Every Indian feels proud and very happy when we see the Indian youth doing amazingly well on the world stage. Indians have done a great service to Science, Technology, Finance, Medicine and in recent past in the field of Information Technology all over the world. In most of the premier institutions and organizations of the world, The Indians have been leading from the front. Whole wide world has recognized and acknowledged the Indian intelligence and capability. It is very interesting to see that most of the Indian business or academic leaders have started from a very humble background and the have faced all sorts of hurdles. As other common Indians they too had the aspiration but the fire within them and their undaunted spirit shaped them into a great success and today they stand as icons and ambassadors of India in various fields. There are so many more who are contributing to the societies in the country and outside the country in multiple ways through various fields.
Such people are the shining examples of Indian intelligence and dedication of average Indians to their occupation. No doubt the institutes like IITs, IIMs or AIIM or IISC etc do have a world class set up with them. A young student when gets into such institutes or the other ones with lesser facilities even, his talent and brilliance is polished and shaped in such a way that he stands apart when goes into the professional arena.
If entire scenario of Indian education system is analysed then any one can get perplexed to see a marked difference in the two levels of education in India. Of course, the higher education has been nicely funded by the governments and many private organizations are also offering good education with substantial facilities.
When we turn to our most important segment of basic education then we find the things really horrifying. Each and every corner of the country is mushroomed with innumerable private schools , each of them promising a great future for the kid.Many private schools in the country are very good offering a quality education with all the amenities to those who get the admissions in such schools. However the principle objective of all the private schools is to do business and earn money. Social responsibility does not make a place in their list of priorities.
Standard of practically every government run primary and secondary school in India is abysmal. Teachers do everything but teaching in the school, students attend to school for the sake of going out. Still in so many states the results are good, as the students are simply promoted to next standard since nobody wants to hold the accountability and responsibility of educating them in true sense of it. Millions of poor are still deprived of good and basic education even after almost 70 years of independence. Imagine how much of potential of India is being wasted due to this shear negligence of people in power?
All the governments till date have done practically nothing to improve the scenario and nobody in power has ever tried to shape a strong policy through which this basic right can be given to millions of Indians. As per government data 96 percent of boys and girls are enrolled in schools. In the absence of strong monitoring and a proper direction, all the funds and grants either are lapsed or misused by people involved in the administration. Every government has done so many good things in other core sectors to exploit the available resources. Private - Public partnership (PPP) model has been a great success in many areas which is evident and a visible change is there. But why our policy makers and the governments have neglected the field of basic education so badly? Shaping up a national policy for basic education in India should have been the first priority after independence. Even after almost 70 years of independence we have not been able to exploit and convert a great available resource i.e. human resource into a potential asset by imbibing good education in our rural areas for poor?
Every politician talks loudly for reservations for backwards. Why nobody speaks for good education, better facilities and a better environment for poor and backwards? Providing them with good education, better environment for study would definitely be a better solution for their progress than to make them dependent on crutches of reservation for moving ahead in life.
A PPP model can be a highly effective tool through which government can engage big business houses to provide quality education to poor and backwards and the middle class living in rural and urban India. A carefully drafted policy may prove to be a key for mobilization of huge funds and human resource to take up this challenge.
I wish to highlight the fact that in spite of very less facilities, exposure and many impediments, our youth from across the country has been able script the success stories. Imagine, if the poor state of affairs in the sector of basic education is overhauled and rejuvenated then how many wonders can our coming generations would do? This is a mammoth task and can not be accomplished in a year or two. Sincere efforts, dedicated and precise approach of government, private sectors, NGOs and the common people is required to achieve the goal, which definitely can be achieved in a decade at least.
