For example, ASER 2014 found that over 75 per cent of all children in Class III, over 50 per cent in Class V and over 25 per cent in Class VIII could not read texts meant for the Class II level. At the all-India level, the number of children in rural schools in Class II who could not even recognise letters of the alphabet increased from 13.4 per cent in 2010 to 32.5 per cent in 2014. In the last year of their primary education in Class V, almost 20 per cent of children could only read letters or were not literate even at this level; 14 per cent could read words but not sentences; and 19 per cent could read sentences but not longer texts. Further, reading levels for children enrolled in government schools in Class V showed a decline between 2010 and 2012. While reading levels in Class V in private schools were also not high, the gap in reading levels between children in government schools and private schools appears to be growing over time.
It is noteworthy that the poor quality of education in
government schools has been underlined by a recent directive from the Allahabad
High Court ordering all government servants in Uttar Pradesh to send their
children only to public schools run by the State Basic Education Board.
The utility of higher education in assuring employment is
questionable. Many graduate and postgraduate students do not get jobs in their
respective fields even after spending several years in acquiring higher
education. While the problem of educated unemployed youth remains acute, there
is also, paradoxically, a shortage of skilled manpower in the labour market.
There is a clear gap between the focus and quality of education in academia and
the actual skills required by industry.
Serious reforms are imperative and brook no delay. Major new
directions now need to be taken. Issues of immediate concern and administrative
constraints should not be allowed to override the medium- and long-term
measures essential for major reforms. The country is now looking to the
Government of India to give a new direction in the field of education. The
steps taken now will determine if India will be a leading nation in the world
this century.
Can you expect this from a minister
whose own educational credentials were
called in to question ?
most of this is from an article from 2014 frontline magazine
