India’s Education System
In independent India, the education system has been amended from time to time. The biggest change came after the liberalization of the economy in 1991, when education—especially higher education—became completely tied to the market. The impact of the market-driven economy on education was such that schools to universities began to develop as shops of education. The worst impact of this was borne by the poor sections of society, as they were completely unable to bear the burden of increasingly expensive education. In Indian culture, where education was once considered a "great donation," the influence of money transformed temples of learning into shops of education.
After independence, the education system we built had strong participation from the state or ruling power. Economic liberalization reversed this trend in such a way that education increasingly became a profitable industry. In Indian culture, both education and healthcare were seen as fields of virtue, where the wealthy sections of society participated in helping the poor, often in the form of charity. But liberalization completely overturned this concept, and education became something to be bought and sold. The state freed itself from the responsibility of educating its citizens. Still, in 2009, during the government of Manmohan Singh, then Education Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal introduced the “Right to Education,” which placed the responsibility on the state to educate every child up to 14 years of age. This put a burden on government schools, but seeing the condition of these schools, even the poor aspired to send their children to private schools.
The privatization of education during liberalization had the worst impact on the teacher-student relationship. The market-driven economy reduced the student to a mere consumer and the teacher to a salaried worker. The quality of schools began to be determined by these standards, which further worsened the plight of the poor. This problem grew worse when teachers’ focus shifted more and more toward earning money. In the very India where teachers were once revered as gods, their status declined to that of salaried employees. Yet, due to privatization, it was often teachers who became the most exploited, with private schools not hesitating to exploit them further. To cope, teachers turned to private tuitions. In a country where private schools make teachers sign for high salaries on paper but hand them an amount lower than even that of a peon, education standards can never truly rise. In such an environment, the teacher-student relationship can never remain sweet.
In privatizing education, we copied Western countries, but forgot that in most of those countries education up to the tenth grade is provided free of cost, and it is the responsibility of the state. Furthermore, from big cities to villages, every student there gets admission in the school located in their own neighborhood. In India, education has been placed in the State List, while higher education falls under the Concurrent List. As a result, each state shows a different level of education, causing many students from certain states to lag behind in higher education, leading to a loss of their talent. But India is a union of states where citizens of every state are granted equal rights. Hence, it is essential that the level of education be uniform across states, so that the talents of children from poor families are fairly evaluated.
Socialist thinker Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia was deeply concerned about the level of education in India and the participation of the poor within it. He believed that due to lack of money, students from poor and backward sections fall far behind in life’s race. The result is that the peon’s son becomes a peon, and the officer’s son becomes an officer. At the time of independence, we had envisioned a goal where even a poor peon’s son could become an officer through education. This is possible only if the education of the peon’s son and the officer’s son is the same—because only when equal opportunities exist can a student’s talent be truly measured. Otherwise, how can a farmer’s son ever become a scientist? Therefore, uniformity in education across India is essential. However, this does not mean that students should remain unaware of their regional culture. It was precisely to integrate regional conditions into education that the Constitution of India placed education under the State List.
It is thus very clear that in order to maintain a common level of education in every school across India, the states must take effective steps. Yet every year, September 5th arrives, and we celebrate it as Teachers’ Day, believing we have fulfilled our duty. This date marks the birth anniversary of India’s first Vice-President, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was a great philosopher and also taught at Oxford University. Celebrating his birthday as Teachers’ Day is indeed a way of honoring teachers. But what about the primary school teacher who prepares entire new generations? How much salary do we give such a teacher, whose task is in fact the hardest?
According to Dr. Lohia, there should not be a vast difference in the salaries of a college professor and a primary school teacher. A person who chooses the profession of teaching should be respected in society no less than a village head or a municipal member of a city, and their salary should be fixed accordingly.