Page 52 - February EW 2024 PDF

Cover Story

WHAT'S WITH K-12

EDUCATION & HOW TO IT

To harness India’s demographic dividend — 500 million
children and youth below age 34 — it is critical that we
identify weaknesses in our K-12 system and fix them pronto.
An overview of the deep-rooted problems of Indian school
education with some remedial solutions

SRIDHAR RAJAGOPALAN

I N THE EMERGING HYPER-COMPETITIVE representative batches of 15-year-olds from over 80 coun-

tries.
global marketplace where the quality of hu-
man resources is likely to prove a critically
With the Indian economy clocking 6 percent-plus annual
GDP growth rates and forecast as the fastest growing major
important factor, India’s foundational K-12
economy worldwide for the next decade, there will be a des-
education system is not in good shape. Year
after year, the Annual Status of Education
Report (ASER), published by the indepen-
which have to emerge from its education system. When
dent Pratham Education Foundation, has perate need for well-educated and skilled human resources
Apple weighs moving 25 percent of its iPhone production
been reporting that over half of class V children in primary to India, a critical factor in its decision will be the quality
schools of rural India — which grudgingly hosts 60 per- of the workforce it can recruit. Simultaneously, there is the
cent of the national population — can’t read class II texts risk of AI impacting tech outsourcing that contributes an
or manage simple math sums. estimated 7.5 percent of India’s GDP.
And in the latest ASER 2023 report released on January The common perception is that India’s private schools
17, which field tested 34,375 teens in the 14-18 age group, which host 48 percent of in-school children are excellent.
the survey reveals that 25 percent cannot read a class II But studies have shown that while they provide a certain
level textbook fluently in their regional language. “More measure of drill and practice, they are not sufficiently de-
than half struggle with division (3-digit by 1-digit) prob- veloping modern 21st century thinking skills of relatively
lems. Only 43.3 percent of 14-18-year-olds are able to do privileged children. To harness India’s demographic divi-
such problems correctly,” says ASER 2023. Unsurprisingly, dend — 500 million children and youth below age 34 — it is
as reported in the EW cover story last month (January), at critical that we identify weaknesses in our K-12 system and
the last minute India opted out of PISA (Programme for fix them pronto. An overview of the deep-rooted problems
International Student Assessment), an international exam of Indian school education is detailed below with some re-
which tests the reading, science and maths capabilities of medial solutions.

52 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2024