Page 16 - EW April 2025

Education News

secondary classes is declining. monsoon session of the assembly, a tra of grants totaling Rs.3,287 crore
Principals and teachers of private crackdown on the country’s booming for education programmes including
schools in particular which pride but unregulated test prep industry is Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (primary-
themselves for dispensing balanced imminent. secondary schooling), PM POSHAN
education to children are dismayed Autar Nehru (Delhi) (mid-day meals), and ULLAS (adult
by the rise of “coaching school cul- literacy), only Rs.1,343 crore was dis-
ture” that deprives children of holis- MAHARASHTRA bursed until March 31, the last day
tic education. “Over the past decade, of the financial year 2024-25. Data
formal schools are experiencing a Sustained funds tabled in Parliament on March 17 in
flight of children to coaching insti- response to queries from Maharash-
tutes. First from higher secondary crunch tra’s BJP MP Anup Dhotre, reveals
classes, then from classes IX and X, similar short-changing dating back to
and now even from classes VI-VIII. espite the country’s establish- 2021-22.
Dummy school students, who pay ment — politicians, bureau- Not that budgetary provisions
only about 2 percent of prescribed Dcrats, academics — paying made by the successive Maharash-
school fees, are becoming the norm. loud lip service to India’s demographic tra state governments are better. In
This has also marginalised subjects dividend i.e, the world’s largest child 2023-24, the state allocated Rs.1.11
like languages and humanities in and youth population whose number lakh crore for education, a 11 per-
favour of STEM,” says Dilip Modi, is estimated at 500 million, there’s cent increase over Rs.1 lakh crore in
executive member of the Society for no evidence of their taking the extra 2022-23. Yet, the share of education
Unaided Private Schools of Rajas- step to encash this dividend. Annual in the total budget has been continu-
than and the Independent Schools national expenditure (Centre plus ously declining, from 17.6 percent in
Federation of India, and long-time states) remains mired in the 3.5-4 2019-20 to 13.9 percent in 2025-26.
advocate of “saving India’s schools percent of GDP rut, nowhere near the As a percentage of state GDP, it has
from the coaching industry”. 6 percent of GDP recommended by declined from 3.2 to 2.8 percent. Un-
ccording to Pune-based con- the high-powered Kothari Commis- der the Constitution, states are obliged
Asulting firm Infinium Global sion (1967) and the 10 percent of total to do the big spending for education,
Research, India’s coaching indus- government expenditure mandated by but none of them are, especially not
try currently generates an annual the National Education Policy (NEP) the BJP/Shiv Sena (Shinde) govern-
revenue of Rs.58,088 crore which ment of Maharashtra, sworn
is projected to grow to Rs.1.34 lakh in on December 5, 2024 after
crore by 2028. This booming indus- this coalition swept last No-
try reflects deeper structural issues vember’s legislative assem-
in India’s formal education system bly election.
where students are increasingly The fallout of reduced
obliged to sign with drill-and-skill allocations for education is
cramming institutes because of poor manifesting in continuously
quality school education and limited under-provided government
higher education capacity. This stark schools. In Wardha, schools
reality is evident in the numbers have run out of rice and puls-
— 2.3 million school-leavers wrote es, forcing teachers to crowd-
NEET and 1.3 million wrote IIT- Short-changed Maharashtra government primary fund the free mid-day meal
JEE in 2024 of whom 1.12 lakh and for children. “We’re begging
17,385 were admitted. 2020. In the Union Budget 2025-26 parents for Rs.50 here, Rs.100 there,
With CBSE, India’s largest nation- presented to Parliament and the na- just to feed the children,” says Sunita
al school-leaving examinations board tion on February 1, finance minister Pawar, a teacher at a Zilla Parishad
with 30,700 top-ranked government Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs.1.28 school in Hinganghat. “The mid-day
and private schools countrywide lakh crore (from a total budget of meal is why many children come to
affiliated with it, reportedly set to Rs.50 lakh crore) for education, equiv- school. Without it, attendance drops.”
disaffiliate dummy schools and the alent to 0.23 percent of GDP. According to state government
Standing Committee of the state leg- Worse, even the sums provisioned sources, cumulative Central govern-
islative assembly likely to pronounce in the Union budget for allocation to ment dues to improve infrastructure
its opinion on the Rajasthan Coach- the states are not disbursed on time, and teacher training under SSA have
ing Centres (Control and Regula- and often not at all. For instance, accumulated to Rs.1,526 crore. Under
tion) Bill, 2025 in the forthcoming despite an allocation to Maharash- the ULLAS adult literacy programme,

16 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2025