• According to the World Development Report 2018 “Learning to Realise Education’s Promise”, India ranks second from the bottom after Malawi in a list of 12 countries where some Grade 2 students were found to be unable to read a single word from a short text.
• India also tops the report’s list of seven countries in which some Grade 2 students could not calculate simple two-digit subtractions shows the apathy of the quality in Indian education.

SSA-2 project and its proposals:-

1. Recently cabinet has approved a slew of reforms for school education in the country, which could be considered as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan-2 project.
2. As per this, the Sarva shikhsha abhiyan, the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and teacher training would be integrated into a single scheme from Classes I to XII.
3. The integrated scheme will be in place from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2020, with an estimated allocation of ?75,000-crore over the period, a 20% increase over the current allocation.
4. It aims to support the States in universalising access to school education from pre-nursery to Class 12 across the country.
5. The government would focus on educationally backward districts, disabled students and women.
6. There would be a shift to digital blackboards from Class 9 to college education in the next five years.
7. The government was also looking at basing education on learning outcomes and will provide a 20% incentive to the States for a learning-outcome based education.
8. Skill courses which are now functional from Class 9 to Class 12 would begin from Class 6 in future. This was aimed at enhancing the employability of students.

Demerits:-

• Every level of education be it primary, secondary etc have their unique issues and intricacies to be dealt with. Combining the multiple schemes can dilute these.
• The basic lack of infrastructure in schools is not effectively considered.
• Budgetary allocation for education is still abysmal but the targets of this project are huge .So can lead to expenditure overlays.

Various impediments in improving quality of education:-

Government:-

• The inexorable shift to private school education along with the Right to Education Act represents a failure of the public-school system. Government are the last choice of parents to send their children to.
• A large number of government schools do not have full-time headmasters/principals. The lack of effective leadership has contributed to indiscipline among teachers leading to declining academic standards
• Total educational outlays have consistently fallen short of that mark.

Teachers:-

• Teacher shortages, absenteeism, corruption in recruitment and transfers
• Lack a culture of accountability for performance for teachers as teacher absenteeism continues to plague the system,

Students:-

• There has been sharp deterioration in abilities in reading, writing and other comprehensive skills.
• Inefficient teaching methods, such as rote learning, which focuses on memorisation as opposed to critical reasoning, are still widespread at the primary and secondary school level.

Parents:-

• Focus mostly on examinations and results rather than learning.

Way forward:-

1. Public-school system must be swiftly and radically revamped.
2. Teacher training institutions, of which the District Institutes of Education and Training constitute needs to be reformed .
3. Centre has also approved an increase in the outlay for making educational loans interest-free for students with modest financial means for studying in universities and colleges charging high fees. The interest subsidy will last till one year of their passing out of college. This needs to be implemented.
4. Ten-lakh students will get educational loans up to Rs. 7.5-lakh in the next three years. Students with an income below Rs. 4.5-lakh (per annum) will be eligible for it

Conclusion:-

India continues to have the largest number of young people anywhere. By ensuring they get a world-class education over the next few decades, India will be well on its way towards becoming a developed nation sooner than expected.