Swaminomics: The condition of schools in India is not good, it is time to learn lessons and improve it.

The condition of school education in India is very bad. Research studies have shown that student absenteeism rates are very high and that less than half of the teachers were actually teaching. The Annual Status of Education Report shows that Class 5 students cannot read a Class 2 textbook or solve simple mathematical sums. The central and state governments have invested more money in education over the past two decades, but despite higher expenditure, higher teacher-student ratios, curriculum changes and efforts by NGOs, ASER results have not improved significantly over the past decade. .In 2009, India participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) school rankings. This assessment shows how 15-year-old schoolchildren perform in science, mathematics and reading. India ranked 72nd out of 74 countries, which is a reflection of its education system. India stopped participating in PISA after this. Although in 2021, India decided to participate again in the PISA competitions, but in the meantime the Corona wave came and nothing further happened.

…but there is a good thing too
Given this situation, it is a pleasant surprise that two underrated Indian schools have been voted ‘Best School in the World’ by the esteemed international institute, T4 Education. T4 Education gives awards for five categories in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity and Supporting Healthy Lives. For 2024, Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi won the Best School Award for Environmental Action. CM Rise Vinoba Bhave School in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh won the award for innovation. Additionally, Kalvi International Public School, Madurai was adjudged the best school to work for.

What does T4 education have to say?
T4 Education says it aims to create the largest community of teachers and schools in the world, innovating and sharing proven best practices. It claims to have a membership of over 200,000 teachers in 165 countries. It supports change and innovation, fosters collaboration and diversity for educational excellence. Thousands of politicians, bureaucrats and school principals make similar promises, but in India such lofty goals usually fail.

change is visible
What are the credentials of T4 Education and how seriously should we take its awards? It was founded by educationist Vikas Pota following the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on education across the world. he/she is one of the Young Global Leaders selected by the World Economic Forum. he/she serves on several education boards in countries ranging from Jordan to India and the UK. Dell Foundation recently announced the T4 Education Awards. It also partnered with the MP government in CM Rise Schools, a project to build 10,000 high-quality government schools by 2030 with the help of private partners. According to the program manager of the foundation, CM Rise schools have performed about 10% better than other state schools in language and mathematics assessments. They achieved 11% higher pass percentage and 12% more first divisions in Class 10 and 12 state board exams and increased the percentage of first division students in Class 10 from 32% in 2022 to 50% in 2024.

a cheer is in order
Many educational initiatives in the past have claimed initial positive results, but have failed in the medium term. Building even a single quality school is so difficult that the target of 10,000 quality schools seems like a stretch. Recently a news report said that CM Rise Schools in Bhopal have performed worse than some other government schools. Need to wait and see before getting excited.

There is clearly selection bias in the awards, with Indian schools getting disproportionate coverage. The share of the world’s schools was very less, just a fraction. participated. The special thing was that none of them were world famous. Therefore, the award is a way of incentivizing participating schools rather than establishing global dominance. Still, when there is so much unwanted news about the quality of our schools, winning a few international awards is worth a cheer, even if not three.

We’re not on the verge of an educational revolution, but there are some bright spots emerging here and there. Some of the prestigious private schools in India have a long established reputation for quality. This helps produce a thin layer of world-class students despite the public remaining poorly educated. Kendriya Vidyalayas provide good education, because parents are influential civil servants who ensure accountability of teachers to parents. This is not the case with most state government schools. These are of such poor quality that many poor families pull their children out of free government schools and put them into expensive private schools, even though these often have dubious credentials.

Therefore, it is a matter of joy that one of the T4 Education Awards went to a government school from Madhya Pradesh. No country has ever achieved prosperity without good government schools providing good education to the masses. Hopefully, we have made a start.