India's education system is highly competitive and over -stretched. A cohesive policy and a change in social attitudes are required to accommodate the aspirations of its vast young population.
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| Veena's funeral |
In a Delhi crematorium, a family gathered
around the funeral pyre to conduct the last rites of a 17 year old girl. Veena (name changed) felt so shattered with her
grades of the secondary school leaving examination that she decided to kill
herself.
Veena’s grades
were not good enough to get admission in a good college. India’s higher
education system is extremely competitive: the cut –off percentage (qualifying
grade) for one of Delhi’s top college announced this week stood over
98% for subjects like economics, literature and history. There is a similar
demand for other subjects.
At the Delhi
University, we see thousands of students queuing up to buy admission forms for the University’s 70,000 odd seats. By any estimate, it is a big number in any
country, but in India, chances of making through to a decent college is one in five.
Deepak tells us: “I have scored 89%. I am still not
in a hope to get admission in one of these colleges. The pressure is obvious.”
Where does
the pressure come from?
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| Abdul Mabood |
Delhi University
has over 80 colleges affiliated to it. However, most students are under
tremendous social pressure to make it to the top ranking colleges because they
feel it is a matter of prestige to study in one of best colleges, says Sandeep
Sharma, principal of ARSD college.
In a very
quiet neighborhood in south Delhi, we catch up with Abdul Mabood, director of a NGO
called Snehi. He has ben running a helpline to counsel students and their
parents in distress for the past 17 years.
The phone at
his office never stops ringing. Abdul says: “many parents who couldn’t meet their
goals in thier lives want to meet that expectations through their child. And,
if they find that expectation is shattering they (parents) put a lot of
pressure on the child."
He blames the
education system in the country, which he describes as faulty. He says it's money driven and stifles creativity in a child. He says: "the schools have to
just inject the syllabus and nothing else. That is how you will not get a child
that has saved his or her creativity or innocence, cultural understanding,
civic sense, care for others. The schools teach (promote) sheer, horrible and
cut –throat competition.” Indian education system, he says “is killing its
children.”
He says that students will benefit more if they built more quality institutions for
higher studies or improve the standard of education in universities and colleges in other
cities and towns of India so that students don’t have to migrate to bigger
cities.
Demographic
dividends will be hard to come by.
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| Please don't let us down |
India has one
of the largest growing middle class populations in the world. A good education is often seen as a passport
to a quality life and even a way out of poverty for many. It can dramatically
change the fortunes of a family.
However,
access to good education in India is a privilege of those who can afford it. In
rural India, state run schools are in a dilapidated condition and there are
serious shortages of teachers. Also,
ability to speak good English is a strong criterion for most corporate jobs and
other blue-collar jobs in cities –a skill that is mostly confined to the urban
middle classes.
According to
an estimate, India will soon have a fifth of the world’s working-age population.
The Economist says India will add 124 million people to its working –age population
over the next decade, and that figure will soar to one billion by 2032.
However, Indian has abysmally failed to create quality jobs in the second half of the last decade. The jobs in manufacturing
sector are scarce due to lack of investment.
Clearly, if
India wants to get dividends of its vast human resources, it needs to educate its
population on technical skills. It is about
time for policy makers to rethink India’s education policy. The formal education system that exists is long
and theory based - it doesn’t guarantee jobs. Higher professional education is
very expensive and remains out of bounds for the majority of Indians.
India needs
more vocational schools, where young people can be trained on practical skills
after completing basic education. Like
its neighbor China, it needs to create more industrial jobs.
If India’s
unemployment figure in India begins to soar, it will create great deal of
disillusionment amongst its huge working –age population, which might create
massive social unrest in the country.
