Page 43 - EW FEB 2022

GOVERNMENT REFUSAL TO India’s education system is that even
11 GRANT MSME STATUS TO education entrepreneurs are obliged
PRIVATE SCHOOLS DURING
to provide education as a charity. It is
82-WEEKS OF PANDEMIC absurd to expect knowledge providers
LOCKDOWN who invest heavily in dispensing high
few months after outbreak of the quality education — which is inevita-
A novel Coronavirus pandemic, bly expensive — not to expect return
following widespread distress in the on their investment. Liberalisation
economy because of disruption of and deregulation, which empowered
business and industry, the Union gov- Indian industry in 1991, is urgently
ernment included numerous MSMEs needed in the education sector to im-
(micro, small and medium enter- prove learning outcomes of India’s
prises) in industry and commerce high-potential children and youth,”
into a list of enterprises eligible for says Dhirendra Mishra, a former
government credit guarantees and teacher at the top-ranked Good Shep-
concessional loans. However in sharp herd International School, Ooty and
contrast to governments in developed Mishra: faulty policy root currently promoter-director of the
nations — especially the US, UK and Raipur/Bengaluru based Life Educa-
Commonwealth countries — private widespread, unchecked corruption in re Pvt. Ltd, an education consultancy
schools were excluded from this list, India’s public education system has which has aided the promotion of 55
indicating a deep State conspiracy spilt over into private schools. For in- K-12 schools across the country.
to force the permanent closure of stance it’s fairly common for private
thousands of BPS which are the sole schools to pay teachers government IBERALISATION AND
option of lower middle and working prescribed salaries and take back part L deregulation of India’s
class households fleeing dysfunctional of the remuneration in cash. Teachers moribund education sec-
government schools. As a result an desperate to retain their jobs pay up. tor has been consistently
estimated 2,000 BPS forced to shut Moreover in some top-ranked schools, advocated by your editors since Edu-
down operations for over 80 weeks, bribes are demanded and paid for dis- cationWorld was launched 22 years
have reportedly downed shutters per- cretionary admissions. ago with the mission to build public
manently. (See EW cover story date- “The massive corruption which is pressure to develop 21st century In-
lined October 2020 (https://www. slowly but surely destroying India’s dia’s high-potential human resource.
educationworld.in/dear-prime-min- education system is rooted in a policy Despite continuous whistle-blowing,
ister-why-no-pandemic-package-for- fault which decrees that all education because of government and public in-
education/) institutions — schools, colleges and difference, licence-permit-quota rules
universities — must necessarily be not- and regulations which proliferate per-
12 MISCELLANEOUS CORRUPT for-profit charitable enterprises. This vasive corruption have multiplied, se-
PRACTICES faulty policy has corrupted the entire verely debilitating the education sys-
part from the major corrupt prac- system. The world over private educa- tem. The proper role of government
Atices that are destroying and de- tion providers have the option to de- is to focus on upgrading, cleaning up
bilitating Indian education across the liver education charitably or for profit, and improving learning outcomes
board from preschools to university while it is incumbent on government in the country’s 1.20 million public
— not even one among India’s 1,005 to provide good quality free-of-charge schools. Instead their priority seems
universities, some of whom are of over K-12 education. The fatal infirmity of to be command and control of India’s
150 years vintage, is ranked in the Top 450,000 private schools whose ad-
200 World University Rankings of ministration is best left to parents and
the globally-respected London-based The proper role of institutional managements with light,
varsity rating agencies QS and Times government is to focus on transparent government regulation.
Higher Education — there are numer- With the National Education Policy
ous others. Among them: state level upgrading the country’s 2020 having proposed the establish-
politicians and babus who have made 1.20 million public schools. ment of dozens of committees manned
the transfer of government school by academics and government offi-
teachers, timely release of their legit Instead its priority seems to cials of unimpeachable integrity — a
salaries, and supressing complaints be control of India’s 450,000 rare species — the auguries are not
youth population.
against non-performing teachers, private schools good for the world’s largest child and
into big businesses. Unsurprisingly,

FEBRUARY 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 43