69% Of Urban Indians Praise Education, But Teacher Training And Tech Gaps Persist: Ipsos Survey

Almost seven in ten urban Indians (69 per cent) have rated India high on the quality of education, placing it second in the overall ranking, preceded by Singapore (74 per cent).

Further 72 per cent of Indians polled believe the higher education / university system prepares students for future careers, with a school curriculum too oriented for future careers (74 per cent); aims to reduce social inequality (72 per cent) and is equipped with adequate resources and facilities (textbooks, technology, laboratories etc).

Tech and education

73 per cent of Indians polled want social media banned both inside and outside of schools for children aged under 14 years and at least one in two (52 per cent) want smartphones banned in schools. Some of the markets favouring a ban on social media for kids under 14, were France (80 per cent), Indonesia (79 per cent), Colombia (76 per cent), Peru (74 per cent) and South Africa (74 per cent). 

While advances in technology (including AI) is likely to affect education in the future, 23 per cent Indian citizens perceive this as positive, while 32 per cent believe this could have both a positive and a negative impact on education.

Even on ChatGPT in schools, citizens’ views were divided, with 34 per cent being in favour of ChatGPT and 39 per cent wanting a ban on ChatGPT in schools.    

Challenges in the education system

Urban Indians believe that our education system, though among the best in the world, has some of these challenges that are a red flag. Inadequate teacher training (29 per cent) was the biggest concern, followed by unequal access to education (25 per cent), safety and security (24 per cent), insufficient usage of technology (24 per cent), overcrowded classrooms, potential ideological bias (22 per cent), inadequate infrastructure (21 per cent), high dropout rates (21 per cent), staff wellbeing (21 per cent), outdated curriculum (20 per cent), lack of public funding (17 per cent), among others.   

For global citizens, the top concerns were, outdated curriculum (29 per cent), inadequate teacher training (27 per cent), unequal access to education (26 per cent) and overcrowded classrooms (26 per cent), among others. 

Interestingly the survey event asked certain cohorts to identify their top concerns and challenges around the education system and Gen Z called out outdated curriculum (30 per cent), for millennials too it was the outdated curriculum (27 per cent), Gen X felt inadequate teacher training (30 per cent) was the biggest area of concern and boomers called out overcrowded classrooms (31 per cent) as a big challenge.  

Notably, 69 per cent citizens believe our schools provide safe spaces free from violence and bullying and 67 per cent agree schools embrace and welcome diversity and differences among learners.   

Expectations from teachers

Interestingly, among Indians, when it comes to different forms of learning, citizens were willing to share the responsibility with teachers. And not completely making the education centre or teachers accountable. This trend was seen to be particularly profound in India.

Basic literacy and numeracy, responsibility of teachers/ school (52 per cent); responsibility of parents (41%)

Offering career guidance, responsibility of teachers/ school (56 per cent); responsibility of parents (37 per cent)

Teaching digital literacy and online safety, responsibility of teachers/ school (56 per cent); responsibility of parents (37 per cent)

Addressing bullying, responsibility of teachers/ school (42 per cent); responsibility of parents (48 per cent)

Developing social skills, responsibility of teachers/ school (49 per cent); responsibility of parents (45 per cent)

Encouraging a love of reading  responsibility of teachers/ school (50 per cent); responsibility of parents (44 per cent)

Providing sex education, responsibility of teachers/ school (47 per cent); responsibility of parents (40 per cent)

Overseeing homework, responsibility of teachers/ school (37 per cent); responsibility of parents (55 per cent)

Ensuring mental wellbeing, responsibility of teachers/ school (42 per cent); responsibility of parents (50 per cent)

Teaching moral and ethical values, responsibility of teachers/ school (46 per cent); responsibility of parents (47 per cent)

Teaching religious values, responsibility of teachers/ school (39 per cent); responsibility of parents (84 per cent)

Teaching manners and politeness, responsibility of teachers/ school (43 per cent); responsibility of parents (51 per cent)

Methodology 

These are the results of a 30 country survey conducted by lpsos on its Global Advisor online platform and in India, on its lndiaBus platform, between Friday, June 21 and Friday, July 5, 2024. For this survey, lpsos interviewed a total of 23,754 adults aged 18 years and older in India, 18-74 in Canada, Republic of Ireland, Malaysia, South Africa, Türkiye and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore and 16-74 in all other countries. The sample consists of approximately 2,000 individuals in Japan, 1,500 each in Germany and Brazil and 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand and Türkiye.

The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online. Samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the U.S. can be considered representative of their general adult populations under the age of 75. Samples in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Türkiye are more urban more educated and more affluent than the general population.

The survey results for these countries should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more "connected" segment of their population. India's sample represents a large subset of its urban population, social economic classes A, B and C in metros and tier one to three town classes across all four zones. The data is weighted so that the composition of each country's sample best reflects the demographic profile of the adult population according to the most recent census data. "The 30-Country Average" reflects the average result for all the countries and markets in which the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result. When percentages do not sum up to 100 or the 'difference' appears to be +/-1 percentage point more/less than the actual result, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of "don't know" or not stated responses. 

The precision of lpsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll where N=l,000 being accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of where N=500 being accurate to+/- 5.0 percentage points. For more information on lpsos' use of credibility intervals, please visit the lpsos website. The publication of these findings abides by local rules and regulations.