Education system in India: Expectation vs Reality

     Introduction 

The aim of education is to build person's character, increase his mental health, develop intelligence and make him self-reliant. Education is Milestone of any country's economy. But unfortunately in today's time the meaning of education has completely changed. Now education has become equivalent to "Examination", "Board exam", "Entrance Exam", "Grades" etc.

Facts about education system of India

If we talk about education system of India as in 2019, there are more than 900 universities and 40,000 colleges.

As per The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) data 2011- 2012, there are 1.3 million schools with 315 million students in India.

Right to Education Act (RTE) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009 and as per RTE schooling is free and compulsory for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.

After implementing this act on 1 April 2010, India become one of the 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child.

Primary education is compulsory for all children in India. One to fifth grade children in the age group of 6 to 10 years are in the primary education system of India.

Secondary schools are designed for children in the age group of 16 to 17, from ninth to tenth grade.

It is also popular in India under the name 10 + 2. In this, students choose their specific field of study (science, commerce, arts). Students in this level typically belong to the age group of 16 and 18 years.

Even we have Midday Meal Nutrition Scheme is basically school meal programme run by Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide Serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centre and it is one of the largest programme in the world.

Problems with today's education system

One of the biggest problem with our education system is it majorly focuses on marks rather than talent or qualities of students. And it is not just the fault of the education system but also the fault of parents who insist on rote learning rather than understanding it.

Please Remember, no one gets success just by rote learning, if India has to move forward, then we have to pay attention to the true education and remember education means understanding not memorizing.

Another big issue is only course reading no emphasis on creativity means our education system only focuses on quantity rather than quality. School and teachers force students to memorize the book in order to get high marks. Getting high marks by hook or crook is the only aim of the students. Neither school or teacher bother about conceptual understanding or developing critical and creative thinking nor students. Why, the reason is obvious they focus on only getting high marks and nothing else and what does it make impact, it restricts the growth of their mind.

Other big issue is insufficient or poor infrastructure. You will be surprised to know Today, India has almost 3-4 times the number of schools (15 lakh) than China (nearly 5 lakh) despite a similar population but is a mess. It cannot be denied that a large part of India still lives in rural and that its education system is very poor. According to a survey report called the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), more than 50% of the students in 5th standard attending rural schools are not capable of reading a second standard textbook and do not to solve basic mathematical questions. This clearly indicates where we are heading with such poor education infrastructure.

How to bring the Change

If we can’t change the rural education system then we will be not able to change Indian education system

First set up more schools with good building structure and also govt would have to ensure with minimal cost as. To those who come from low financial background government must provide textbook, book, pencil facilities.

Second introduce technology with education, it is very important for the students to lay emphasis on technology especially basic computer knowledge so that they can walk with the world step by step.

Third one is to focus more on conceptual learning and creative thinking, gone are the days when rote learning to get more marks were sufficient in order to be so called educated. The world is changing, and changing fast, Especially with Technology. Modern day education system required people to be aware of what they learning and how fast they can adopt changes around them without much difficulty and this is only with conceptual learning and when basic concepts are cleared right from the beginning of their schooling.

Indeed we have long way to go but if we focus on such small things we will sure get benefits from this and then our education system will be ideal.