Dr.Banarsi Lal and
Dr. Vikas Tandon
It is really a matter of grave concern that the most of the Indian youths discontinue their education when they reach the 16th year of age. According to a report published in a newspaper, out of 333 million literate youth population, only 10 per cent are graduates and 76 per cent are matriculates or below. The country is striving very hard for making a mark globally in the area of education and research. It is our common experience that a matriculation certificate does not assure even a peon’s job. Most of these youths engage in low-paid menial jobs. Following independence, India viewed education as an effective tool to bring about social change through community development. The administrative control was effectively initiated in the 1950s.In 1952, the Government of India grouped villages under a Community Development Blocks programme, an authority under national programme which could control education in up to 100 villages. The Block Development Officer oversaw a geographical area of 150 square miles with a population of around 70,000 people. The community development programmes comprised agriculture, animal husbandry, rural industries, health and sanitation, family planning, women welfare, child care and nutrition, education, youth welfare, cooperatives etc. There were many programmes and schemes in all the areas of development, covering the total community segments, artisans, small and marginal farmers, women and people below the poverty line.
If the Indian history is analysed closely in the field of education, it is easily discernible that the rural education programmes continued throughout the 1950s.A sizable network of rural education was set up and 52,000 Community Development Blocks were established. Education in India is mainly provided by the Government agencies. Control and funding are carried out at three levels-Central, State and local. Education up to 14 years of age has been made a fundamental right. The Union Government has also banned child labour so that the children do not enter hazardous working conditions. But both free education and child labour ban are difficult to implement because of social conditions and economic disparity.80% of all recognised schools at the elementary stage are Government -run.
This clearly indicates that Government is the largest provider of education in India. However, due to shortage of resources and lack of political will to carry out this herculean task, education system suffers from massive gaps including high pupil-teacher ratio, shortage of infrastructure and poor level of teachers training.
The Government of India has a made lot of efforts to ensure quality education to the people. The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) was launched in 1994 with a view to universalising primary education in India, by reforming and vitalising the existing primary education system.85% of DPEP was funded by the Central Government and the remaining 15 per cent was funded by the State Government. It was also supported by UNICEF and other international agencies. DPEP had opened 1, 60,000 new schools including 84,000 alternative education schools delivering alternative education to approximately 3.5 million children. This primary education scheme has shown gross enrolment ratio of 93-95 % for the last three years in some states. The current scheme for universalisation of education for all is Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which is one of the largest education schemes in the world. Although the enrolment has been enlarged but the quality of education remains low.
The quality of government schools is low, so 27 % of the Indian children are educated in private institutions. It has been observed through several researches that the students studying in private institutions did better than the students who read in Government institutions. But it is fact that private schools fail to provide education to the poor children. It is observed by all of us that private schools cover entire curriculum and offer extracurricular activities such as sports, science fairs, dramas, music activities etc. The student- teacher ratio is more in private schools than the Government schools. As far as in-service training is concerned, 43.44 per cent Government schools teachers get it, whereas only 2.32 per cent teachers in unaided schools receive such training. As the quality of education provided by the private schools is better, even the children from the poor families go to private schools despite the fact that the Government schools are there to provide free education.
It has been surveyed that 65 per cent of school children in Hyderabad’s slums go to private schools. The Secondary School level is a cause of concern for the Government.
The National Policy on Education in 1986 has provided environment awareness, science and technology education and introduction to traditional elements such as Yoga into the Secondary School Education System. A significant feature of India’s Secondary School Education is the emphasis on inclusion of the disadvantaged sections of society. Another important feature is its emphasis on profession-based vocational training to help students to get skills for finding a vocation of their respective choices. A special Integrated Education for Disabled Children programme was launched in 1974 with a focus on primary education was converted into Inclusive Education at Secondary Stage.
The Kendriya Vidyala project was launched in 1965 with an objective to provide the uniform education in many schools. A door-to-door survey was conducted in Jodhpur, Rajasthan to find out the number of out-of-school and working children as part of national campaign titled “I want a teacher too” reveals a disgusting fact.
This survey was conducted by a Non-Government Organisation, “Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children,” in Jodhpur and five other cities.31, 559 children were surveyed and this survey was carried in 142 red pockets of these cities.
Slum areas and urban communities that had the highest number of underprivileged children were covered under this survey. The survey found that full-time formal education is still the distant dream for a number of children, especially working children in Jodhpur city. In 1986, the National Policy on Education decided to restructure education in tandem with the social framework of each Indian state, keeping in mind larger goals. It emphasised on education that was mainly needed in the women’s conditions. Emphasis was given on expanding girls’ occupational centres and primary education, secondary education and higher education in both rural and urban institutions. Efforts were made to connect problems like low school attendance with poverty and dependence of housework on girls.
The National Literacy Mission also worked through female tutors in villages. But no considerable improvement in the condition of women comes in sight. Some surveys say that as far as the Indian society is concerned, it would have the girls stay at home and do daily chores.
Although many countries differ in many counts from each other, the world today’s is regarded as a single community. Human Development Reports since 1990 consider health and education as the chief indicators of human progress. Education is certainly the key which alone can prove a solution to multiple issues. If we really want to have a robust society, education should be available to each and every youth of the country. Higher education opens the doors of opportunity and prepares a solid ground for uninterrupted growth in almost all the areas. Our country youths should be encouraged for higher education. Higher education can equip them with power and perseverance to keep on marching towards the betterment of society. If they fail to get the higher education, the country will be unable to face the challenges of future.
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