Falling Standards of Education

Abhay Mokashi

India seems to be at the crossroads to decide whether to give priority to education or religion. The government at the centre has laid more emphasis on religion as compared to education, and stood exposed towards that end, by falling into the trap laid by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

Though Gandhi wanted to lay a trap for the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] and especially its leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his act in Parliament is not at all laudable.

It was not expected of the former to display photographs of gods and religious heads in the Lok Sabha. As a parliamentarian and the Leader of the Opposition in a secular country, he should have refrained from displaying images of gods and heads of religion in the House. However, it was part of his strategy to corner Speaker Om Birla, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Modi himself on the issue of Hinduism and he was successful in doing so.

The otherwise aggressive Birla and Shah were seen softened when opposing Gandhi for his act. Birla was caught in a tricky situation. He could not take action against Gandhi, according to the rules for the conduction of proceedings of the House, which prohibit the display of images. Birla, known to snub members, even when they have not violated the rules of proceedings, meekly tried to tell Gandhi not to display images. If he had taken firm action, it would have meant that the display of the Hindu god Lord Shiva was not allowed in the Lok Sabha and the Congress and other members of the INDIA bloc would have made it a public issue by flaying the BJP and the Speaker for insulting Hinduism. On the contrary, at one point Birla told Gandhi to show respect to the gods as regards handling of the images.

Gandhi used the opportunity to flay the BJP and its leaders, labelling them as untrue Hindus. In the same speech he questioned the government about the mishandling of the NEET examinations and the numerous cases of leakage of papers of various competitive examinations in the country. He exhorted the prime minister to speak on the NEET examination scam, which has affected lakhs of students. But that was after Gandhi provoked him on Hinduism and that was it.

Modi spoke on religion and devoted his reply to silly and nonsensical issues, the way he normally does. The student community would have been delighted if Modi had assured them that the NEET examination system would be rectified so that there would be no more cases of paper leak and that brilliant and hardworking students would not suffer.

The condition of school education in most states is nothing to be proud of; rather it is a matter of shame not just for those in power, but for all those who wish to see India as a leading nation.

The educated understand the power of education and if they are in power, they can ensure that every child in the country has access to affordable, if not free education so long as the person wishes to learn.

Those who find themselves successful without the benefits of formal education can rarely understand the value and importance of education to the development of an individual and that of the nation.

School education in a large number of states is found to be wanting in terms of teaching, knowledge of the teachers and students and infrastructure. Though primary education is a state subject, a prime minister would do well to speak on it and to promote quality education.

A recent survey exposed that students of class eight were not able to solve simple mathematics problems and could not read properly. But why blame only teachers and students? The newly appointed Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur, could not write “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” in Hindi during a programme. What a shame that she shares the name of the pioneer of women’s education in India. The prime minister’s blunder on the name of the programme, while speaking about it at a campaign last year, cannot be forgotten.

The situation of education in Maharashtra is also wanting. Maharashtra was once the seat of education, with the finest schools, colleges and universities, but now the quality of education is going down and many state-run schools are either closing down or are in bad shape, as regards infrastructure.

A survey by Child Relief and You (CRY), along with other organisations, showed that of the 122 government schools surveyed in Maharashtra, 57% did not have a full-time head, while in 69% of schools, the teacher or students cleaned the toilets.

The survey was carried out by several organisations and individuals working in the field of education under the banner of Bal Hakk Abhiyan and was carried out in the wake of the state government’s decision to shut down 1,300 schools run by it.

According to the survey, 13% of the schools did not have a proper or strong building and 37% were without a compound wall. Many schools were devoid of playgrounds, proper toilets and filtered drinking water.

An investigative report by a Marathi television channel this week exposed the lack of proper infrastructure in several districts. These Zilla Parishad-run schools had broken benches and leaking roofs, among other issues.

The situation may not improve soon since the ruling and the opposition parties are busy in their verbal attacks against each other, while the public has lost its power to put pressure on elected representatives to rectify things.

[The author is a senior journalist and media trainer. He tweets at @a_mokashi]

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Vol 57, No. 7, Aug 11 - 17, 2024