Existing+Role+of+Indian+Government

** (Manas Bajaj and Ankit Sud)
 * Existing Role of Indian government in providing a basic education for its citizens

The Indian Constitution defines education as a fundamental right that cannot be denied to any citizen regardless of caste, creed, sex or religion. Public education is supposed to be free and compulsory for all citizens below the age of 14, and special seats are to be reserved in government institutes of higher education for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, groups which have historically been discriminated against or disadvantaged.

The objective of educating India’s masses is also taken up at the state and city level. In Mumbai, for example, the Brihan [Greater] Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMMC) provides education through the multitude of municipal schools in the city. In the case of villages, education (in India’s various vernacular languages) is left to the discretion of the //Panchayats// (a village council of decision-makers). One of the many challenges to the government-sanctioned educational infrastructure in India is the country’s diversity.

According to the CIA World Factbook, India’s literacy rate is 61%. This figure does not reflect literacy in English or Hindi, the national languages, but rather any of the major languages spoken in the country. The implication is that a person that is considered literate in one state or one city or one village, for that matter, may not be considered literate elsewhere in the country. A brief interview with one of the few remaining elevator operators in Mumbai highlighted a gap between literacy and education in the villages and in cities and the impact of this gap on villagers who migrate to the cities in search of work and even higher education. The elevator operator topped his class in high school and came to Mumbai looking for higher education. He said, “In my school we did little English and spoke only our Bhojpuri dialect of Hindi. I topped my class and I felt on top of the world. When I came to Mumbai, I felt terrible as my English was broken up, and my science skills were not quite enough to get me into the college of my choice. I decided to start a new life.” (Personal Interview with Elevator Operator, 2nd December 2007).

For someone living and working in a city like Mumbai, this clause is outrageous as without English, a person living in a city can barely enter the job market as a peon, as demonstrated by the example of the liftman from Bihar.

In rural areas, centers of public education are few and far between and teachers find it difficult to commute to these centres sometimes. Quoting the elevator operator, “nothing was set, sometimes I could not go to school because the cart-driver would be doing other odd jobs. Sometimes when I would be at school, the teachers would not be there and once, the school was literally empty except for the janitor and some students”

In spite of all the problems mentioned above, government schools, especially of higher education can be very good. The Indian Institutes of Technology are among the top 50 universities in the world and have even attracted interest from foreign countries.

The Indian government is responsible for educating its people and the government states that it is both a state and national duty to do so. Although they state such high goals, India still maintains a sub-par literacy rate of 61% (“India.” CIA: World Factbook). Such statistics are beyond frightening for a developing nation who would greatly benefit if their man power could be harnessed and streamlined towards the growth of the economy. The question pertaining to lack of education still applies and must be answered not only by independent researchers but directly by the government.

If the Indian constitution declares that all children under a specific age must be educated, is it the fault of individuals in rural areas or the seemingly corrupt government. Unanswered questions are far from comforting on such a vital state issue.

In an interview with Shalini Sud, a teacher at an Akanksha NGO school, such imperative questions were raised as well.

When asked, //“Why do you think that the government’s goal to carry out a full education is not being implemented successfully?”//

She replied, “Being such a populous nation, any effort made by the government seems fairly inadequate”

Furthermore, when asked to clarify //why effort seemed inadequate//, Mrs. Sud stated, “The corruption levels are so high that the money may be allocated for education but we have no idea where it is going. Is there anybody overseeing the implementation of such funds?”

It seems as though the Indian government is taking so much pride in their recent economic growth that they have learned to ignore not only the uneducated children but the NGOs who are now responsible for educating a large part of India’s future.

When asked why India’s youth has to rely on NGOs to secure an adequate education, Shalini Sud stated, “At the moment NGOs seem to be the only organizations that are able to go into areas where the government is not able to do so because they have social workers who persuade families to send their children to school.”

//But is it a lack of resources that is preventing the government from doing the same work the NGOs are currently responsible for?//

“They have enough resources; it is a lack of commitment. What they say and what they do are not the same, they simply state that education is priority, I am not convinced they are doing enough for it”

India is one of many developing nations around the world who are well intentioned, however are also blinded by other successes. The continuous growth and development of a nation can only be sustained if there is a foundation of education and as rightly stated by Shalini Sud, “Is there anybody holding the government accountable for their actions or lack thereof? As soon as there is accountability, they will work towards their duties.”

http://www.education.nic.in/constitutional.asp#Fundamental. Education department: Ministry of Human Resource Development. 2 December 2007. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html. CIA: The World Factbook. 2 December 2007. Sud, Shalini. Personal Interview. November 27, 2007.
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