A nation is recognized by the presence of educated, rational and responsible citizens ,just as the strength, potential and purpose of an apple tree are inferred from ripe and nutritious apples and not from the hundreds of fruits that remain undeveloped , immature and insect-ridden. Good education right from the school determines a child’s ability to become a respectable citizen. School education imparts wonderful knowledge gathered by our ancestors and predecessors over generations , spreading thousands of years.
The knowledge is acquired by tremendous enthusiasm, energy, labour and initiative. Every generation add to it and thus knowledge grows. ‘Knowledge is dead.’ But a school nurtures and serves living beings – the budding humans. Schools should transform young learners into future citizens who can contribute to the community with rational and logical thinking. The school system is not meant for rote learning but for training each individual to think and act independently. The pupils today should become part of society but with individual dignity and honour. Yo ung p upils aerate d with energy and creativity must have dreams.
Schools hold the responsibility, to guide, the tremendous energy of children into the right direction. Even if the goals are not achieved, the journey of life on the right path will give them immense gratification and happiness. Children should also learn the crucial lesson of managing failures. History tells us that it is a hard struggle to make the life of mankind better as a human being has a terrible capacity for destruction. It is important that the children are asked in schools to actually perform – writing a composition, translating a text , solving a math ematical problem , experimenting with physics’ laws or with chemical reactions, practising sports events or performing an art.
Such performances ignite one’s mind, strengthen the physique and generate confidence. The pupils start to ask questions. Undoubtedly one of the greatest problems plaguing our education system in India is that an enormous number of children do not learn to read or write or learn elementary mathematics at an early age. They cannot comprehend what they read. This creates impediments for their higher learning and employment. A large proportion of these pupils are first-generation learners.
They would not get any assistance from home. Schools are the only resort for them. But various reports, findings and surveys tell us grim stories. The ASER Survey 2010 raised a pertinent question: “Is the child who enrolled in Std 1 in 2006, and who has reached Std 5 today, in a better position than his or her counterpart who was in Std 5 in 2006?” The findings were not at all comfortable. Again, in 2025, the ASER Survey 2024 noted that “children in government schools in Std 5, apart from a decline in reading levels between 2010 and 2012,” had reading levels that over time are ‘low’ and ‘stuck’. “Percentage of children in Std V who can read Std II level text is only 48.” This figure remains almost the same since 2010 when it was about 50 per cent.
ASER 2024 further reported: “The gap in reading levels between children enrolled in government schools and private schools seems to be growing over time.” The performance of children in number recognition, counting and simple arithmetic is no better. In essence, school education is in a dismal condition though the performance varies from state to state. It indicates rote learning still dominates and shaping of a child’s life is a distant prospect. A large section of children remains undeveloped. The capacity to read, write and count, i.e. basic education, has a powerful effect on the quality of life of citizens. Written elements like government no tices and newspapers play crucial roles in modern society. The ability to understand written information is essential to live with dignity. “Being illiterate is like being imprisoned and school education opens a door through which people can escape incarceration” (Amartya Sen).
Illiteracy generates insecurity and alienation. However, expansion of basic school education in India is remarkably slow. Data reveals the adult literacy rate for ages 15 years and above was merely 48.5 per cent in 1991 i.e. half the adult population was illiterate. It has now risen to 77 per cent in 2023 after reaching 61 per cent in 2001 and 69.3 per cent in 2011. It took almost 30 years to increase 30 percentage points in literacy. Women are particularly vulnerable with only 70 per cent adult women being literate now as against 85 per cent of adult men. This shows disparity and lack of opportunity for women.
Good schooling for young women in our country will substantially enhance the voice and power of women in families as well as in society and economic activities of the nation. School education is the prime ally of poor families. Basic education for them has become essential to tide over their precarious monetary situations. They would not be able to participate in economic activities if they cannot read and write. Even the poorest of the families perceive the importance of education and send children to neighbourhood schools. However, the poor must have opportunities to access good education – ‘the weaker should be given more chances than the stronger’.
But the reality is starkly different. The chances of getting free education in government schools by the poor are getting reduced. In ten years, from 2014-15 to 2 02 3 -24, 89,4 4 1 government schools in India have closed down, an 8 per cent decline. It is conveyed that most closures resulted from a merger policy often called ‘rationalisation’. The primary reason for merging these schools was low enrollment. This requires serious review of why enrolment in government schools is decreasing. On the contrary, the number of private schools during the same time p eriod increased by 42,944, a 14.9 per cent rise. The cost of education in private schools is nine times higher than in government schools. This state of affairs obviously denies poor children easy access to education.
Are all children in India going to school? Enrolment for 6 to 14 year-olds which was 96.7 per cent in 2014 has increased to 98.1 per cent in 2024. However, this almost near universal enrollment over a decade does not convert to full overall literacy, which is 80.9 per cent for those aged seven and above. Drop outs at all levels – 2 per cent at primary, 5 per cent at upper primary and 14 per cent at secondary levels – is a major hindrance for full literacy. Another report suggests that an alarming number of over two crore children dropped out of school from classes 1 to 8 in just three years from 2021 to 2024. Premature departure of students from the education system represents significant wastage of resources. Students whole ave before completing at least secondary education are more likely to be pushed to low paying, insecure, informal work and would face low self esteem and reduced confidence.
Their family would suffer. Drop outs reinforce poverty and inequality. Society will be losing talent which ultimately lowers economic growth and development. Po or learn ing ou tcome s in scho ols and drop outs affect mostly the underprivileged. It is time to cover the huge backlog in basic skills by urgently addressing it on a mass scale. Deep thinking and wide deliberations in the public domain about what ails school education must help us find a way out of the stagnation. After all, the function of education is ‘to open the way to thinking and knowing’ and schools must serve that end universally.
(The writer is a cost accountant who retired from a public sector power utility.)