to standardize the quality of education across India so that everyone can get equal and unbiased knowledge and opportunities to grow
• Making education affordable – There are Government schools and educational Institutions which are affordable but lack in terms of infrastructure and quality. On the other hand, there are various private education institutions which demand high fees and have better infrastructure and equipment to study. This disparity must be worked upon and the Government must make education affordable and accessible for all.

What can be the way forward?

• 70% of the students in India study obtain education from government schools. Facilities must be provided in these schools so that the quality of education is on par with the private schools.
• The government expenditure on education as a whole and not just school education should be increased to at least 6% of the GDP by 2022 from the present 3%. According to the World Bank, the world average is 4.7%.
• The state governments must take steps to develop a comprehensive mechanism to regulate teacher qualification, absenteeism and learning outcomes.
• Courses with fixed credits must be introduced and choice must be given to choosing among them. This will allow the students to pick subjects based on their interests.
• Priority must be given to ensure continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) in order to achieve a defined learning outcome.
• Remedial classes must be put in place when needed.
• Guidelines must be provided for the states so the vocational education is given to the students at the school level.
• Also, vocational education’s syllabus must be rationalized frequently after discussions with all the stakeholders.
• Life skills and moral values must be inculcated within the school education system so that the students can deal with problems, failures, and stress.

Conclusion

Revamping India’s education system can enable us to solve all of the current problems faced by India. This includes poverty, unemployment, intolerance, etc. The government must take steps to mend the existing lacunae in India’s education system so as to improve the lives of all Indians.