HOW IS ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDIA?
Do you recall how it felt to be in primary school? If you had excellent teachers, those experiences are probably tinged with the thrill and wonder of education and playing. Perhaps the thinking about making a career out of giving primary school educators that same happy impression.
As per research conducted by top boarding schools in India, elementary school is an important step in preparing kids for further education and life overall. Most children learn how to read in school, as well as the basic ideas of mathematics and science and they obtain a basic knowledge of the globe and its heritage. Most other teachings would indeed be challenging, though not impossible, without an elementary education. Indeed, research has demonstrated that the ability to read before middle school can boost a student’s lifetime earning potential.
In this article, we will discuss elementary education in India, the problems faced and methods to uplift it.
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION — HISTORY
As per the Census 2011 and the Ministry of Human Resources Development, elementary education in India includes programs for kids from class I to class VIII. It is open to children aged 6 to 13 years. Elementary education follows early learning and comes before secondary schooling. According to census 2011 figures, the total number of students obtaining basic school was 19.73 crores or 16.3% of the country’s population.
In 1950, the Legislature stated in Article 45 of the State’s Directive Principles of Policy that “the State shall intend to provide, in under ten years of the initiation of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education to all kids until they accomplish the age of 14.” Following that, many amendments to the constitution were made to improve primary school education in India. The Government took the most extreme and final step in 2009 when it cleared the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.
Over the past five decades, significant attempts have been made to equivocate education degrees. Since 1950, remarkable improvement has been crafted in all areas of elementary education. There were approximately 210 thousand primary and 14 thousand top preschools in 1950–51. Their statistics have now risen to 627 thousand and 190 thousand, respectively, since 1998–99, representing a yearly growth rate of 2.30 and 5.58 percent.
According to a survey conducted by one of the top schools in Dehradun, the overall number of children obtaining early education seemed to be 19.73 crores or 16.3 percent of the overall population. From 1950–1951 and from 2004–2005, the number of primary schools increased by 6.8% per year. Lower secondary school kids made up 79.4% of all school-aged children. There were 52 lads and 48 girls per 100 students in elementary school. The government’s spending on primary education as a percentage of GNP has remained relatively constant over time, at 1.58% in 2005–6.
CHALLENGES FACED
Though the government of India is leaving no steps behind to deliver basic education to every last kid, there are several problems that the government needs to address to fulfill the goals it targeted.
- Quality of Teachers
The quality of teachers in the backward portion of the country is poor compared to the urban teachers as nobody draws their attention to them. The major reason why our country lacks behind is that majority of the people reside in villages or Tier 2 cities. If the teaching staff in such places are not qualified, the future of our country is compromised and the parents of these students are kept in dark, where they don’t know about the schooling disparity and problems.
India is dealing with substantial educator vacancies, which amount to nearly 60–70 percent in some provinces. Increased teacher responsibility and failure to adhere to basic teacher-student ratios (1:30). There is no appropriate monitoring mechanism in place to evaluate teachers’ performance, and there is no effective feedback system in place.
TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) results indicate that only 3–4 percent of them passed the eligibility test. Approximately 20% of regular teachers and 40% of contact teachers lacked relevant qualifications for primary education.
2. Poor Infrastructure
According to the 2019–20 Unified Divisional Information Management for Schooling Plus report, more than 2 lakh schools do not possess a library, nine lakh schools do not have a workable desktop infrastructure for learners, and over 11 lakh school ,systems do not have an internet connection.
According to recent statistics, India has 15,07,708 schools, of which 10,32,570 are run by the Federation government and provincial governments, 84,362 are government-aided, and 3,37,499 are unassisted private schools.
Only 77.34% of administration schools across the nation have a working power supply. This proportion is marginally greater in government-aided schools and personal unassisted schools, at 84.23% and 89.23%, respectively. Whereas most school systems have functional toilets, 10% of school systems lack hand-washing facilities, resulting in unsanitary conditions for students.
3. Poor Salary to Qualified Teachers
Teachers are salaried poorly, which affects their enthusiasm and commitment to their jobs. They will seek out other pathways, such as tuition or coaching centers, and persuade students to enroll. This has two consequences: first, the quality of instruction in schools suffers, and second, poor learners are compelled to splurge money despite the federal allocation for free education.
According to UNESCO’s recent State of Schooling Study for India 2020, 42% of teachers in India’s personal and public sectors work without an agreement and earn just under Rs 10,000 per month.
Other major issues present in Indian elementary schools are:
- Teacher’s Absenteeism
- Lack of accountability
- Corruption
- Non-academic burden
HOW TO IMPROVE THESE CONDITIONS
- Teacher Education
Improving educational technologies alone will not suffice. Educators who will use such technologies should be trained as well. If at all conceivable, all education systems should arrange a yearly teacher orientation session. This would encourage educators to learn about technological advances to better educate their students.
2. Continuous power supply
Elementary school children should receive the best possible care from the school administration. As a result, there ought to be no shortage of energy in the school, and lamps, fans, and air conditioners should always be operational.
3. Utilization of technology
Almost all schools now use interactive whiteboards, personal computers, and teleconferencing to deliver teaching. During my time in the 12th grade, I noticed that one of the upper secondary schools had a seminar hall. Presently, a primary school must consider such facilities to invite educators from other primary and secondary schools to convey presentations.
4. Take care of your hygiene.
This may appear trivial, but it is the most essential part to enhance in any elementary education. Because students in elementary school are under the age of 13, they are now more probable to visit the restroom more than three times per day. They are so young and inexperienced that they are unable to consider their hygienic practices at this time. As a result, the school entirely must preserve the sanitation of the restrooms and ensure that they are cleaned at least three times per day for the children’s use. Unsanitary toilets can quickly transmit germs, causing students to become ill and miss school.
CONCLUSION
Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. Therefore, everyone must get basic education and schools must become more vigilant about the same. The conditions of the schools must be improved for everyone to enjoy them. Happy reading!