Why so much fuss about a Mole when there’s a Mountain ahead?
by Sudipto Das
It’s quite encouraging that the present HRD minister at the center is really trying to solve some real issues. Compared to his predecessor Mr. Arjun Singh, Mr. Kapil Sibal is no doubt a MUCH better option. At least, for Madam’s sake, he is trying to see real leaks in the pipe rather than being in a utopian world of hypothetical leaks. But now the point is whether Mr Sibal is running after the right leaks or whether he is devoting all energy to fix microscopic holes in the pipe when several portions of the pipe line are totally non exisent? Isn’t it like talking about cakes when people don’t even have the bread to eat?
Yes, there’s no doubt that examinations, in their present forms, need to be changed. Mr. Sibal has all the right to do that. Similar things have been done in many Western countries. I’m sure any educationist of repute would agree with Mr. Sibal about the necessity of changes required in our present system of education, specially the way the examinations are held. But how many kids actually reach the stage of giving the secondary examinations?
Let’s consider the following facts.
According to reports while 96% of India’s children enroll in primary school, by the age of 10 about 40% drop out.
The government’s education expenditure as a percentage of GDP has never ever risen above 4.3% of GDP, despite the target of 6% having been set as far back as 1968 by the Kothari Commission.
A closer look shows that GDP seems to be rising at a much much faster pace than the government’s education expenditure to be able to reach the 6% target.
Though the Common Minimm Program of the previous UPA government included the target set by Kothari Commission, the public expenditure on education has actually declined from around 3.23 percent of GDP in 2000-2001 to 2.88 percent in the recent times. As a proportion of total government expenditure, it has declined from around 11.1 percent in 2000-2001 to around 9.98 percent during the previous UPA rule.
The quality of education imparted in the free government run schools is very dismal. Even if it’s free, still many people from the lower income group go out of their way and send their kids to private schools or tutions. Absteeism of teachers in government run schools is one of the major reasons for the poor quality of education in the government schools.
In this respect it’s noteworthy to see what Mr. Santosh K Mehrotra has mentioned in his book “The Economics of Elementary Education in India”: Amartya Sen’s introduction to the Pratichi Education report (Pratichi India Trust, 2002) notes: We encountered some disturbing evidence that primary school teachers often show much less regard for the interests of children from pooer and lower caste backgrounds. We observed much greater teacher absenteeism in schools with a majority of children from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (75%), compared with other schools (33%).
Why the problem of absenteeism is never brought under limelight is also a well know fact. The teachers of the elementary schools provide a strong cadre base for most of the cadre based parties like Congress and many others. The scene nationwide might not be as bad as that in Left ruled West Bengal, but still it’s at a quite alarming state and should be tackled ass soon as possible.
The teachers of the government schools are perhaps the least accountable in the entitre government machinery. If your neighborhood roads become pathetic the local PWD enginner is accountable for that. Even if he doesn’t do his job throughout the year, still at least before the election the roads are repaired. Water connections, electricity connections, gas connections are all made in haste before the election. But have you ever heard of the standard of education or the behavior of the teachers of the schools changing before the elections? On the contrary the teachers are busier with their ‘party work’ during elections and are seldom seen at schools.
Mr. Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar and Gurucharan Das have been writing in the columns of Times of India for quite some time that a very simple way to improve the quality of the education in the government run schools is to give coupons to the families of the kids. These coupons should be redeemable either at the government schools or at any private schools which are ready to provide education at the same rate. Given the salaries of the school teachers, the monetary value of the coupons would be quite attractive and many private schools would be interested to admit kids against them. The salary of the school teachers would be directly linked with the amount a school draws from the collection of coupons. This system has worked quite well in many countries and it shouldn’t be hard to implement such things in India.
Now doesn’t it look like there are many more important things to be taken care of by Mr. Sibal? Isn’t it like thinking too much about a small mole when a big mountain is ahead?
Sudipto blogs at http://sudiptounplugged.blogspot.com
Comments
10 Responses to “Why so much fuss about a Mole when there’s a Mountain ahead?”
With deep respect to all the reasons stated by the author, I would like to add the following.
– Does the central and respective state govts know the student to teacher ratio in both Govt and Private schools - with reasonable certainty ?
– Is central govt bothered about the poor quality of education and high absentisim various teachers in govt and municipal run schools?
Pushing the agenda because someone is in power > every naive donkey can do it. Can Mr kapil sibal or any other aam admi ka leader in congress answer why why the poor farmer should send his kids to schools and spend money when he does not know how to sustain the family?
Can the leaders ever justify why education is meaningful and can be chosen over any other thing at the age of 5 till 20 (at the minimum). Whats the trade-off here? Going to school > Having some education > No meaning or value to either the student and society > and then drop out at early age .
Or have graduation degree > Then no money for higher education or No Job left in the market because of huge qoutaas reserved for OBC, SC/ST, Muslims etc etc..
Kapil sibal or any other morons of congress party should think of ways and means of creating demand for education first and also try to balance the equilibrium between demand and supply.
They should focus on creating a value based, cultural and sociological environment for promoting the education infrastructure in true spirit.
There are autonomus colleges , deemed universities and what not created during congress regime - with absolutely no vale addition to the quality of education. There are colleges having good track record and performance, yet no Govt aid till now. I can mention thousands of those in every state.
Graduates and post graduates working for peanut Rs/-1500 as sikhyakarmis in schools. Why tell me why a person after such a good education will work for Rs/-1500 . Why cant he adapt illegal means of raising money? The congress govt wants to create a division in society and play with it for getting votes.
Beleiev me or not Msc Physics, Maths guys are getting Rs/700 pm even after spending 15 years in good reputed but non-aided colleges. Why should they stay committed to nation’s well being?
Why the govt is so ignorant when private colleges (pre univ and post) are mushrooming in all states > huge capitation fees, little or no quality education, shameful infrastructure - still getting Govt approvals. Who is funding them? who is collecting rent from them?
Mr Sibal has to address these first and then talk about adding masalas to confuse the electorate further.
Request all to visit the website of dailypioneer atleast once everyday and check out the editorials and op-ed. Some good stuff.
This article is also good. Thanks!
That S.A Aiyar you are referrin to is a certified moron. He concluded in one of his moronic articles that the sensex had botoomed out in May2008. sorry for goin O.T
JUST WAIT AND WATCH UPA PLAY TO THE GALLERY AND COMMIT BLUNDERS. The best way forward for BJP now is to keep silent and watch UPA go on making errors after error in governance. Let people feel the heat of electing a wrong party to power.
Sorry for raising a different issue here but I am surprised on the lack of opposition to gay sex ruling from BJP and sangh Parivar.Does BJP agree with this stupid ruling which seems to have been given in haste under the pressure of dubious NGOs?
Also,while the opinion of Chruch and Muslim leaders is carried by all the media channels ,none of them have carried RSSs/VHPs views.Whats going on I wonder!
Congress fears the Muslims most, so BJP may keep silent on the gay issue as it wont proceed
किस बात की उथल-पुथल बीजेपी में ?
मीडिया की ख़बरों पर भरोसा करें तो बीजेपी में उथल-पुथल मची हुई है .कोई जरुरत नहीं है की बीजेपी के जितने भी नेता हैं वो बीजेपी के अन्दर उथल पुथल मचाएं .सिर्फ कुछ नेताओं के पद इधर से उधर करने होंगे , प्रवक्ता के तौर पर जो नेता हैं उनमे रवि शंकर प्रसाद ,राजीव प्रताप रूढी ,सुषमा स्वराज ,अरुण जेटली और निखिल श्रेष्ठ हैं. बीजेपी के अगले राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष अरुण जेटली जी हों ऐसी मेरी व्यक्तिगत राय है .मुझे लगता है देश भर के युवा अरुण जेटली जी को राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष के रूप में देखना पसंद करेंगे
cont…. वैंकय्या नायडू भी प्रवक्ता के तौर पर अच्छे हैं .
प्रमुख विपक्ष के रूप में बीजेपी को सक्रिय हो जाना चाहिए .राजनीति के मैदान में विपक्ष की भूमिका की जगह खाली छोड़ना ठीक नहीं .चुपचाप कांग्रेस का तमाशा देखना हमारा काम नहीं . कांग्रेस जो भी मन में आये करे यह हमें बर्दास्त नहीं करना चाहिए .क्योंकि पुरे देश को कांग्रेस ने नहीं जीता है .जिन्होंने बीजेपी को वोट किया है उसके प्रति बीजेपी और हमारा कर्त्तव्य है की कॉंग्रेस की जन विरोधी नीतियों का जमकर विरोध करें .
Education is a subject in the concurrent list and most of the states who are ahead are due to the efforts of state governments.
What prevents BJP led state governments from streamlining their school systems and education.Gujarat has set a good example for others by making rapid strides including Pt Deendayal University.
The best schools today are those run by Christian missionaries, why cant RSS run schools do better than convents. Not only schools, Jesuits have created some of the best Higher education institutes like Stephens, Xavier and Loyola.
The least that BJP governments can do is setup truly independent regulators and facilitators for education and set the education free from License quota-permit-Raj.