Education is as important as the basic necessities of our life. Education lets us know the difference between wrong and right. It not only develops an individual, but it plays a big role in the development of a nation. That is why every nation spends a huge amount of its money in the Education sector. But, What is wrong with the Indian Education system?
I am not saying that the Indian education system is poor, but it’s not sufficient. Everyone, including the government itself, is aware of the problems the Indian education system is facing. But they are busy in politics. Here, Politicians can spend more money in elections but cannot fund a government school.
India’s spend in the education sector has increased to 4.5% of GDP, which was earlier around 3.8%. It will further increase to 6% in the upcoming budget. In spite of this, the Education system is not so good in India. It’s not only about the quality of education, but there are few more things where our education system fails.
When we talk about the education system, it means we are considering urban as well as rural education system, from primary to higher education. We are going to analyze every aspect of the education system in our country.
Reservation [Caste Discrimination]
When we talk about Reservation in the Indian education system, it sounds good to have an equal opportunity for all castes. The Education system divides students into different categories
Schedule Caste (SC)
Scheduled Tribe (ST)
Other backward castes/class (OBC)
and General (GN).
For SC and ST together, 49.5% of seats are reserved for any government exams, which is almost a half. 27% of seats are reserved for OBC category. The rest is for General. Each category contains a number of sub-castes categories, which fall under a particular category. The surprising part of the Reservation system is that the cut-off marks are different for SC/ST, OBC, and a General candidate.
The wrong thing in the Reservation system is that it is based on the caste system. Instead of being divided into a caste system, the Reservation should be provided on the basis of the financial status of the students and other backgrounds. The government should think about the following facts:
- It is not necessary that every SC/ST candidate is underprivileged.
- It is not necessary that a General candidate is not Underprivileged.
This increases the competition for General category candidates as in order to secure a good rank, they need to work harder, so that they can secure a good cut off. Even after scoring good marks, General candidates fails to take admission in a college of his choice.
This Reservation system is not effective according to the current situation. Today, very few SC/ST candidates are underprivileged. Due to which many of them are availing unnecessary schemes.
The government should make some changes within the Reservation system to ensure that only underprivileged candidates can be applicable to enjoy the facilities given by the educational institutions.
Teacher’s Attitude
A common issue all government schools in rural areas face is the absence of teachers. Sometimes, you will find a single teacher in school, who teaches all the subjects. The average ratio of teachers to students in a particular school should be 1:35, but a single teacher is available in the entire village. And more interestingly, most of the teachers are not qualified.
According to a survey, 30% of the government teachers don’t have a degree. Others, who have a degree, 25% are not present in class. They don’t care actually. They are getting their salary from the government.
This is the situation of Government schools in India. Teachers in private schools are qualified, responsible, and are present every day. Because they know that they get paid according to their job and they have to be responsible. A day off means they have to answer the school authorities and might receive a salary cut.
Teachers in Government schools should be educated. Proper training classes for teachers should be conducted to make sure they are capable of teaching.
The government fails to ensure the proper working and management of schools. They will show you that they opened this much of new government schools, this much of schools they are planning to open. But they will never show you that how many government schools shuts down every day due to lack of teachers, lack of management, and lack of infrastructure.
Government vs Private
There’s a big difference between Government schools and Private Schools in India. The reason why everyone wants to send their child to private schools is clearly visible.
Private schools are providing basic facilities. Proper classrooms, electricity, toilets, qualified teachers, equipment, and other facilities. Private Schools are more popular among people than Government schools in India. But sadly, few people cannot afford the fees of such schools. Where is their Reservation system now? Is Government in India not able to bring facilities similar to Private schools at an affordable price? Then why they waste money on election campaigns.
The majority of government schools don’t have electricity. They don’t have toilets. Government schools lack library in most of the cases. I know the government is doing great, but such conditions still exist in a few places.
The only thing government can do to attract students is through Mid Day Meals. But this is not sufficient. Every other time, we came across the cases of food poisoning in a Government held Mid Day Meals. How can one trust them? They can’t even ensure the proper health of students.
If the government cannot ensure the proper management of their schools, they should come forward to collab with many private schools and work together to provide education along with facilities to every single child in the country. Reservation should be provided for underprivileged students.
Technique
Moreover, The Indian education system focuses more on theory than practical. Students often complain about how they are dependent on reciting things to score better in exams. When it comes to the practical knowledge, they fail to understand things.
In short, Indian education is about clearing exams and scoring a good position. This sometimes encourages students to cheat during exams so that they can secure good marks.
Personality Development is an important skill to be practiced. Apart from books, institutions should focus on developing basic skills. The evaluation of a student should be done not only on the basis of marks but other moral and social skills.
No Motivation For Education
Lack of motivation among lower-class children is one reason why the government fails to bring students to schools. A large number of population in India is poor and lives in slums. Children are forced to join their parents in their work to make a living. It is the Government which is responsible to motivate such people and tell them how important is education.
It is a good thing that many NGOs are doing a great job by supporting underprivileged children so that they can receive the necessary education.
Career Counseling
Our Education system contains the most number of Educational degrees than any other country. This confuses an average student as it is difficult to choose one out of a hundred choices. But despite having a wide range of choices, there are only 3 to 4 career options that most of the students choose. Medical, Engineering, and Law are three things that come first in mind.
In our country, we don’t recognize the potential of a student. Parents force their children to pursue High Valued Courses as mentioned above. Parents should motivate their children to choose courses according to their interests. Counseling should be done on a large scale to guide them. Courses other than Engineering and Medical should be given equal importance so that students don’t follow the same courses in search of opportunities.
Purpose of Education
People don’t want to think out of the box. Students, including parents in India, thinks that they are educating themselves to get a decent salary job. For most of us, the main motive of education is a job, whether it be a government or private. They want a better college only because a good college can provide them a good placement.
The purpose of Education is to develop basic human qualities. It makes us Self dependent, confident, teaches us value of life so that we can differentiate between Right and Wrong and we understand the world better. Today, we don’t need theoretical knowledge, but we need more skilled and practical knowledge.
Example of Japan
Japan has the world’s best education system. They focus more on technical education, which is the demand for the present scenario. 21st Century is all about technology and Japan knows it. Japan has zero illiteracy. Along with Technical education, students are asked to maintain self-cleaning by wiping and mopping their classrooms on their own. They even clean toilets. This helps to inculcate a feeling of respect for their work and other workers. This is one of the developed countries of the world.
Conclusion – What is Wrong With the Indian Education System?
So we discussed some of the following things about the Education System which needs to be changed in order to create better opportunities:
- Reservation on the basis of Caste.
- Teacher’s attitude in public schools.
- Difference between Government and private schools (Improper facilities)
- Lack of motivation for education
- Practical knowledge should be encouraged
- Evaluation Technique should be changed
- Career Counseling should be conducted
- Purpose of education should be explained
The current scenario demands a different approach to the education process. More efforts should be done to give technical knowledge and involve modern-day topics along with their solutions in teaching. A little change will not only make a huge difference, but it will open new opportunities to take you and the nation towards development.
Keep Learning!!
