Analysis Of India’s Education System And The Way Forward

The novel coronavirus has had an intense effect on the public as well as private education of India. From schools shutting down abruptly to introducing online education to introducing National Education Policy 2020, this year has met some of the most important checkpoints in the history of Indian education. But, what does this transition mean for the public and the private schools of India? 

There is a certain operational gap between public and private schools when it comes to digital transition due to the limited mobile and internet access in non-metro cities. The global emergency has uncovered numerous inadequacies in our education frameworks – from the availability of computers and internet required for online education and other environmental conditions required to focus on learning, up to the misalignment among assets and necessities. 

Other significant challenges in front of public and private education are:  

In India, even though state-funded schools are more than private foundations, they have been lacking in addressing the necessities and desires of the young students. Because of sub-par foundation, government schools can't give private schools a competition. Therefore, the students never have the upside of practising what they learn here.  

Absence of qualified teachers is another issue in public schools in India. This is on the grounds that educating is still considered to be the last vocation choice for most aspiring professionals. Educators of government schools get posted to rural territories, that is normally translated into them going on indefinite leaves or request for transfer. The educators at these government elementary schools in India not just handle combined age groups under one roof, they even get exhausted very much. 

The IQ level of a normal private school student is significantly higher than the average government school student. The teachers there are uninformed about these children’s future. This is a genuine concern which the administration needs to address. There is likewise neglect, deficient public financing and responsibility, and an absence of support among certain teachers to consider giving extra care to the poor children from lower ranks. 

When contrasted with UK or US, India has the most noteworthy number of students going to private schools. There has been a consistent increase in enlistment in private schools in rural India from 18.7 per cent in 2006 to 25.6 per cent in 2011 consequently demonstrating the expanded significance of education in provincial India. Government school enrolment in the top 20 states represent almost 55 per cent portion of enlistment at the secondary/senior secondary level. With the rising consciousness of education, India's K-12 instruction has seen a developing CAGR of 4 per cent in the course of recent years. Following this pattern, India would require extra 1,30,000 private schools by 2022.  

Nonetheless, the pandemic has given an unexpected ascent to the need of having a digital framework and because of their low economic status, the independent private schools are concerned as they are neither able to match with the world-class schools nor with the state-run schools for which the subject matter experts broadcast lessons through TVs, radio, and other government-run platforms.  

The difficulties don't end with this global emergency. Spending on education might be undermined in the coming years. As financial assets are allocated to the healthcare sector, long term public spending on education is in danger regardless of short-term stimulus bundles in certain nations. Private subsidizing will likewise turn out to be limited as the economy debilitates and joblessness rises. At the tertiary level, the decrease in the global student mobility following travel limitations is now diminishing the assets accessible in nations where foreign students pay higher charges. Also, the lockdown has exacerbated disparity among the working class. While working from home is a possibility for the people at the top, it is only sometimes feasible for those with lower levels of knowledge, a considerable lot of whom have been on the forefronts in the reaction to the pandemic, offering basic types of assistance to society.  

Dr Sunita Gandhi

Guest Author The author is Founder, Global Classroom Private Limited (GCPL) & Global Education & Training Institute (GETI)