The recent article about English as a life skill made interesting reading and hopefully the Ministry of Education will be able to reply and bring about some necessary improvements.
It is strange that India is so willing to give educational advice and financial aid to Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka a willing recipient of education assistance from India, when it should be the other way round. Whilst our education system has many aspects that need changing or updating, it does function and however literacy may be measured Sri Lanka’s achievements are way higher than those in India. As to English standards, only a minority in India have achieved a high level in the language and of these the majority have attended expensive private schools for the middle classses. Standards of English in most government schools are abysmally low or non-existent.Unfortunately, the education scenario in India is very disturbing. The ‘EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010’ (UNESCO), ranks India 105 among 128 countries, and it continues to figure alongside a cluster of African and a couple of Asian countries, such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, in the group of countries with a low educational development index
The dropout rates in India, at the high school level are also on the rise (50%) in spite of increased educational expenditures by the states. Moreover, the infrastructure facilities in schools are poor. According to the latest statistics available from the National University of Educational Planning and Administration in 2009-10, there are only three classrooms per primary school in India, on an average, and only three teachers per school. About 14% of the schools have only one classroom each, and single-teacher schools constitute a similar proportion.. In Bihar, there are 92 (1:92) students on an average per classroom. All this indicates a poorly organized system of education.
35% of India’s population is still illiterate; only 15% of Indian students reach high school, and just 7% graduate. As of 2008, India’s post-secondary high schools offer only enough seats for 7% of India’s college-age population, 25% of teaching positions nationwide are vacant, a large numberof college lecturers lack either a master’s or PhD degree. As of 2007[update], there are 1,522 degree-granting engineering colleges in India with an annual student intake of 582,000, plus 1,244 polytechnics with an annual intake of 265,000. However, these institutions face shortage of faculty and concerns have been raised over the quality of education. 27% of Indian children are privately educated.
Even the poorest often go to private schools despite the fact that government schools are free but many parents realize that many schools do little more than keep children off the streets.. A study found that 65% of schoolchildren in Hyderabad’s slums attend private schools. Many schools lack proper English teachers, and standards of English are not only poor but absent in numerous rural schools.
Retired English teacher
The Island
