It Is A Higher Class Act

Context: An overview of school education policies in India.

Increased Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER): The GER for primary- and upper primary-level education —within a distance of 1-3 km — has now reached more than 97% habitations.

• With this, the GER at the primary level has reached 100%, while at the upper primary level, it has improved from 75.8% in 2009-10 to 87.7% in 2018-19.
• The 2017-18 gross enrolment ratio (GER) data of secondary and senior secondary schools were 76.46 and 48.13% respectively. This increased to 76.90% and 50.14% in 2018-19.
• GER in higher education increased from 25.8% in 2017-18 to 26.3% in 2018-19.

Importance of prioritising education

• Achieving full human potential: Swami Vivekananda stated - ‘Educate and raise the masses and thus alone a nation is possible’ highlights the necessity of education to achieve full human potential and develop a just and equitable society.
• Utilising the demographics: With India having the potential edge of a young demographic, it becomes paramount to provide high-quality educational opportunities to students,
• Economic importance: According to UNESCO, every additional year of education can raise an individual’s income by 10% in developing and low-income countries.
  • According to OECD, more than half of GDP growth is directly related to labour income growth among secondary and higher educated individuals.
  • Employers pay almost twice as much for a 45-54-year-old worker with senior secondary and higher education than for someone without.
• India has about 15 lakh schools, 25 crore students and 89 lakh teachers.

An overview of policy initiatives in the school education sector

• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: Launched in 2001, it became a tool for the implementation of Right to Education Act.
• The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: Encourages holistic development and aims to achieve 100% GER in pre-primary school to secondary level by 2030.
  • For the holistic development of secondary-level students, flexibility and choice of subjects to study have been increased. This will enable students to choose from subjects ranging from physical education, vocational skills to art and culture.
  • The four years of secondary education will enable students to gain greater depth and critical thinking and allow them to design their life plans.
• Samagra Shiksha (SS): Launched in 2018-19, focuses on universal access to education by setting up and upgrading schools up to senior secondary level in uncovered areas. It is also aimed at following -
  • Proposed to include transport facilities from elementary to secondary classes up to an average cost of Rs 6,000 per child a year for areas where schools are not available within SS.
  • Identification of out-of-school children in 16-19 age group, with support of up to Rs 2,000 per child per grade to complete their secondary and senior secondary levels through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and State Open School (SOS).
  • Support for socially and economically disadvantaged groups (SEDG) children for accessing course materials and certification.
• National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA): At secondary level to provide capacity-building training opportunities to teachers for improving quality of education.
• Provision of a separate stipend for girls with special needs (CWSN) at Rs 200 a month for10 months for pre-primary to senior secondary level education is also available.
• Providing 100% ICT coverage at secondary and senior secondary levels and up-gradation of all Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) up to Class 12.
• Providing vocational education in 15,000 schools and integrate skill-based education with general academic education.