India’s education system is one of the largest in the world. In 1947, when the country gained independence, the literacy rate was only 18% for men and around 8% for women. With steady reforms, India has come a long way to revamp its education system. According to the National Survey of India, the literacy rate has increased in the past 13 years from 73% in 2011 to more than 77.7% in 2022. However, this statistic is still lower than the global literacy rate which is around 86.5%. Illiteracy plays a major role in continuous and generational poverty in India. Luckily, there are efforts in place to improve education in India.

Discrimination in Education in India

Gender disparity and inequality are some of the main reasons for the stark difference in literacy rates between women and men. The male literacy rate is 84.7% whereas the female literacy rate is disappointingly lower at 70.3%. In some states such as Bihar, the female literacy rate is shockingly low at 51.50%. During the pandemic, 6 million children were out of school and a majority of them were girls. This difference in education between men and women has inevitably led to a higher rate of female poverty in India.

Social and cultural beliefs about the inferiority of women are still widespread. Studies have shown that gender violence is prevalent throughout the country, especially in domestic households where women have to perform unpaid labor whereas men do not. A survey has shown that 54.4% of people agree that a woman deserves to be beaten and physically assaulted if she leaves the house without permission. 

Girls are often seen as less important and less deserving of education in India. They have to stay at home and engage in household chores. Many people still think that when a girl is born, she is “paraya dhan”, meaning that she is an object or possession that a family must groom in order to marry off and will eventually hand over to a man and in-laws. The tradition of the bride’s family giving a dowry (money, property or goods) to the groom’s side of the family upon marriage exemplifies this. 

Societal pressures to marry and bear children are so high that young girls have to drop out of school just after primary education. A lack of sanitary productions and taboo surrounding periods has also persistently kept girls from attending school. 

In rural areas, people from scheduled castes and tribes, particularly women and girls, experience exclusion from education altogether. Women thus face low economic prospects and struggle to be financially independent as a result of a lack of proper education. Deep-seated gender stereotypes and cultural beliefs about the Caste System have led to a spread of inequity in education and basic standard of living, increasing the rate of poverty in India.

Rote Learning in Education in India

Many critics have argued that the primary secondary curriculum in India, called Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is often memory and textbook-based, without much attention to vocational and skills-based training at all. Sometimes called “text-book culture,” rote learning is the primary method of teaching in both government and private schools, with teachers having little to no autonomy in the classrooms. Repetition of information as an approach to pedagogy is common across the country. 

Consequently, studies have shown that students are not stimulated to creativity and originality. Textbooks include impractical pieces of information and are of little use for developing analytical and reasoning capabilities. Intelligence is thus often linked to the ability to memorize huge amounts of information, and tested with standardized examinations that high-stakes competitions fuel.  Academics also believe that this system received encouragement during the British Raj and is a consequence of colonists wanting to establish a country of obedient followers instead of original thinkers.

In contrast, some critics have also argued that the connection between memory and rote learning is misleading and a misconception. While rote learning does not typically help in forming complex connections between old and new information, memory can help retrieve information, apply it and use it in new modes and forms. For this to happen, the curriculum must encourage the skills of analysis and interpretation in students.

Pressure From Society

Children’s parents also pressure them to take up traditional professional occupations. It seems to be part of the culture to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer. An incredibly competitive job market has resulted in parents wanting their children to have secure and high-paying jobs. Consequently, many students are suffering from depression and end up taking up professions that they are not passionate about. Ironically, because of the scarcity of opportunities, even graduates of professional occupations struggle to secure a job. 

Looking Ahead

In 2020, the government introduced the National Education Policy (NEP) in an effort to revolutionize the system by encouraging a more holistic and skills-oriented approach to education. Students should now have exposure to a flexible choice of subjects for higher education and vocational streams at a young age. It also states that a Gender Inclusion Fund and Special Educational Zones will emerge for disadvantaged and vulnerable members of society.

With the government’s continued reforms and intervention, including more job opportunities for young graduates, the education system can help rapidly alleviate poverty in India.

– Sharvi Rana
Photo: Flickr