Why India has to Focus on School Education?

Indian economy is growing fast and its education system, undoubtedly, plays a huge role in this occurrence.

Today, over 14 lakh schools function in India. Some of them are funded and managed by the Government, while some are run privately and aided by the Government. Apart from these two sections, thousands of private-aided schools also function across the nation.

School education in India has improved over the past few years. A national survey showed an increase in student enrolment in schools from 20.30 crore in 2002 to 23 crore in 2013. Several factors have contributed to this occurrence and some of them include The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) 2000-2001 and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

Introduction of mid-day meals in schools has helped improve school enrolment, nutritional status of children, student concentration, and performance. The Government has partnered with Non-Governmental Organization like The Akshaya Patra Foundation to implement the scheme across India. During 2013-14, about 10.45 crore children from 11.58 lakh Schools were benefitting from the scheme.

Though education system in India has advanced since independence, it is yet to reach the top level. Some of the challenges faced by school education in India include poor infrastructure, high drop-out rates, low-quality education, lack of schools in rural areas and low participation of female children.

Additionally, India also stands far behind in the world regarding education spending. India was spending 3.3% GDP in 2010 compared to 4.9 percent of GDP spent on education globally.

Why India has to change this picture?

School education is the foundation of a country. Mismanagement or negligence of this sector can leave lasting impact on its growth and push its economy backwards.

There exists evidence to show importance of good schools on development of a nation. Research conducted by an International team found that quality of human capital in a country directly influenced its growth. In the study, countries which scored high in cognitive skill tests (performance in math and science tests) had higher growth rates than countries which scored less.

School attainment, for sure, has a role in economic growth, but only when it helps in learning or improving cognitive skills. Quality education is a must as only qualified individuals or skilled professionals can withstand the increasing demands of the fast growing world economy. South Korea is a perfect example to show this.

In India, Government has taken some efforts to improve skills of its youth. Establishment of the National Skill Development Corporation in 2008 and introduction of Skill India scheme on July 15, 2015 are some of them. There is no doubt that these initiatives will give good results, but the concern is that whether they will last for a long period.

Educated citizens are wealth of a nation. So, to go further, to improve the Indian economy and to become a super power in the world, the nation has to increase public expenditure on school education and encourage private investment in the education sector.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an Ngo in India providing food for 1.6 million school children across 12 States and 28 locations.