Monday, March 17, 2014

MY INDIA - MY VOTES: Reforming Indian Education System

By Siddhi Sharma | INNLIVE

Education is our fundamental rights, as we all know. But the question here is do we understand the difference between being literate and being educated, in its real sense? The world respects the Indian intelligence, but are we recognizing their talent? Are we doing something to enhance their skills or provide them the required infrastructure, guidance and a constructive environment for their growth and progress. 

Aren’t we just burdening them with theoretical knowledge and not providing them the requisite skills to face the real life situations?There are so many grounds where we lack and lack terribly. This time while we vote lets pledge a zero tolerance for any loophole in our education system. For we know, one loophole and the entire vision of being a developed nation, flushes down the drain. 
We, at INNLive  have brought forth the list of our concerns regarding our education system. We want to see a change this time, no excuse shall be entertained at any cost. Let’s come together for a cause that needs us and our voice.  After all, Its My India, My vote, it must count and It will count.

We are presenting our list while  we are open to any suggestions from our readers, policy makers and  experts:
  • RAISE FUNDING OF  EDUCATION SYSTEM: India must ensure the global accepted norm of central and state governments spending at least 6% of GDP on education rather than only 4% that states and Centre together, spend currently. This is vital if the shocking dropout rate of about 50% of class 10 is to be brought down, and the gross enrollment ratio in higher education to be raised above the current 16-17%.
  • ENHANCE SKILLS,MAKE THE YOUTH MORE EMPLOYEABLE: With just 2% of the youth having technical education, the skills gap is becoming a gigantic problem. A strong technical education stream linked to industry must be put in place and fostered. Vocational/technical curricula need to be upgraded and dynamically linked to labour market demands.
  • ENCOURAGE PRIVATE SECTOR: In higher education, rules & regulation - particularly by professional institutions like engineering and medical must be fortified at any cost. There is a need to keep a check on the instances of fly-by-night operators and shady politicians setting up a college without basic amenities and pathetic or non-existent faculties. The government,must invest in setting up enough colleges to ensure that the quality of higher education is not compromised. The private sector, especially reputed business houses, must be encouraged and incentivized to invest in education; but this must be accompanied by rigorous monitoring and regulation to ensure no corners are cut.
  • MAKE ENGLISH MANDATORY : According to a recent report, those who speak English fluently earn up to 34% more and those who speak a little English earn about 13% higher on average than those who don't. But only 20% of Indians can speak English, and only 4% can do so fluently. In most government-funded schools, which account for about 70% of school education, the medium of instruction is Hindi or the local language. So, when in our country, English is so imperative for a good career, it must be made accessible, affordable and mandatory for all the educational institutes.
  • MAKE THE CURRICULUM DYNAMIC NOT DOGMATIC: The curriculum or the syllabus for students in our country in higher education (mainly engineering colleges) is outdated in most cases. It is stale, dogmatic and teaches things that the world has moved on with. To infuse dynamism, you need the curriculum to be progressive in nature. The spirit of curriculum should be projects driven not exams driven, it should be innovation driven and it should evolve not stay stagnated. 

  • REALIZE THE WORTH OF THE TEACHERS, PAY THEM MORE: Once you start paying more, you get quality faculty in, you get people who actually want to teach and people who are worth the caliber of teaching. A graduating student earns more in an IT company than what a Lecturer or even an Assistant Professor earns in some colleges (despite the 6th Pay commission increase which benefits only the Government colleges). We need passionate teachers who can shape up the future of our nation.Respecting their worth would be the first step towards achieving it.
  • BUILD BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE AND MODERNIZE THE EDUCATION SYSTEM: Today, our country needs better infrastructure, equipped with all the modern amenities for a sound education system, like libraries, laboratories, computers, the introduction of IT into education and much more. We need to modernize our education system, so that our students are at par with their international counterparts.
  • INFUSE MORE CAREER OPTIONS THAN ENGINEERS AND DOCTORS: It’s high time our Indian family and education system persuade other career options that engineers and doctors, we must encourage and develop the skills of the children for being good at what they feel passionate about. We must introduce them to various other vocations that they can make a career in. It will also boost up the happiness quotient of the citizen of our country.
These are the concerns which we could think of, and we know there are many other concerns that we might have missed out but would like our readers to contribute in.

We, at INNlive believe we must develop a zero tolerance for any loophole in our education system. We conclude by quoting the famous advertisement line:’Padhega India, Tabhi toh badhega India..! right? So let’s work towards it!

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