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 Transforming India through Quality education..

Some facts about our education system..

a recent ASSCoM-McKinsey study showed that only one out of Ten Indian students with

degrees in humanities and one out of four engineering graduates are employable.

Almost half of the country’s population is below 25 years. India is going to be the country with

largest number of working population in another 15 years. If they are equipped with both

knowledge and skills, they could drive India’s entrepreneurial and Competitive spirit and make itinto global power.

For India to become a true global power, we will have to harness the potential of human

resources in country, for human capital is the greatest asset a country can have. I see India’s

education system as a stumbling block towards its objectives of achieving inclusive growth.

A common feature in all government schools is the poor quality of education, with weak infrastructure and inadequate pedagogic attention.

I as a Prime Minister will do the following to improve the human capital of the country:

1. My actions will be around Overhauling the education system of country.

2. Run education system as a corporation.

3. Link pay of teachers and other staffs to the performance of their schools.

4. Increase spending on education from current 4% of GDP to 7%.

5. Do away the mid-day meal scheme and spend same money on improving education quality

and building educational infrastructure.

All this will be aimed at achieving an Education system which encourages innovation and

creativity right from the begining.

An education which makes a child sad when the last bell is rung at the end of the day in the

school.

 

Employment and employability

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. I will be focussing on how the education system’s failure is leading to another social issue of 

income inequality and hence, suggest certain policies to improve India’s education system and

reduce inequality.

The really critical aspect of Indian public education system is its low quality. The actual quantity

of schooling that children experience and the quality of teaching they receive are extremelyinsufficient in government schools. A common feature in all government schools is the poor 

quality of education, with weak infrastructure and inadequate pedagogic attention.

What the government is not realising right now is that education which is a source of human

capital can create wide income inequalities. It will be surprising to see how income inequalities

are created within the same group of educated people.Let me illustrate this with the help of an

example:

COMMON SCHOOLING - Certain policy measures need to be taken by the government. The basic thrust of government education spending today must surely be to ensure that all children

have access to government schools and to raise the quality of education in those schools. One of the ways in which the problem of poor quality of education can be tackled is through common

schooling. This essentially means sharing of resources between private and public schools. Shift

system is one of the ways through which common schooling can be achieved. The private schoolcan use the resources during the first half of the day and the government school can use it during

the second half. It is important to remember that the quality of education is directly linked to the

resources available and it is important for the government to improve resource allocation to bring

about qualitative changes in the field of education. Common schooling is one of the ways inwhich government can use limited resources in an efficient way and thus improve resource

allocation.

Another reason for poor quality of education is the poor quality of teachers in governmentschools .Government schools are unable to attract good quality teachers due to inadequate

teaching facilities and low salaries. The government currently spends only 3% of its GDP on

education which is inadequate and insufficient. To improve the quality of education , the

government needs to spend more money from its coffers on education.

Most economists feel that the only panacea to the ills of the public schooling system is the

voucher scheme. Under the voucher system, parents are allowed to choose a school for their 

children and they get full or partial reimbursement for the expenses from the government. But

however, the voucher system will further aggravate the problem of poor quality of education ingovernment schools. Such a system will shift resources from government schools to private

schools. This will worsen the situation of government schools which are already under-funded.

Moreover, if the same amount given as vouchers can be used to build infrastructure in schoolsthen the government can realize economies of scale. For example- The centre for civil society is

 providing vouchers worth Rs 4000 per annum to 308 girls. This means that the total amount of 

money given as vouchers is Rs 1232000. If the same amount can be used to construct a school

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and employ high quality teachers who are paid well then a larger section of the society will enjoy

the benefit of education. A school can definitely accommodate a minimum of 1000 students.

I hope government takes certain appropriate policy measures to improve the education systemotherwise inequalities are going to be widespread and India’s basic capabilities will remain

stunted. Let us strengthen the case for a stronger education system.

 The Nalanda University was the oldest university-system of education in the world

Youngsters in India, do not have the freedom of selecting there career, it is said. They are forcedto become engineers, doctors, MBA’s and IAS officers, it is said. Yes, agree. But that is not the

 problem. The problem is, youngsters in India do not have the vision to think beyond. Neither 

their parents, nor their grandparents had that vision. This is where the root of the problem is.Generations have gone through a system which sucks. Now the beauty is even the law-makers

and educators of today’s India are products of that age old system. That is why no less than a

revolution is needed in the education system in India.

4. Education which encourages innovation and creativity.

6. An education which makes a child sad when the last bell is rung at the end of the day in

the school.

FACT3:

a recent ASSCoM-McKinsey study showed that only one out of Ten Indian students with

degrees in humanities and one out of four engineering graduates are employable. So much for India’s boast of having one of the largest technical and scientific manpower reserves in the

world.

The US currently accounts for over a third of the entire world’s output of articles in science and

engineering. India, in contrast, accounts for less than 3 per cent of research papers published andin terms of citations barely 1 per cent.

Almost half of the country’s population is below 25 years. Almost 10 per cent of them or 12

crore are between the ages of 18 and 23. If they are equipped with both knowledge and skills,

they could drive India’s entrepreneurial and Competitive spirit and make it into global power.