In
the months leading to my departure for India, I was frequently asked about my
research plans and my motivation for pursuing my topic. In most instances,
these discussions provided interesting insight into how the Indian education
system is perceived by those who work outside of the international education
field. Most people fell into two groups:
1.
Those who view the American education system as superior, for no reason other
than a strong sense of patriotism.
2. Those who understand India’s emerging economic status and imagine, based on the stereotypes projected in the media, that India’s education system prepares every child for a successful career in science, technology, and business.
Of
course, neither of these perceptions is accurate. The deficiencies within the
American education system are widely reported, particularly during the release
of scores from international standardized tests like PISA and TIMSS where the
U.S. routinely ranks far below the top 5 countries.
In
India, while
there have been significant improvements to health and welfare indicators of
the population, the education system continues to suffer from deep problems in
quality, equity, and access. The literacy rate hovers around 74%, with significantly
lower rates for women, Muslims, and members of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. In addition, India’s Tamil Nadu and Himatchal-Pradesh states
participated in the country’s first PISA examination in 2010 and ranked as numbers
72 and 73 out of 74 economies. Clearly, every Indian child is not given equal
opportunity for quality education and employment in professional careers.
This
reality may soon be altered, however, by India’s Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, which guarantees basic education for children ages 6-14. This
act was passed in 2009, but various elements of the act provoked opposition
from the general public and educational bodies, and implementation was delayed
until the start of the 2012-2013 school year. In Karnataka state, this meant
that the changes were implemented in May, just before my arrival. As you can
imagine, this is a hot topic in the Indian education community, as it
introduces several new regulations and drastically alters the provision of private education.
I
studied this act as part of a research project last semester but did not fully
grasp its implications on the non-formal sector until I arrived. Most of the
non-formal education centers that I visited are managed by NGO’s and are unaided
and unrecognized by the government. According to my discussions with school
directors, recognition requires large amounts of paperwork, years spent wading
through the bureaucracy, and more than Rs. 100,000 in fees and bribes. Students
can still obtain the credentials necessary to move to higher education, so for many
school administrators, recognition doesn’t seem worth the trouble. However, with
the Right to Education Act, these unaided, unrecognized schools are considered
illegal, and the threat of enforcement is pervasive. Indeed, several institutions
have already closed in the past few years within Karnataka state due to legal
and financial issues, but thus far, the government has not formally enforced
the act with any of the schools I have visited.
I
cannot help but wonder whether these institutions will still exist when I return
to India in the future, and if so, what alterations will be made to the
programs to accommodate government desires for national cohesion within the
education system. My strong belief in the benefits of non-formal education
leads me to hope that the government will find a way for these institutions to
continue to offer alternatives for children who need them the most. In the meantime, however, my visits to the
schools are somewhat bittersweet, knowing that I am perhaps witnessing a dying
element of education in India.
Nora Shetty
M.A. International Education, 2013
Sigur Center 2012 Field Research Fellow
Karnataka, India
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