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schema/roadmap routinely presented India school system stats
to the Union government and the pub-
lic. It shows the way for the Central Total schools 1,471,891
government to mobilise additional
Rs.7-8 lakh crore per year for invest- Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) 1,251
ment in education and health (see Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs)
www.educationworld.in, EW August 650
2024). Other Central government 255
B UT YOUR correspondent State government 1,017,660
1,015,504
who has consistently been
Total government schools
pressing for substantially
larger government out- Government aided schools 80,313
lays for education has frequently
been slapped down by establishment Private unaided recognized 331,108
economists. “Inputs don’t guarantee
outcomes” (V. Anantha Nageswaran, Recognized madrasas 20,512
incumbent chief economic advisor to
GOI). “Since the economy is growing Total other schools 42,810
at 7 percent per year, education ex-
penditure even at 3.5 percent of GDP Secondary and higher secondary schools 18,610
is increasing automatically” (Krish- offering vocational education under NSQF
namurthy Subramanian, former CEA)
and “Expenditure efficiency rather Residential schools with boarding facility 43,389
than larger outlays is required in In- Source: UDISE+ 2023-24
dian education” (Swaminathan Aiyar,
Economic Times editor emeritus).
Nevertheless citing the unique
self-learning capabilities of India’s
children and youth testified by Prof.
Sugata Mitra’s ‘computer in the wall’
experiment in Kolkata (1999), and the
rise and rise of several Indian cricket
stars and sportspersons who have
developed world-beating skills with
minimal enablement, this writer has
obstinately maintained that provided
enabling school infrastructure and
minimal institutional governance nor-
mative in Western and newly devel-
oped nations of Asia, India’s children
will peer learn and self-educate not-
withstanding poor quality teachers.
Therefore, investment in institu-
tional infrastructure — conducive,
well-planned schools equipped with
digital classrooms, well-stocked li- Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bengaluru: replicable government schools model
braries, modern laboratories, tinker-
ing labs and clean, functional lavato- UDISE+ 2023-24 is that perhaps un- somnolent middle class to ideate ways
ries that attracts and excites children wittingly, they have highlighted the and means to bankroll this ballooning
— is certain to enable millions of youth infrastructure deficit of India’s sliding problem. Further neglect will destroy
with the knowledge, skills and exper- school system. One hopes this report the Viksit Bharat and $30 trillion GDP
tise to Make India Great Again. read with other constructive reports dreams set for year 2047 when India
The great contribution to na- (ASER, NAS) will awaken and stimu- will celebrate its centenary of freedom
tional development of the authors of late the complacent establishment and from almost 200 years of foreign rule.

FEBRUARY 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 45