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Indian civil society is working wonderfully for the education sector
Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, Director of a US-based think tank has prepared a report “Millions Learning: Scaling Up Quality Education in Developing Countries” which will be released in Washington DC on April 19 and will highlight factors that can successfully scale up learning interventions.
Meet Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, a US-based think tank. Rebecca is giving finishing touches to her report “Millions Learning: Scaling Up Quality Education in Developing Countries” based on an incisive 3-year-long research project covering over 14 developing countries including India. Set to be released in Washington DC on April 19, the report will highlight factors that can successfully scale up learning interventions, and the role of governments, civil society, and the private sector in doing so.
Key focus areas of the study.
In-depth case studies of intervention projects in 14 countries were conducted. In India, the focus was in an area where intervention has been scaled up through the NGO ‘Pratham’. Their flagship Read India programme aims to help students who are unable to keep up with classroom teachings.
Indian education systems standing in the developing world.
India is struggling with the problem of equity in education. While there are some excellent schools offering quality opportunities, at the same time, an entire section of kids don’t have access to quality education. The dropout rates are high. Still, in comparison to other developing nations, India has fared well to integrate “out-of-school” kids back to the schools, but poor learning outcome for the poorest is a serious concern.
What is causing poor learning outcomes?
High teacher absenteeism, an unfavourable teacher student ratio, skewed opportunities and resources to elevate the teachers. Many children in India struggle to meet even basic needs. Inadequate nutrition and financial constraints of the families also affect overall learning.
What are the reasons for poor learning outcomes in other nations?
Although every nation is different culturally and economically, the underlying phenomenon is the same. Quality of teaching staff and out-of-school children are key areas of concern across all developing countries. Tribal kids are struggling everywhere in schools due to language barriers. Violence and civil strife are also affecting the education of many children across the world.
How do you compare civil society’s intervention in India with the other countries?
India is fortunate to have nurtured a very vibrant civil society. However, other developing countries like the Central African ones can largely count foreign NGOs as their civil society. The moot question there is how long can these NGOs be around? Once the funding dries up they are bound to move out. On the other hand, Indian NGOs are actually spreading their wings to other parts of the world now. For instance, Pratham has spread its operations to Kenya, Pakistan, Mexico etc.