Ram Rattan Sharma
Education is the mirror of the society and is the seed as well as flower of the socio economic development . It transforms human beings from ignorance to enlightenment , from shades of social backwardness to light of social amelioration and a nation from under development to faster social and economic development . The general conference of UNESCO in 1964 recognized that illiteracy is a grave obstacle to social and economic development . Education is the true alchemy that can bring India its next golden age . The motto is unambiguous : All for knowledge and knowledge for all .
The real India lives in villages, this saying is as true today as it was when the country got independence as more than half of the population of the country lives in villages, and rural development is an eminent factor for the development of our economy . The crucial motivating factor for the development of the economy in today’s , time is education . Like in the body of human being liver is responsible for the proper functioning of the body . In the same way education acts as backbone for the economy to explore this significant role of education in India especially in rural India.
Rural development implies both the economic betterment of people as well as greater social transformation . The continuous growth of the Indian economy forces the Indian Govt. to accelerate the process of developing all the branches of the Indian education system in rural area. The present system of education in India was introduced by the British in 20th century . The system so given has a western style and content , ignoring traditional structures and so has declined . After independence, the Central Govt. has taken the responsibility of technical and higher education. The Central Govt through the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education and the government in the states formulated the education policy and planning problem faced by schools in rural India. Though India is developing rapidly and many initiatives had been taken for the development of Rural India , still much more has to be done . There are several problems being faced by the schools functioning in rural India, as there are no proper facilities for sitting, as some times children are even made to sit on the floor due to non availability of furniture. The school building lack doors and windows, and so the wind and animals enter un impeded . Teachers in the villages also get very less salary in comparison to the teacher who teaches in urban schools. As teachers are not satisfied with their income, they generally do not give proper attention towards the students .
Lack of transportation facilities:- This is one of the problems being faced by the children going to village schools. As there are no proper transport facilities available, children do not like to travel miles to go to schools.
Less number of schools : In comparison to the number of schools in urban areas , there are very few school in rural areas
Curricular Activities: Apart from the course curriculum rural schools are not able to involve children in other activities like sports and competitions . Such events and activities tend help in the overall development of the children.
Deficiency Of Funds: One of the severe hurdles in the education system in rural India is the non-availability of sufficient funds for purchasing benches & black boards .
Reasons for the failure of rural education : The teachers do not get any support from the parents in villages, parents in villages want that their children should be provided with education related to agriculture, so that they can help them . This thinking acts as an obstacle in bringing the children to school . In several schools of villages , the buildings are also not sufficient to accommodate all the students .
Education in rural India :- Here are some suggestions which can be introduced for improving the education system in rural areas .
The curriculum of rural education be updated and should include education related to farming, gardening to attract more number of students and creating enthusiasm in learning visual aids like projectors, televisions etc which can be used to show some educational movies, to motivate the teachers. They should he made to feel proud that by teaching in the rural or remote areas they are acting as a helping hand in the development of economy ,some special sessions or classes be conducted for the parents to make them realize the significance of education for their children, to appreciate the efforts of students, some type of scholarship either in the form of gifts or books may be given to them.
For promoting the importance of education in India, Ministry of Law and Justice had introduced the right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. It is an Act introduced to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of six to fourteen years. Several central and state level initiatives have been in operation from the early 1980s . The main objectives of these initiatives include increasing girls enrolment , improving education outcomes, strengthening community involvement improving teaching and learning material and providing in service teacher training in villages .
Intelligence plus character is the goal of true education, very rightly stated by Martin Luther king, Jr. The fate of any country depends fully on the education of its people. Basic education is viewed world wide as human right . For this reason the right of children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 came into picture . All educational innovations require strong community support and participation . Peoples acceptance and participation can be used as an indicator for measuring the progress of the various programmes . Therefore, to spread awareness among the rural people about the need and significance of education more efforts have to be taken by the Govt.
In India education in the rural segment is not only important to eradicate poverty and illiteracy, but also for a variety of other social, economic as well as cultural and political reasons. The role of education, both urban and rural, is huge in growth of the country’s economy. Although education in the urban areas have progessed rapidly during the last few decades, there are still some villages where education is not given sufficient priority even though the Govt is working to improve the state of education in the country. There is a growing awareness among people about education; however, the lack of infrastructure is a major obstacle, which need an active intervention of the Govt.
(The author is former Dy. Librarian University of Jammu)
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