Page 44 - EW-June-2024

Cover Story

education because it improves ac- culture through firm
cess, boosts learning outcomes and ties with family and
reduces costs. Moreover, changes in local community. This
pedagogy — introduction of experi- means that children
ential, project-oriented learning, vo- should develop strong
cational and life skills and SEL (social cultural roots before
and emotional learning) education they start flying. There-
— have become necessary. The report fore, internationalisa-
also flags the importance of greater tion synonymous with
investment in capacity building for the import of Western
teacher training and development and cultural norms and val-
highlights greater capital inflows into ue premises into school
K-12 education that will facilitate the education — higher
introduction of technology and best education could be
international practices,” adds Gupta. Dhankar: cultural pollution apprehension an exception because
L OESTRO'S REPORT ON their children in private schools, in ur- not in the national interest. The same
older children tend to
be more mature — is
positive developments in
private sector K-12 educa-
ment into K-12 education. The na-
tion, especially the increas- ban India, cooks, drivers, housemaids argument applies to foreign invest-
and even migrant labour make huge
ing number of schools affiliating with financial sacrifices to enroll their chil- tional interest would be better served
the offshore Cambridge and IB boards dren in private schools. if a determined effort is made to up-
and inflow of foreign capital into K-12 The steadily increasing number of grade our own indigenous education
education (see pg. 45 and 46 tables), primary-secondary schools affiliating systems, with special focus on rigor-
is likely to be the proverbial red rag to with foreign examination boards and ous training and professional devel-
leftists and fellow-travelling liberal ac- rising foreign investment flow into opment of teachers. NEP 2020 pays
ademics who are adamantly opposed K-12 education doesn’t sit well with considerable lip service to developing
to internationalisation of Indian edu- Dr. Rohit Dhankar, former profes- Indian knowledge systems, but this
cation. sor of education at Azim Premji Uni- aspiration is contradicted by inviting
This tribe seems wholly unaware versity, Bengaluru (estb.2010), ranked foreign examination boards and for-
of a steady exodus from government India’s #1 private university for social eign investment into K-12 education,”
schools and low-income households sciences in the latest EW India Higher says Dhankar, founder-secretary of
desperate to enroll their children in Education Rankings 2024-25. Digantar, a Jaipur-based education
private schools, often resort to selling “The philosophical outlook of Sri NGO.
property and incurring debilitating Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore On the other hand, Dr. A.S.
household debt. Although bottom- taught us that a strong sense of iden- Seetharamu, former professor of
of-pyramid households in rural India tity and self-respect is best developed education at ISEC (Institute for Social
often don’t have the choice to enroll within one’s regional and/or national and Economic Change), Bengaluru,

Slow progress in tech adoption
(%)
Total no. of schools: 1.5 million
26

% of total schools 13 9 7 17 15 18

2
Functional Functional Functional PCs with functional Functional Functional smart Functional mobile Digital
desktops/PCs laptop/notebook tablets Integrated Teaching projector classrooms with phones for teaching library
Learning Devices digital boards purposes

Source: State of India K-12: Resilience Amidst Uncertainties

44 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2024