The Indian Education System At Crossroads

T

he inevitable role that education has to play in a society where communalism and religious hatred rule the roost is unquestionable. Mahatma Gandhi said “Through education I mean the overall development of a child”. But the stark reality is that our education system has failed to meet the expectations of our great visionaries. The present education system is not only biased but has also marginalized the youth in many ways.

The youth population comprises about 50% of the total Indian population. But the problems faced by the youth have never been prioritized in the Indian political arena. One of the core reasons responsible for this communication gap might be the vast age difference between our voters and representatives. The average age of the Indian population is 29 years whereas the average age of our cabinet members is 63.

Though India is said to be a fast developing economy the employment sector has never felt the green. The unemployment rate in India is 3.5%.The income earned by the employed community is also not hopeful. A study conducted by Aspiring Minds in 2018 claims that about 95% pass out engineers are unemployable. Doesn’t this serious allegation expose the inefficiency of our current education system?

The primary aim of an education system is to establish proper link between the individual and the society. Needless to say, our system has failed miserably in that aspect. The swelling number of suicides validates this argument. Statistics says that between 2008 and 2011, 26 students have committed suicides in IITs, NITs and IIMs alone. The National Crime Records Bureau in 2015 stated that one student commits suicide every one hour in India. It is necessary to say that the transformation from Gurukula type of education system in ancient India to the entrance oriented education system in the modern India has not only affected the social behavior but also the psychological behavior of students.

Making the situation more worse is the fact that India has just got 12 Nobel prizes despite being the second most populous country in the world. Sweden on the other hand has produced 32 Nobel laureates with their 10 million population. Therefore it is high time that we should make immediate changes to the present education system.

Some features of the Scandinavian education system that helps them table the top positions in the World Happiness Index released by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network are 

• Schooling starts only at the age of 7. Till seven the children are free to pursue their hobbies and interests.
• There is nothing called homework.
• There is no grading or ranking system for students in schools. Hence there is no pressure upon the students.

So the need of the hour is to bring in educational reforms which can be a soothing balm for all major crisis prevalent in India.

Drop in your suggestions regarding the necessary educational reforms in the comment box below.