Ever Negligence of Education Sector
The recent budget fails to deliver any remedy to the ever succumbing education sector of our country. Educationalists across the country were waiting for the much needed booster dose of budgetary allocation to the ailing education system of India but in vain.
Since the first covid lockdown in March 2020, the entire education structure of India including schools, colleges, universities and coaching institutions are in shackles. Almost three sessions of physical teaching and examinations have wiped out ruining the future of millions of students. Worst sufferers are the school students who have no idea of the amount of precious time they have lost.
Post-covid witnessed an era of online teaching-learning. This initiative was taken by private institutions on pilot basis initially but soon became the new-normal in education. Schools, colleges and coaching institutions adapted this platform and tried to bridge the gap. Government school students remained almost out of school and touch with formal education in these two years. Their lives have been back to square one. Private schools managed to have online classes but that too with limited penetration and success.
Indian schools can be broadly classified into four categories: a) Elite schools\boarding schools (mostly IB curriculum based) b) Schools in metropolitan cities mostly comprising of branded private schools and few government\KVs\Sainik schools in plush colonies c) Schools in sub-urban and tier-2&3 cities and d) Schools in rural India. For category ‘a’ and ‘b’, covid lockdown and its effects were miniscule in terms of Knowledge Transfer (KT) as they have best infrastructure & teachers and the clients these schools are catering to are rich and affluent. Real challenge came for category ‘c’ schools as they neither had necessary infrastructure nor expertise faculty. Moreover, the clients they are serving to belong to middle to low income families that faced challenges on various front. These families either do not have good quality devices/connection or have mere one device per family, hence making knowledge transfer a futile exercise. The efficiency of online teaching remained very low for these schools. Teaching-learning in Category ‘d’ schools could be written-off. Children of these schools remained out of formal education purview for almost two years now.
Colleges and universities too faced the heat. Dealing with adult students have its own challenges. Medical and technical educational institutions produced doctors and engineers with no practical hands-on experience. They just concentrated on theoretical knowledge transfer. Law schools produced lawyers without moot courts. Other colleges just sailed with the wind emailing attachments and assignments as a one way process.
One can’t deny the role of coaching institutions in Indian education system. They remained at the receiving end as Government of India has no clear-cut policy for them. These coaching centres tried all combinations of hit and trial to survive during last two years. From taking online classes to starting YouTube/Telegram channels and what not. Lockdown and the delay in entrance and competitive examinations hit them on dual front making it impossible for smaller centres to survive.
Now, that the schools and colleges are opening again, the vital questions remained unanswered yet. Can the education system afford to move back to pre-covid pedagogical practices? The silent undercurrents and investments during covid times will not let the system go back to its previous avatar. A significant portion of the education will be online forever.
Educators had huge expectations with this budget to address these bourgeoning issues, but the Finance Minister has failed significantly to address them. India is still treating education as a step child and neglecting it completely. This is proven true from the fact that we as a nation has managed to run Ministry of Education with an incumbent minister in these tough times. Last seven years saw four ministerial changes. A nation of 1.3 billion people could not produce a full time Education Minister. Since 2014, in both its terms, the govt could not give the country an education minister who could complete his\her 5 year tenure. How can the people expect to have educational reforms under such circumstances?
The world is witnessing a new dawn of education era, whereas we are struggling to even sustain the current outdated system. Changes are happening sooner than expected. Metaverse, quantum computing, blockchain and AI are the future building blocks of education. Anthony Seldon in his book ‘The Fourth Education Revolution’ clearly acknowledges an education revolution happening led by the internet. The educational institutions need to embrace this change or perish. The book highlights the amalgamation of artificial intelligence and education. Education 4.0 will revolutionize the education system from ‘instructor-led learner’ to ‘fully autonomous learner’. We have to redraw our priorities and invest significantly in Education. Chairman of the Tata Group N. Chandrasekaran while addressing the convocation ceremony at AMU Aligarh emphasized that, every Indian must be given ‘mini pad for life’ a smart device with data connectivity allowing them access to education, health and upskilling, if India wants to go from $3 trillion to $12 trillion by 2031. Educators around the world are of the view that mobile phone with data connectivity have become an essential part of modern education system. ‘First you learn to use the mobile, then you use the mobile to learn’ is the basis of big change.
Whereas the top universities of the world have already started preparing to have ‘campuses of the future’ that are not restricted by geographical boundaries and physical terrain, we in India are still stuck up with conventional board patterns and blackboard teaching. We as a nation have to ponder upon this on a serious basis, and draft a plan to cater the needs of Education 4.0.
Renowned psychologist and life coach Vikas S Attry aptly puts forth the roadmap of future education system. He says, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was formulated prior to covid times and could not foresee the pandemic and its effects on education system. Now the government should come up with an addendum to NEP. The last two years have seen a paradigm shift in pedagogy and examination patterns. The addendum should address these issues and come with clear guidelines to provide every child a smart device and data connectivity. Further, it should have guidelines on online teaching-learning and flexible examination patterns which include both online and offline modes of testing.
Mr. Attry added that a significant number of school kids lacked necessary socialization in last two years and have developed seclusion symptoms. College students who have passed out during these two years are having a tough time facing the harsh realities of outside world. A number of cases with depression like symptoms come to him on regular basis. He said, ‘a notification should come from board/UGC to address these issues’. It should have arrangements for the ‘learning lost’ in these two years. Provisions for child counselling and socialisation should be revisited and emphasised. College students should also be included under such programmes.
Govt. of India is very vocal about Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and has envisioned a New India by 2047. However, Govt. has failed to carve out any plans for education. Imagining new India without having an uprising in the education system seems a distant dream. These 25 years should be used to redesign, fast-track and wish Godspeed to the growth of education sector. The call of the hour is to raise to the education budget to at least 4% of GDP. The government should open 100% FDI in education sector and allow foreign universities to open their campuses in India. Indian universities should sign MoUs with foreign institutions to enhance the quality of education. India should emerge as an education hub of South Asia having world class universities and institutions. Selected schools should also be given more autonomy and allowed to design their own curriculum. Students should not be subjected to unnecessary pressure of board examinations at tender age. Board exams up to class tenth should be eliminated.
Government should spend in a phased manner to boost the educational infrastructure. This can only be done by raising the budgetary provisions. There should be a policy for research and development to compete with countries like US and China. India should be ready to increase it education budge to 6% of its GDP by 2030. Until we have majority of our institutions featuring in world top 200 list, we cannot live up to the aspirations of creating a New India by 2047. Its not all about fighter jets and good roads, we also need educated enlightened people to celebrate New India’s fervour in 2047. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today” – Malcolm X.
- Jagdeep S More, Educationist
