Majority of India still lives in villages so the topic of rural Education in India is of utmost importance. A survey named called the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), shows that even though the number of rural students attending schools is rising but more than half of the students in fifth grade are unable to read a second grade text book and are not able to solve simple mathematical problems. Not only this, the level of maths and reading is further declining. The reason cited for this problem in surveys is the increasing number of single classroom to Educate students from more than one grade.
There are some reasons why schools have failed to educate rural India:
Quality and access to Education is the major concern in rural school are there are fewer committed teachers, lack of proper text books and learning materials in the school. Though Government school exist, but when compared to private school then quality is a major issue. Majority of people living in villages have understood the importance of Education and know that it is the only way to get rid of poverty. But due to lack of money they are not able to send their children to private schools and hence depend upon government schools for Education.
In many of the Government schools there is only one teacher for the entire school and if they don’t show up at work, then it is a holiday. If the quality along with number of teachers and, that too committed teacher can be improved in these schools, then aspiring rural children and India can fulfil their dreams of doing something great.
Some government schools in rural India are overly packed with students, leading to a distorted teacher- student ratio. In one such remote in Arunachal Pradesh there are more than 300 students in class X which makes nearly 100 students in each classroom. In such a situation it is impossible for teachers to pay full attention towards each and every student, even if they are willing to help.
Every village is not provided with school which means that students have to go another village to get Education. Owing to this parents usually do not send their daughters to school, leading to a failure in achieving rural Education in India.
Poverty is another setback . Government Schools are not as good and Private school are expensive. This results in a very low number of students actually clearing their secondary Education and taking admission in a collage for further studies. So the dropout rate at the secondary level is extremely high in villages. Only parents who can afford collage Education send their kids secondary school. If parents not able to send their wards for higher Education then all their previous affords get wasted as completing just secondary Education means a low paying job and the person is again struck in the same never ending cycle of money, life and poverty.
Most books are in English an since people in rural area either speak their native language or Hindi, but not English that defeats the purpose. This results in lack of their interest in studies. Though some of the students from the villages are really brilliant, as they have a wealth of practical knowledge and know how to survive even in very harsh conditions of life, difficulty in understanding their textbooks, lack of facilities and their poverty are a hurdle in their Education.
Quality related issues are far powerful than poverty. Students are not at all encouraged to think but they are asked to memorize pre-defined questions for exam. So for many students clearing exams at the end of the session, passing their exam becomes more important than gaining knowledge. Also as per the new CBSE rule, every student is supposed to be promoted to the next class irrespective of marks in their examination. Hence majority of students do not bother to study, which means a decline in their Education level. Neither students nor teachers take any interest in studies which is why the level of Education is declining in India despite many efforts.
The foundation to turn India into a strong nation has to be laid down at primary and rural levels and so the quality of Education right from the beginning should be excellent. Education and text books should be made interesting. For rural students textbooks related to their culture, their tradition and values should also be there so as to create their interest in studies. The reason behind so many drop-outs in spite of free Education should be found out as this is a hurdle on the road to progress. Improvement in condition in the condition of government schools, Education Quality, committed teachers and more salaries to these teachers should be part of development.
There is a difference between city and village students not in terms of brains or development but their initial environment, skills, learning ability, availabity of infrastructures, and access to different facilities. All of these must be considered while making the curricula which should not be different how it is going to be taught would make the difference. Encourage the genuine rural students who are interested in Education and make them competent. There are some examples of success in rural Education in India like the Barefoot College, 8 Day academy and Gurukul School in Bihar. These are innovative and successful examples of school running in rural India. It is the time to replicate such efforts as our country and its rural population is very vast which means one of two stories won’t make any difference. Instead of these large numbers of schools are required in India. It is also absolutely mandatory to evaluate the success of the schools and students at each and every level. Timely assessment will throw light on present problems and achievements. So ERDO department is trying to build a solution with plans around these problems which will resolve the overall issues of rural Education in India.
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