Decoding 9 years of Modi administration in revolutionizing education

Achieving one’s full potential, creating a just and equitable society, and advancing global development all depend on education. Providing universal access to quality education is the key to India’s continued ascent. As India aspires and inches towards becoming a global power, manufacturing-cum-tech hub, provision of quality education becomes crucial. In pursuance of this mission, the Modi government, since coming to power in May 2014 has been committed to transforming the education sector of India. Prior educational policies have been implemented with a strong emphasis on concerns of Access and Equity. While the past endeavours have focused on accessibility, reforms now are centred around quality of education as well. Viewed closely, the current policy framework stands on 3 guiding pillars, in addition to the ones noted above. These are: Quality, Affordability and Accountability to equip our youth to face the various national and international problems of the present and the future. Each one of them is a factor in driving the policy initiatives of the current government.

This piece is intended to provide a peripheral view of what has happened in these nine years, drawing attention to these pillars of guidance, albeit not in a chronological fashion. It is an attempt to decode the last 9 years of reforms in the education sector of the nation. 

Accessibility and Equity

To begin with, it is difficult to quarrel with the view that there has been significant progress in terms of both quantity and quality. The number of universities has increased by 70 during 2020-21, to 1,113 in 2020-21 from 1,043 in 2019-20 and 723 in 2013 with one university being set up-every week since 2014. Total enrolment in higher education has increased to nearly 4.13 crore in 2020-21 from 3.85 crore in 2019-20 (increase of 28.80 Lakh) and 3. 45 crore in 2015-16. Likewise, Pre-primary through higher secondary schools in the UDISE+ system had a combined enrollment of almost 26.52 billion students in 2021–22. Much work is being done to bridge the demand-supply gap. School enrolment has grown at the upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels, demonstrating an improvement in the system’s capacity to hold onto more kids in the educational system over time.

Accessibility was also a major concern during the pandemic. The Covid experience placed a strong emphasis on the creation of high-quality alternative educational platforms wherever traditional modes are impractical. New conditions and realities warrant new initiatives. Say what you will, in the period when India was balancing multiple concerns, what sustained its education sector was undoubtedly, the concerted efforts that had been put towards digitalization of education. The National Education Policy 2020 acknowledges the significance of utilizing technology’s benefits while also noting its possible risks and perils in this area.  In the course of this digitalization, the establishment of National Digital Education Architecture is notable. Launched in 2022, it strives to create a unified digital infrastructure, wherein projects like DIKSHA (national infrastructure platform for school education), Vidya Samiksha Kendras (institutional setup that enable data-based decision making by key stakeholders), energized textbooks, Vidya Daan (program to source high quality content in a controlled manner) have been rolled out. Undoubtedly, digitalization of education has been imperative to achieve greater inclusivity and accessibility.

While these show the government’s commitment towards ensuring accessibility, considerable efforts are being made to improve the quality of education as well.

Quality

The foundation for knowledge creation and innovation must be education, which will support a developing national economy. Therefore, the goal of quality education goes beyond the development of mere chances for individual employment. Thus, in the current framework, infrastructural strength has received much-needed attention. To speak of some statistics, the percentage of schools having drinking water facilities has increased from 95.8% in 2018-19 to 98.2% in 2021-22, while the percentage of schools having ramps has increased from 63.7% in 2018-19 to 71.8% in 2021-22. According to the UDISE +2021-22 data, all of the key infrastructure facilities saw an increase in the year 2021–2022. Not to forget, the Swachch Vidyalaya campaign was launched in 2014 with much vigor. These infrastructural developments make for an inclusive environment for students across the divide. Apart from infrastructural progress, the administration is consciously striving at improving the quality, availability and training of teachers as well. The extensive NISHTHA 1.0 (National Initiatives for School Heads and Teacher’s Holistic Advancement) teacher professional development curriculum for elementary grades was introduced online during the covid pandemic through DIKSHA. The emphasis of NISHTHA 2.0 and 3.0 is on foundational and secondary literacy and numeracy. Several States/UTs have created their own capacity building programmes in addition to NISHTHA. In-service training, continuous professional development opportunities and robust merit-based structure of tenure and salary structure have been put forth, strategically altering the approach so far. The future of our students, and thus, the future of our country, is actually shaped by their teachers. This understanding is crucial. As in the words of the Prime Minister Modi “a small change by the teachers can bring about monumental changes in the lives of young students”.

The National Education Policy 2020, a phenomenal document and a much-awaited policy intervention, revamps the hitherto education system to incorporate a 5+3+3+4 design, consisting of the Foundational Stage, Preparatory Stage, Middle Stage and Secondary Stage. The policy intends to make an education system that is inclusive, forward-looking and holistic. What has significantly changed in these few years is the structural change in approach towards providing a holistic and multidisciplinary education to students.  We see a cross-curricular pedagogical approach. One can see the change in attitude towards the stakeholders; not considering them to be mere human resources in terms of their economic value but as human beings capable of excellence and working towards a holistic development. Manodarpan, for instance, has been initiated to monitor, promote and address the mental health issues and concerns of students and teachers, in addition to sensitizing and advising all the stakeholders regarding the same, while programme such as Fit India, has been initiated to sensitize students, create awareness and adopt ways to remain fit including healthy flood habits, also revamping Higher Educational Institutions to have fitness programmes as Co-Curricular or Extracurricular activities. Intent is to make learning both enjoyable and engaging. Interestingly enough, early childhood care and education which was till now sidelined, has now very rightly received much attention with the government coming up with the National Curriculum Framework in 2022.

Affordability

Coming to the question of affordability, efforts are being made in forms of scholarships and schemes. Initiatives such as the “National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme” (NMMSS) and Vidya Lakshmi Portal must be mentioned. The former is a scheme that offers scholarships to deserving students in grades IX through XII. The program’s goal is to provide scholarships to deserving students from economically disadvantaged areas in order to prevent their dropout. The latter serves as a single-window platform for students, enabling them to gather information and submit applications for Educational Loans and Government Scholarships. This is done with the intention of enabling all poor and middle-class students to pursue higher education of their choice without being constrained by financial issues. Based on several parameters, the monitoring assists the government in deciding how many scholarships to offer the following year. Rightly recognizing the importance of data, the government seeks to ease and channelise the process of data collection, retention and availability, be it the case of the said portal or by initiatives such as Vidya Samiksha Kendras.

Concluding Remarks

The scourge of Indian education, rote learning, is finally being banished in favour of competency-based learning and student development, which assesses higher-order abilities like analysis, critical thinking, and conceptual clarity. Creating inclusive education should now dominate our attention, specifically for children with special needs. Implementation is the key. What may be different about these last nine years and these reforms is that attempts are now being made at developing the ecosystem as a whole and making it sustainable. Towards realigning education with global trends and standards and realizing the five pillars. Towards an inclusive and forward-looking system, mindful of all the stakeholders; teachers, students, and the businesses. Towards strategic partnership. A lot is yet to be done, rather, can be done. Be that as it may, the balance sheet for India’s education sector today shows a positive hope.