05/02/2020 - Education

KEY POINTS

India’s education sector must focus on both scale and substance, addressing the learning problem at a system-wide level, while also recalibrating the education system itself.

Strengthening administration

·        In terms of administration, programmes across States appear to share some common elements: management information systems to improve review and monitoring; communications across all levels of government, leveraging technology such as video conferences.

·        In Rajasthan, where the International Innovation Corps worked with the Department of Education alongside other players, the State focussed on developing approximately 10,000 “model” secondary schools — one in every gram panchayat — with quality infrastructure and prioritised staffing under the Adarsh programme.

·        Building on such successes, the NITI Aayog and three States — Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand — are in the process of scaling such efforts through the SATH-E programme.

Revaluation of outcomes

·        There has recently been an increasing sense of competition, with governments claiming how their schools are out-performing private schools.

·        While this may induce a positive pressure to perform, the reality is that apart from an elite few, the bulk of private schools are under-resourced and have little regulation of quality, safety, or outcomes.

·        A new policy must capitalise on this energised administrative apparatus to redefine the broader objectives of the education system.

·        This will require a fundamental reengineering of assessments mechanisms, a mass behavioural change to facilitate a shift in focus from high-stakes examinations, and new partnerships between stakeholders — parents, students, teachers, frontline administrators, and NGOs.

·        An “outcomes-focus” is undoubtedly critical, but should be underpinned by an overarching human capital strategy.

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