Education in rural India is a catalyst for improving our nation’s socioeconomic well-being. To realize the dream of a Skilled and Strong India, there must be a greater emphasis on improving rural education systems. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive approach to ensuring quality education at the grassroots level.
“We’re currently in a revolutionary phase, be it regarding the learning techniques, the introduction of newer methods, or the rise of awareness among communities – amidst all these, only education can help us move forward, it’s a make-or-break situation for our progress. In order to create a better world, we need to prioritize education in all areas of life but this is entirely dependent on awareness and accessibility, two major areas where we fall short.” Says Anoop Singh Bishnoi, Chairman of The Doon School, Dehradun.
The problem of Illiteracy in India can’t have just one solution, it can only be tackled if we keep identifying the obstacles and keep devising plans to solve them. For example, As a result of the Right to Education Act, children between 6 to 14 years of age have the right to free education, which of course helped the nation’s literacy rate as the number of children in these age groups are receiving basic education. However, we must consider children who are not in this age group. Without education, children under the age of six who have not yet qualified for free and compulsory education may become victims of child labor. It's extremely difficult to get them out once they've fallen in. Another important aspect that our education system lacks is the absence of vocational training. A basic school curriculum may not always be adequate for educating the lesser privileged. They must have useful skills that will help them find work once they reach the legal working age. Problems like these are why we need to do more to raise awareness about the importance of education.
“It's time to reconsider the entire educational experience. Middle and upper-middle-class India owns a lot of the decision-making process around education in general and around government schools in particular from a policy standpoint, but they have no stake in this system because their children mostly do not attend these schools. So, how can the system ever improve if the parents who send their children there remain anonymous and voiceless? There need to be representatives from different communities and sections in the board of governors at these schools. Another aspect that we should prioritize right now is teachers’ social image and status. We must investigate why the concept of a teacher as a highly respected person in a village/town has deteriorated and devise methods and means of restoring it. There could be several factors at work here, such as the ease of becoming a teacher and, as a result, the type of people who choose to be teachers, the pay that a teacher receives, and so on. Overall, we should work to broaden the concept of a good education. It should primarily focus on cognitive development to a belief that values a child’s uniqueness and the celebration of various definitions of “intelligence.” Adds Anoop.
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