Page 38 - EW FEB 2022

Cover Story

2 PERNICIOUS LICENCE-PERMIT-
QUOTA REGIMEN IN EDUCATION
nother educationist with deep
Aknowledge of the school educa-
tion system in India and abroad is
Geeta Kingdon, professor of edu-
cation, University College London
and president of the City Montes-
sori School, Lucknow. CMS, which
has 57,000 students in 14 campuses
across Lucknow and is certified as the
world’s largest single city school by
Guinness World Records.
Prof. Kingdon believes that licence-
permit-quota raj which stunted In-
dian industry for over 40 years until
liberalisation and deregulation of the Kingdon: huge wastage
Seetharamu: complete autonomy solution economy in 1991 is very much alive in
the education sector. Her education an elementary (classes I-VIII) govern-
sive governments at the Centre and research studies and experience of ment school teacher is Rs.80,000 per
in the states have been maintaining managing CMS, repeatedly ranked the month against Rs.2,000 per month in
an inherited education — especially #1 co-ed day school in Uttar Pradesh private schools in rural areas — no ac-
school education — system bereft of (pop.215 million) by EW, indicate that countability is demanded from them.
vision or mission. They have been licence-permit-quota raj has intensi- Indeed it’s well-established that 25
routinely financing government edu- fied in India. Even as governments — percent of government school teach-
cation institutions without setting new especially state governments — con- ers countrywide are absent everyday.
norms and standards, merely main- tinue to be indifferent to improving As a result of poor learning outcomes,
taining the status quo in learning and governance and learning outcomes chronic teacher absenteeism and ill-
skills — including digital skills — edu- in the country’s 1.2 million public maintained infrastructure, govern-
cation, wasting the time of millions of schools, they are making it incremen- ment schools across the country have
children and youth aspiring for better tally difficult for education entrepre- emptied out. In 2009, when the RTE
lives and upward mobility. Secondly, neurs and philanthropists to promote Act was passed, the average number of
the Central and state governments private schools by continuously revis- students in government elementaries
have persistently shunned interna- ing eligibility and operational norms. (classes I-VIII) was a mere 61. Since
tional assessment of education quality “It’s well documented by the an- then, this average has fallen to 34.
such as TIMMS, IMAS and PISA tests nual ASER surveys of the Pratham Despite this, the RTE Act mandates a
that measure students’ learning out- Education Foundation and several minimum of two teachers per school.
comes worldwide. Nor has it reacted other surveys that learning outcomes There is a huge waste of human and
to the ASER reports of the Pratham in government — especially state gov- financial capital in the government
Education Foundation which for ernment — schools are much worse school system,” says Kingdon.
years has been highlighting continu- than in the country’s private schools.
ously declining learning outcomes in Consequently over the past several de- 3 CONTINUOUS HARASSMENT OF
primary education countrywide. Gov- cades, there is continuous migration BUDGET PRIVATE SCHOOLS
ernment has been rigorously control- of children from government into pri- he response of the educracy to the
ling the education system without vate schools which teach 48 percent of Tcontinuous flight of students from
adequate diagnosis and care. This is India’s 260 million school-going chil- dysfunctional government schools
recklessly negligent corruption which dren. But instead of focusing on im- with crumbling infrastructure, chronic
is compounded by unchecked rent- proving and upgrading public schools, teacher truancy and pathetic learning
seeking at operational levels,” says Dr. the attention of education ministries outcomes which are also reluctant to
Seetharamu in a scathing indictment across the country is focused on moni- teach Inglish— the language of busi-
of contemporary India’s education toring and supervising private schools. ness, courts and upward mobility — is
system. His solution to stemming the Despite government school teachers to make life as difficult as possible for
rot? “Make school and higher educa- being paid astronomically high Sev- private, especially affordable budget
tion completely autonomous of gov- enth pay Commission-prescribed sala- private schools (BPS). Often levying
ernment control.” ries — in Punjab, the average salary of monthly tuition fees as low as Rs.500,

38 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2022