Indian Educational Reform: the Solution to Unemployment and Inequality
Introduction
Every other summer, my family makes a trip to Kerala, my mother’s home state. During our 2018 trip, I met Rajan, a boy my age who quickly became one of my good friends. On weekends, we played badminton together for hours. But on weekdays, Rajan was dedicated to his education.
Because of the pandemic, I was unable to return to India until 2023. But this time, Rajan was available to play everyday. When I asked him why, he informed me that he had dropped out of high school, criticizing the Indian education system. While Rajan seemed indifferent about it, I was shocked.
If Rajan, a topper, was willing to drop out, I could only imagine how many others were. To find out, I ran a survey, asking kids my age in Thiruvananthapuram about their opinions on Indian education. When nearly one-quarter of the respondents left a sizable portion of the questions empty, I became aware of widespread illiteracy among my own age group, even in the state with the highest literacy rate (94%) in all of India. The education system in India is fundamentally outdated, logistically inefficient, and structurally inaccessible, yet little action is being taken to address the problem.
Issues
The most prevailing issue is inequality. Marked by high student-teacher ratios and inadequate infrastructure, government schools are heavily underfunded and understaffed: 19% of teaching positions are currently vacant. Due to a lack of proper accountability, there is no metric to measure the efficacy of the schooling, allowing the few teachers in each school, who are underpaid and overworked, to slack off.
The process of fund allocation is not transparent, allowing legislators and even headmasters to purloin money. Indian policymakers, many of which have financial ties to private schools, view education as a business opportunity; by investing less in government schools, they force more people to pay private tuition, lining their pockets.
These issues were accelerated by the pandemic, whereby the transition to digital education prevented the children of working-class laborers – the majority of the population – from accessing education, especially in rural areas. In a survey of daily-wage workers during the pandemic, 95% indicated that their child had dropped out of school, either temporarily or permanently. Because nearly half of the population does not have internet access, the government’s recent investments in digital education platforms have been virtually useless, continuing to exclude marginalized communities.
The education system, centered around test scores and competition, disincentivizes creativity and passion, preventing students from thriving. Emphasizing math and science and requiring early academic stream selection, the syllabus pressures students into pursuing doctoring and engineering even when they are not passionate about these fields. In fact, it is this cultural paradigm that is contributing to the oversaturation of job sectors; 48% of Indian engineering graduates are currently unemployed. Accounting for 83% of the country’s unemployed population, a growing number of young adults are ill-equipped to meet the demands of the modern workplace.
Legislative Failures
In 2009, parliament passed the Right to Education Act, mandating that 25% of private school classes are from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. In response, private schools in participating states developed harder admissions tests specifically for the underprivileged, actively discriminating against poorer families. In 2020, the National Education Policy was passed with the intention of democratizing education by addressing the aforementioned problems. However, it vaguely called for an increase in funding and the decentralization of education without outlining any legal procedure for achieving these goals. Four years later, none of the expected developments from the policy have come to fruition. Furthermore, most people are unaware of these government schemes, which are rarely promoted in the media, impeding accountability.
Solutions
Accountability stems from awareness; if impoverished students were aware of the constitutional right to quality education that they possess – and the existing legislation that solidifies it – they could increase educational transparency and decrease corruption. Because these people often lack internet access, I believe that in-person advertising and local partnerships can help spread the word. In Thiruvananthapuram, where my grandparents live, I am aware of two organizations that the IPA could partner with: the Sarthak Educational Trust and the Helping Minds Foundation, who are already doing admirable charity work.
To take this work to the next level, we need funding from American individuals and groups, who can donate to grassroots organizations like Teach For India. With an already extensive network, the IPA can build a social media marketing campaign centered around curbing educational equity. This could then spark a wider activist movement marked by hashtags and reposts that adds pressure to reform and redirect government resources
The teacher shortage, one of the largest stresses on the Indian education systems, can be alleviated through a centralized locum program, in which teachers from the US and elsewhere can serve short-term positions in English-medium schools. In the long-term, a societal shift is necessary; through the said marketing campaigns, we can encourage more Indian youth to pursue teaching as a career path.
Conclusion
John Dewey once said that “education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.” While social safety nets and other government programs can serve as temporary solutions to the mass poverty and income inequality in India today, it is fundamental educational reform that will stimulate upward mobility for students like Rajan, deprived of an education by neglectful policymaking. To uplift the leaders of tomorrow, we must invest in equitable education today.
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