India to Focus on Improving the Quality of Education

The Indian government has announced its plans to improve the quality of education. For the past several years, the government has been committed to decreasing the number of out-of-school children. They especially focused on the lower socioeconomic sectors. While improvements in student enrollment have been noticeable, the quality of education provided in the schools has been decreasing. In response, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has announced at the KE Board that the government is committed to enhancing the quality of education by increasing the budget. Private and foreign institutions are also planning to invest in providing resources for schools.

Since 2001, programs such as the “Sarva Shikksha Abhiyan” (Universalization of Elementary Education) and Midday Meal Scheme have decreased the number of out-of-school children.  In 2002, there were over twenty million out-of-school children in the country. By 2009, the number had decreased to four million. These programs have lead to an increase in enrollments at schools around the country and have reduced the large number of malnourished children.

However, a new issue quickly arose as students in school continue to struggle with their education. Their reading and writing levels, along with other skill sets, were not much higher than if the students were not in school. This especially appears to be the problem in poor neighborhoods. With increasing enrollments in local schools, there are not enough resources available to compensate for the growing number of students. With the new budget and outside aid, India hopes to quickly improve its quality of education with the proper training of teachers and enough resources to accommodate the large number of enrolled students.

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Written by Sera Yoo