Page 52 - EW March 2021

Cover Story

ernment which is unencumbered by encourage domestic and reputable
the socialist baggage of the Congress offshore private education providers
Party, is as indifferent, if not hostile, into India by establishing transparent,
to liberalisation and deregulation of but light school and higher education
Indian education. A possible reason regulation guidelines,” says Rak e s h
could be the influence of the RSS G up t a, managing partner of LoEstro
(Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), the Advisers LLP, a Hyderabad-based ed-
shadowy, ideological mentor organ- ucation consultancy (estb.2018).
isation of the BJP. Enamoured with Gupta’s assertion that respectable
the glories of pre-Mughal era Hindu domestic and foreign investors are
history of the subcontinent and unable ready, willing and able to invest in de-
to separate mythology from history, veloping India’s abundant and high-
the RSS leadership is as determined potential human capital is backed by
as the Congress to maintain strict gov- the LoEstro Advisers’ impressive track
ernment control of the education sys- record.
tem, and in particular rewrite history Within three years of promotion,
and social science textbooks from the this partnership firm has notched up
hindutva perspective. Gupta: private investment solution mergers and acquisition deals valued
H OWEVER, THE cataclys- institutions must necessarily be not- blue-chip clientele includes Cognita
at Rs.2,500 crore. The company’s
for-profit and the over-regulation of
and Nord Anglia (UK), Cerestra (In-
mic impact of the once-
in-a-century Covid-19 in-
dale (Hyderabad) among others. “The
fluenza pandemic which education are major disincentives. dia), EuroKids, Silver Oaks and Oak-
Quite clearly, the country’s K-12 pub-
has forced the closure of all academic lic education system has failed to urgent need to develop India’s human
institutions countrywide for over ten meet the needs of children and ado- capital cannot be ignored any longer,”
months, and threatens extensive loss lescents. Therefore, the national inter- warns Gupta, an alum of the blue-chip
of learning and associated socio-eco- est demands education reforms which IIT-Kharagpur, Indian School of Busi-
nomic disasters (drop-outs, millions facilitate and enable private edupre- ness, Hyderabad who acquired valu-
of children prematurely joining the neurs and organisations to promote able experience in McKinsey India and
labour force, child marriages, child schools and higher education institu- People Combine education prior to co-
trafficking and prostitution etc) has tions. This is not to say that govern- promoting LoEstro Advisors in 2018.
transformed these ideological aspira- ment doesn’t have a regulatory role. While presenting the difficult pan-
tions and debates into irrelevant luxu- For instance, the kingdom of Dubai is demic Union Budget 2021-22, finance
ries. With the Central and state gov- dominated by for-profit private educa- minister Sitharaman has rightly given
ernments unable or unwilling to make tion institutions. But they are strictly top priority to capital expenditure to
meaningful investment in education, monitored, inspected and ranked ac- enhance the country’s physical infra-
the national interest requires liber- cording to several parameters by the structure. But education, critical for
alisation and deregulation of the di- Knowledge & Human Development nurturing the nation’s abundant, high-
rigiste education system and clearing Authority, a government agency, and potential human capital is equally im-
the decks for private — even foreign annual fee hikes are calculated on the portant. With the Centre’s constrained
investment — in Indian education. basis of inspection, a parents satisfac- financial condition not permitting
“With the world’s largest child and tion survey, academic performance meaningful provision for education,
youth population, India has the poten- of students linked with an Education Sitharaman should have announced
tial to provide young highly qualified Inflation Index. Similarly we need to the long overdue liberalisation and
managers and workers to countries deregulation of the cabined, cribbed
around the world, many of whom have and confined education system, par-
ageing populations. Therefore, several Although unencumbered ticularly since the public has made
pension funds and social impact in- plain its preference for private schools
vestors searching for reasonable 7-8 by socialist baggage, the and higher ed institutions.
percent return on capital — returns BJP government is as indif- The national interest demands that
on savings are relatively very low the BJP/NDA government initiates
in developed countries — are eager ferent as Congress to liber- an immediate mid-term correction so
to invest in India’s K-12 and higher alisation and deregulation that the modest hopes and aspirations
of the world’s largest child and youth
education sectors. However, the law of Indian education population are fulfilled.
which mandates that all education

52 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2021