News Highlight
It is alarming that India ranks 132 out of 191 countries in the 2021 Human Development Index, which measures a nation’s health, average income, and education.
Key Takeaway
- Since the 1990 World Declaration on Education for All at the Jomtien Conference, concerted efforts have been made to bring all children to school.
- The Lok Jumbish, or Peoples Movement for Education for All, was launched in 1992 in Rajasthan.
- In 1993, the Supreme Court ruled in Unni Krishnan vs the State of Andhra Pradesh that the right to education for children up to age 14 is central and fundamental.
Primary Education in India
- Elementary education, also called primary education, is the first stage traditionally found in formal education, beginning at about age 5 to 7.
Challenges of Primary Education in India
- Low Public Spending
- The Incheon Declaration, to which India is a signatory, expects member states to spend 4-6% of their GDP on education to achieve SDG4. to this declaration. However, the Union Budget 2021-22 budget allocates only 2.75 per cent of the GDP to education.
- Privatisation of education
- Many reports and available data show a rise in the privatisation of education, with many children being eliminated from the system at early stages cost of education going up due to systemic inefficiencies.
- Infrastructure deficit
- Dilapidated structures, single-room schools, lack of drinking water facilities, separate toilets, and other educational infrastructure is a grave problem.
- Quality of Teachers
- The lack of well-trained, skilled and knowledgeable teachers provides the foundation for a high-quality education system.
- Teacher shortages and poorly qualified teachers are both a cause and effect of poorly paid and managed teaching cadres.
- Non-Academic burden
- A study by the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA) revealed that teachers spend only around 19 per cent of their time teaching. In contrast, the rest is spent mainly on non-teaching administrative work.
- High drop-out rates
- Many factors like poverty, patriarchal mindset, lack of toilets in schools, distance to schools and cultural elements lead to children dropping out of education.
Government initiatives
- The Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act)
- 86th Amendment Act 2002 introduced Article 21-A, which provides for free and compulsory education of all children aged six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right.
- The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act was enacted to implement this fundamental right.
- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA)
- SSA is implemented as India’s main Programme for universalising elementary education.
- Its overall goals include universal access and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps in education and enhancement of learning levels of children.
New Education Policy 2020-Key Provisions
- Universalisation of education from preschool to secondary level
- The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, will be extended to cover children between 3 and 18 yrs.
- Co-curriculum and vocational subjects
- Sports, arts, commerce, and science will be treated at the same level.
- Additional Meal
- Provision of an energy-filled breakfast and a nutritious mid-day meal to help children achieve better learning outcomes.
- Regular Exams
- To track progress, all students will take school examinations in grades 3, 5, and 8, which the appropriate authority will conduct.
- Curriculum content
- It will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials. It will make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.
Way forward
- Active Role of State
- To make education universal, the state must find resources to provide ancillary services such as school health, mid-day meals, free supply of textbooks, writing materials, school uniforms, etc.
- Social Auditing
- Each village or urban area should have a Village or Mohalla School Committee.
- Such a committee would look after the construction and maintenance of buildings, playgrounds, and school gardens, provision for ancillary services, the purchase of equipment, etc.
- Hybrid mode of teaching
- It is the idea of combining offline and online modes of teaching most efficiently to enhance the students’ learning quality and learning experience.
Human Development Index (HDI)
- About
- It is a tool used to measure a country’s overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions.
- The rank indicates the state of a nation’s health, education and average income.
- Origin
- The measure was created by Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen, two renowned economists from Pakistan and India.
- Published by
- It is published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Content Source: The Hindu