The Human Resources Minister, Kapil Sibal has proposed to scrap Class X exams and also introduce a single national board for education. There has been criticism against this idea and also some favour this idea. The criticism has some basis and so is the proposal itself.
Hierarchy of school education
There is a hierarchy of school education. The Very Poor Below Poverty Line (BPL) do not send their children to school. The population of this category should be around 300 plus million. With mid-day meals initiative, children have started going to school. The schools are generally run by the respective State Government. In most of the states, the education in these schools is pathetic. The teachers are absent, though they draw salary regularly. Even if they come, they hardly teach. The reasons vary from laziness and to aversion to poor (also low caste status of the poor). Some teachers are motivated to teach, but there is no infrastructure like black board or chalk or proper benches for children. The less spoken about the school building itself it is better. Many of these schools do not have toilet facility for girls and many girls opt not to come to school at all. Naturally, the medium of education is the vernacular state language. Since, the parents are illiterate, they do not demand better education. Many times, they are not motivated to send their children to school.
One notch higher is the people living above poverty line. They may also be around 300 plus million. These children also face similar situation and challenges. The only encouraging factor is, many parents from this category have some education. So, they value education and want their children to go to school. But, their motivation is not matched by the interest from the school authorities or state government. Some parents have options and are wise enough to send their children to schools run by NGOs instead of Government run schools. The schools run by NGOs are better than that of Government run schools. Unfortunately, some NGOs follow curriculum that is not inclusive, but also contains values drawn from hate ideology. Here also primarily the medium of education is vernacular language and in addition some language is taught.
In the above two categories, children go to schools that are governed by State educational boards.
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