The overhaul we need

The 2019 Indian general elections were a landmark in the nation's political history, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a record win and came to power. The electoral process for the 17th Indian general elections lasted over a month, from April to May and was conducted in seven phases. During the entire election campaign, the media was actively engaged in reporting mob violence, lynching, intimidation, corruption, violation of the model code and so on. The nature of the campaign started by politicians of various parties is the root cause for all these happenings. Campaigns were practically driven by mudslinging, defamatory political speeches and spewing of venom. Though issues related to development were focused upon, the logistics were left unclear because the significance of development in relation to limitations of economic development was not clearly focused upon in their respective campaigns. The major role in promoting development that is held by education was practically ignored. Currently, higher education has lost part of its historical role and its mission has been substantially amended to focus on providing services to the economic sector in the wake of the political changes from apartheid to democracy.

In many parts of the developing world, there is always a potential conflict between short-term economic benefits and long-term investment in education and learning for promoting development. Generally, human beings always consider economic benefits for a more comfortable and convenient life. Thereby, the economic factor is closely related to comfortable living. This development indicates a change in society and is closely connected to economic change and economic growth. But economic growth cannot be the only indicator of development. Economic growth is defined on the basis of per capita income. Economic development is accompanied by changes in structure, the participation of nationals and consumption patterns. It is not a simple increase in income. Initiation of large projects with the involvement of foreign corporations and foreign technicians, mainly from developed countries, may lead to an increase in income for the country. But the government and people of the nation have little involvement in the innovation of technology, though they are able to enhance their income monetarily from this project. Therefore, the role of higher education in the future must be to foster skills for critical and ethical analysis. In the present education system, importance is given to foster the ability to memorise information and facts with the help of coaching institution or private tutor. The need to stimulate students' abilities to analyse and filter the necessary knowledge with ethical judgment and critical sense from the range of information available is generally ignored. There is, thus, an emergent need to have the participation of country's own people in the innovation of technology so that there will be a change in the social structure and consumption patterns as well as economic growth to achieve true 'economic development'.

Education can play a crucial role in bringing satisfactory changes in society, considering the balance among diverse perspectives of life, especially, between materialism and humanism in terms of development and education. Prime Minister Modi has also advocated that knowledge and education are not restricted to books. He insisted that the purpose of education must be to enable balanced growth of every dimension of a human being, which is not possible without innovation. He also emphasised on enhancing the trend of innovation in school children. Though newly formed governments have repeatedly committed to overhauling the education system and policy has been framed, they are poorly executed. As a result, the educational system has measurably failed to successfully awaken the desire of students for lifelong learning because the level of positive interaction between teachers and students is low and therefore, many students are reported to feel bored or even hate school and abandon their studies. Large sections of the youth that can be converted to valuable assets have been deprived of education and many of them are compelled to engage in work for sustaining their livelihood undesirably.

Higher education is responsible for training students in these domains because ethical education is the cornerstone of higher education. The major drawback in adopting ethical education is the lack of appropriate teaching and learning environments, insufficient supply of demonstrating materials and the uneven availability of necessary infrastructure. In reality, after visiting more than 50 schools, education systems, particularly in rural areas, have not been designed to promote thought and encourage a culture of curiosity. As a result, in most Indian schools, at least in the Public school system, kids do not really attain knowledge and skills commensurate with their age. The major reason is that pedagogy is boring. It mainly focuses on cramming the textbook information and the best crammers are rewarded by the system. This crammed knowledge is largely forgotten after exams are over. In this piquant situation, ethical education must be contemplated in the curricular units of higher education courses. The relationship between self-regulated learning and academic achievement has been jeopardised of late, as observed in many schools and colleges. This is mainly due to the role played by teachers who always encourage (with some exceptions) students to follow the 'Question and answer book' and to attend coaching classes for vested interests which end up ruining the abilities of students for self-observation and self-judgment.

The quality of education in India is as unequal and fluctuating as any other parameter such as income, health or lifestyle. The gap between good and bad institutes is staggeringly wide. Many institutes are founded just to make money and not with the purpose of imparting education in the first place. The main purpose of so-called "good" institutes is to ensure that everyone, who puts in a decent effort, scores high. Competition to achieve high scores in this particular environment ruins skills for innovation among the students. Another major obstacle is the lack of laboratory activities even up to the twelfth standard that deprives students of chances to get exposure to technical knowledge.

Our government promises to improve our education system but the total spending on education has dropped to 3.4 per cent of total spending in 2019 from 4.3 per cent in 2014. Quota system further compounds these troubles by depriving deserving ones of facilities. At present, a degree has become a status symbol for marriage, for jobs, for parties, for matrimonial adverts, for prestige and for dowry but not for developing skills to innovate technology that can change our society.

I have observed that rich people are not interested in getting their kids admitted in government-funded school because of the poor quality of teachers. In this context, it is pertinent to mention if all the kids of ministers, decision-maker and government servants are bound to be educated only in government schools by law, there will be a change in this status quo in a very short time. Authorities must be rigid and honest in checking the quality of teachers of various streams. Teachers are the single most important factor when it comes to success in student learning and it is the role of a teacher to create learning opportunities with the greatest potential learning outcomes. If good teachers are present in schools and colleges, coaching will be diminished. Private institutions will then be coerced into imparting quality education at reasonable fees. In India, marks outweigh talent. This has led to side effects like the emergence of coaching centres.

In developing countries like India, the most important factor is to balance basic education and higher education. Basic education is fundamental in keeping people's basic necessities and rights in place. Higher education offers technical skills and expands the range of knowledge to those who acquire it. In addition to these, vocational education must be strengthened. Teachers are essential players in promoting quality education. Their teaching skills and knowledge are directly linked to the quality of education. Finally, fundamental subjects such as ethics, philosophy and literature should be emphasised because these kinds of education can be the basis for a broader range of development. Even upon fulfilment of the above-mentioned requirement, everything depends on an efficient and honest government to facilitate economic growth and an effective education system. Additionally, a life-long education for adults after they graduate is required in order to adjust them to rapid changes in society.

Indian mainstream education needs a total redesign. If we are to troubleshoot the education system, we have to attack the root of the problem. This requires a change in mindset and a new political party which has a core ideology of freedom and liberty while taking on socialism. Albert Einstein said that "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid". If earnest people take up the mantle becoming policymakers, then there is definitely hope for a better India.

Dr Debapriya Mukherjee is a former Senior Scientist, Central Pollution Control Board. Views expressed are strictly personal