The problem of education in India was always one of quantity and quality. It is easy to see that as the population grew nearly three-fold since Independence, the quantitative challenge grew that much or more. The education system in different states responded at various speeds to keep up with the increasing child population. Bihar (and Jharkhand), Madhya Pradesh (and Chhattisgarh), Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh (UP) were the slowest to respond but by 2010-11, when the Right to Education (RTE) Act came into force, most states showed above 95% enrollment among children in the 6-10 age group, and above 90% enrollment rates in the 11-14 age group. This success of enrollment was largely achieved through a simple expansion of the traditional school system with a mechanical addition of so called academic support structures. Although enrollment in schools went up quickly in the BIMARU states listed above, the daily attendance rates leave a lot to be desired. In states such as UP and Bihar the attendance of children is around 55-60% of the number on the school roster. In other states such as Kerala, Himachal and Maharashtra, the attendance rates are around 90% and the national average is at about 75%.
Perhaps we should say that the real enrollment in schools is around 75%? But the undeniable fact is that there is a government primary school (Stds. I-V) within 1 km of almost every habitation in India, and an upper primary school (Stds. VI-VIII) within 2 km.
The boom in private schools
The story is a little more interesting than this. Over the last decade, as the government school system expanded to accommodate more children, the number of private schools has been rapidly increasing too. The result is that while in 2007 about 21% children went to private schools, the proportion has jumped up to near 39% by 2013, according to government figures. In fact, between 2007 and 2013, as the total enrollment went up from 18.5 crore to 19.3 crore, enrollment in government schools declined from 13.4 crore to 12.2 crore, and the enrollment in private schools went up by two crore from 5.1 crore to 7.1 crore.
In many urbanised states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, the overall proportion of children going to private schools is approaching 60-70%. In many districts of India too, private schools are catering to over 50% population. In states such as Bihar and West Bengal where less than 10% children go to private schools, the proportion of children who go to private tutors right from the primary stage exceeds 60%.
In short, no matter where you go, as wealth in India grows, even the relatively poor parents are finding ways of getting private inputs for their children. Does this mean that private schools, which cater to this not-privileged population, provide ‘quality’ education? Our data shows that private school children are today 20 percentage points ahead in basic reading and arithmetic levels. However, this difference is largely due to parental background and cannot be attributed to the school. Yet, by general definitions based on curricula and examination criteria, it is hard to say that the so-called affordable private schools provide quality education to their students. In fact, a well-known study by ‘Education Initiatives’ has shown that even in so-called elite schools in Indian metros, the quality is about the same as an average public school in the United States. In 2009, when the two states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, hand-picked by the Government of India, participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), these states stood 72nd and 73rd out of 74 nations, just ahead of Kyrgyzstan. The sample of 15 year-old students tested included private school children as well.
So, it is not just that the underprivileged do not have access to quality education, but very few children seem to have access to what could be nationally or globally acknowledged as good quality education.
If we combine the problem of quantity and quality, the picture that emerges is very grim, if not scary.
The RTE Act and school enrollment
Over the last two decades most state governments started following a no-detention policy and it became a part of the Right to Education Act in 2009. The positive impact of this policy is that the dropout rates of children reduced and the proportion of children completing 8 years of schooling began to increase. Unfortunately, nothing serious has been done to overcome the deficiencies in basic skills of reading, writing, arithmetic that led to examination failure in the first place. ASER results year after year show that nearly 50% of all children in Std. V cannot read a simple Std. II level text, and even more cannot solve simple arithmetic problems. As a result, although millions more who would have dropped out continue in schools without acquiring skills or knowledge that the school is expected to teach. It is evident that as more children started entering Std. IX and X in schools that had inadequate numbers and quality of teachers, the pressure to ensure that more children passed their Std. X began to rise. Now we have ever larger numbers of students completing 10 years of schooling without an education worthy of 10 years or even half of that. The same story continues, as more children join Std XI and XII and then go on to colleges. The number of young people going to colleges is growing too, although it is still a small number.
Notwithstanding the no-detention policy and the dilution of examination standards, about 70% of the children who start at Std. I will not enter Std. XI one way or another. Their learning skills are so poor that any curriculum set by any board is still too high for them. While the education establishment would like to have them learn more and more, most of the stuff in the traditional mode of learning is out of reach for them. And yet, increasing numbers of this generation have growing aspirations without the knowledge or the skills to realise them. There is a time bomb ticking.
There is little doubt that even the most marginalised want good education for their children. But what is good education? And more importantly, how can children access it?
Improving access to quality education
The most obvious and popular approach to the problem lies in improving schools through training of teachers and administrators. Attempts have been made by designing curricula and redesigning textbooks. The government focuses on improvement of civil works. All these are basics of the current system and the assumption is that if all these are improved, good education can happen. It certainly could work out that way.
But, what if the model of the school itself is broken? Or, if it is completely outdated? It definitely does not serve those who are not going to continue beyond Std VIII or X. Everything the school teaches is really a preparation for higher studies and not to prepare children for life. The main pillar of the school system is the curriculum that is translated into age-grade syllabi and then into textbooks that are taught in a sequential, linear manner. In contradiction, non-linearity of access to information and knowledge seems to have become dominant in the modern world of information technology. Even the digital divide that we were looking at before mobile technology and smart phones showed up has to be re-thought, because within a decade most people will have access to this technology, which opens up non-linear, random access to information. Today’s children are already exposed to huge amounts of random information that is not in their textbooks. But that information is not processed into knowledge. Yes, there is also a huge problem of availability of digital ‘knowledge’ content in Indian languages and it will have to be solved. But with automatic text to text and voice to text and such other translation programmes growing and improving continuously, the possibilities are immense. This technology can become a great leveler although it may take time. It appears that in the not too distant future, a school based on a centralised curriculum will be replaced by a more decentralised learning not confined to classrooms.
There is a lot to be done to improve the current education system so that children who otherwise would not have access to skills and knowledge can learn them. However, we have to be prepared to usher in a revolution in learning where the deprived truly have equal access to all the knowledge stored by humanity, as they also construct their own understanding of the world around them.