Issues and Challenges in Indian Education

Indian education is divided into two parts private and government education, the ratio is 5:7 respectively. Government education has failed to give a good quality of education. The education received from government schools is hugely insufficient. This is also because of the lack of teachers and no proper checks on them, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, urban areas have a much higher literacy rate than rural areas. Public schools have the weak infrastructure and poor academic attention which is very terrible for the overall development of an individual. Better facilities must be given to students in ­­ academic, sports, cultural, technical, media, arts, music, religious, social, and political areas which would aid them to discover their areas of interest. Government schools lack a lot in this kind of aspect.

Whereas, the private schools which give all such facilities are too expensive for the lower class families. Above 37% of the Indian population is living below the poverty line. And they cannot afford education even at a primary level. India is a country of morals and beliefs, people are still traditionalistic and apprehended modern education. 

The performance of the workers depends on several important factors like health and nutrition, education and training, etc. These are regarded as significant determinants of quality of life. Sufficient investment in these fields will increase the productivity and efficiency of the manpower. The body of knowledge is achieved by the population and the capacity of the population to use the knowledge effectively.

11 Issues of Indian Education

Here are 11 issues and challenges of Indian education.

1. Lack of money

The absence of sufficient assets is a fundamental issue in the improvement of education. Because of poor economics, most instructive institutions need the framework, science gear and libraries, and so on. Because of this, the desired outcomes can’t be achieved.

Every year there is a separate budget for the Education sector but it needs to be well directed through the appropriate pipeline so that it reaches every sector, where it’s needed the most.

2. Costly higher education

College and specialized institutions have turned out to be expensive in India. The expense structure of specific and able institutions. Privatization of advanced education has helped the development of benefit greedy business people. Now advanced education is a much expensive undertaking.

3. Neglect of Indian languages

The medium of teaching especially is English because of the focus on education in English, students are not developing foundational literacy and numerical skills. And then they are piled on with more material in English and as a result, kids mainly from government schools and poorer backgrounds were suffering a lot because of this. Standard distributions are not accessible in native Indian languages.

4. No practical knowledge

In educational institutions, lots of attention is provided to theory and books, and practical knowledge is completely neglected. When these students pass the exam, they forget all the things they have studied due to a lack of practical experience.  In India, parents and teachers expect their students to score high in the exam rather than getting quality knowledge. And education becomes a rat race.  Practical knowledge and skill-based education are still very far away from scholars who are studying in schools, colleges, and universities.

5. The problem of brain drain

Whenever smart, capable, and meriting candidates don’t get reasonable positions in the nation. They need to travel to another country to look for employment. So our nation is denied good ability. This wonder is called ‘Brain Drain’. Because of that, we lost so many talents that could be utilized in our nation for the betterment of education as well as the overall development of the country.

6. Cast reservation and paid seat

In the Indian education system, seats are reserved for reserved cast and rich students. The education system should give equal chance to all students irrespective of their caste and creed.  In India, the child of a good rich family gets a good education just because of ample money whereas the child of a poor family hardly gets a primary education.  The government data disclose the better reality that only 1 child out of 7 that takes birth in India goes to school. That problem should be conveyed into notice as soon as possible and do some severe work to change the circumstances as soon as possible.

7. Mass illiteracy

Still, we are not capable of getting 100 percent education. Even now most of the individuals stay uneducated. In India, the quantity of illiterate individuals is approximately 33 percent of the aggregate uneducated people. Propelled nations are almost 100 percent educated, and the situation in India is very unfavorable.

8. Wastage of resources

Our education system depends on General Education. The dropout percentage is high in the essential and auxiliary dimensions. The huge majority of the understudies in the 7-14 age group leave the school before completing their studies. It implies the wastage of financial and Human Resources.

9. General education structure:

Our education structure is of General Education in nature. The advancement of specialized and professional education is very unacceptable. So our way of instruction is ineffective. Hence the number of educated jobless people is growing by each day. This has changed into a prominent concern for the Government.

10. Problems of primary education

Our primary education is performed with an extreme number of issues. A huge number of primary schools have no structures, basic facilities like drinking water, furniture and study materials, urinals and power, and many more. Large quantities of grade schools are single educator schools and many schools are even without teachers. So the drop rate is high and a basis for concern. We can say that there is a quantitative extension of training but in subjective improvement, we are still falling behind.

11. Outdated syllabus

There is an urgent requirement to modify the present system of higher education in the country. We are required to ensure quality in education as well as quantity. Students are acquiring knowledge from outdated syllabi. Lots of technological and scientific advancements are taking place in India. And hence the courses are Graduate and postgraduate and need to be updated as per modern and technological development.

6 major challenges faced by the Indian Education System

According to the 2018 Annual States of Education Report (ASER), India is creating another generation that can hardly read and write due to the lack of basic reading and arithmetic skills among the students in Indian Schools. But the mere difference now is that these children have spent some years of their lives in schools.

1. High- dropout rates

The other major challenge in the education system is the high dropout rate in public schools or government schools. It is all due to several factors such as poverty, lack of toilets, long distance to school, child marriages, patriarchal mindset, and cultural factors.

2. Poor governance and lack of responsibility

Another problem of our education is the absence of teachers in government schools. Further, poor management in these schools is also another major problem as these school management committees are barely functional. Also, the parents are oblivious of their rights and do not know whom to address in such conditions.

3. Lack of infrastructure

One of the major challenges faced by public schools is the lack of drinking water facilities, electricity, toilets, and poor hygiene, etc.

4. Quality of teachers

 Lack of trained and skilled teachers is another problem mostly faced by our education system. Besides the lack of skilled teachers, they are also burdened with a non-academic workload which diverges their focus from teaching. Thus, according to a study by the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA) the teachers only spend around 19per percent of their time in teaching while their rest of the time is filled mostly on non-teaching administrative work. 

5. Closure of Schools

 Due to the low strength of students and lack of teachers many government schools are closed. This is due to the competitions raised by private schools. 

6. Corruption and leakages of funds

Most of the funds which are granted for the advancement of schools are mostly consumed by corrupt mediators. As these funds transferred from central government to state government to schools involve many intermediaries. Due to which a right beneficiary only gets a certain part of the fund.

Right to Education (RTE)

To develop the skills and potential of children, education is granted as a right to help them. So, that they can benefit their community and the nation in the long run. As education helps in the growth of an economy of a country, reduces inequality, or be it breaking patriarchal norms. Some of the highlights of the right to education are as follows:

• Without any type of discrimination, the right to education is legally granted to all.
• The states must preserve, honor, and fulfil the right to education act.
• Between the age of 6 to 14 years every child has the right to free and compulsory education. This act is affirmed as per the 86th Constitution Amendment Act via Article 21A.
• According to the right to education act every government school shall provide free education to all the children and these schools must be conducted by the School Management Committee (SMC). While private schools shall accept at least 25% of the children in their schools from the economically backward section without any fees.
• To monitor all phases of elementary education including quality of education National Commissions for Elementary Education shall be established.  

Conclusion

The overarching problems concerning each level of education in India are quality and pertinence. India bears extensive difficulties in facing the requirements of a growing and modern workforce.  Some of the needs that India’s education sector faces are appropriate curriculum, quality teachers, financial support for students, and adequate facilities. Additional challenges involve the inability to meet the different linguistic, social, regional, and local education needs of such a large country. Recent advancements in Indian management have made this an especially suitable time for corporations to commit to the development of India’s education system. So, to overcome these challenges major steps should be taken by the government for the advancement of the education system in our country. As there have been no changes in the education system since the British rule. But now we can just hope for the improvement in our education system with the new education policy introduced in the recent year.

FAQs regarding Issues and Challenges in Indian Education

Q1. What is the meaning of ‘Free and Compulsory Elementary Education’?

Ans. All children between the ages of 6 and 14 shall have the right to free and compulsory elementary education at a community school. To get elementary education there is no direct (school fees) or indirect cost (uniforms, textbooks, mid-day meals, transportation) to be borne by the child or the parents. Until a child’s elementary education is completed the government will provide schooling free-of-cost.

Q2. What is the most significant obstacle in education?

Ans. The most significant obstacle facing education today is the lack of innovation and fluidity in higher education. Because of numerous private and public determinants, colleges and universities have transformed into extensive private businesses with multi-million dollar athletic fields and multi-billion-dollar donations.

Q3. Why is change essential in education?

Ans. Change is essential for any education system as it helps to develop better strategies for achieving their moral goals. As those skillful in change recognize its subtle appearance, and they explicitly explore ideas for coping with and inspiring change toward some aspired outcomes.

Q4. What are the challenges of the Indian education system?

Ans. Some of the challenges faced in the progress of education in India are lack of capital, mass illiteracy, brain drain, wastage of resources, outdated syllabus, etc.

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