For a country in which higher education is so valued, India’s record in primary education is dismal, says Prof. Kaushik Basu in the BBC News. With a literacy rate (percentage of adults who can read and write) of 65%, India compares poorly to not just industrialised nations but also several much-poorer economies, such as Vietnam (90% literacy), Zambia (80%), Tanzania (77%), and Cambodia (70%).
And the culprit is truancy – no, not absentee children but teachers.
…. a majority of parents who kept their children away from school, did so only because there were no schools of minimal quality in their vicinity. Takes me back to my favourite statistic :
the proportion of ‘never enrolled’ children has been declining steadily : from 50% in 1986 (6-14 years in the most backward states) to 20% in 1996. More and more parents who cannot strictly afford this (economically and otherwise) are willing to give education a chance.
I know the common agument is to cite the conditions under which teachers work, and their low salary and therefore motivation levels. However, this report also says : Salaries do not make any significant difference to truancy. Better infrastructure improves teacher attendance a little. The problem is much deeper – merely improving salary levels will not make a difference.
Is it that fundamentally, teachers themselves do not believe in the importance or power of education? Teaching therefore remains just another job – clerical and mechanical in nature. Scary thought that.
What can be done to combat this apathy / inertia – to motivate teachers – who in turn can persuade parents to send and keep their children in school?
what u have to say is absolutely true, One thing is sure actualy more than infrastructure we should prmote more dare devilery in living life in kids from metropols who have time to adn money spent on studying . One should stop forcing student to follow the Indian dream of being doctor or engg . there should be more moral issues to be raised in family level . If we look at west the no: of ppl who pick up such things is amazing. we need get ppl concious and shut ppl like me up who comment on a good blog and do nothing and go about doing work again the next day in whatever rat race i pursue.Basicaly what i mean to say Charukesi is ppl like us should stop writing about it . till we have done it .if u have done it i.e ‘have gone out and taught kids in school ‘ in rural areas then i am sorry i wrote this comment . then ur the person i would look upto . if not what i have said above before the preveious statement is all true too.