Write a Short Paragraph on the Present Scenario of Education in India

Back to: Contemporary India and Education-Unit 1

India has over 1.5 million schools with an enrolment of around 260 million students. There is an estimate of 751 universities and 35,539 colleges across the country. Having one of the most advanced frameworks of education, India, nonetheless, still has room for improvement. Indian education can be categorized as private and government education with a ratio of 5:7. India strives to offer education to its citizens by making education compulsory up to a certain age based on the framework of the National Policy of Education. During independence, India constituted 14% of literacy but now, there is a fivefold increase in literacy.

Despite the provision of education by the government, the quality of education quality seems to be lacking. It seems to be inadequate due to the lack of teaching resources, teachers, and lack of guidance, particularly in rural areas which lead urban areas to have a higher literacy rate. Public schools are characterized by little academic attention, weak infrastructure, lack of facilities, and the like which hampers the development of learners negatively.

On the flip side, private schools have all these facilities but can be unaffordable for children belonging to lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Some major issues faced by the Indian education system in the present are lack of financial resources which leads to a lack of educational resources such as libraries, laboratories, science gear, and more. Higher education can be costly and with English being the main medium of language in most schools, Indian languages are seldom paid much attention.

Educational institutions also focus more on theoretical knowledge thereby neglecting practical knowledge. Students learn to pass the exam but forget what they have learned once the exam is over. Brain drain is prevalent in India as many students who have great potential do not get the opportunities they deserve and if they do, the payout is low so they travel to other countries for employment.

Even though there are issues still troubling the Indian education system, it cannot be neglected that many reforms have been made to improve the quality of education. Investment in education is sure to witness some increase in the coming years. The Indian government has taken the initiative to open IITs and IIMs in various areas paying stipends to research scholars. With the implementation of online learning tools, the Indian education system is gradually improving.