Educational Inequality in India:

Brought to you by the Daskalos Initiative

Education has been the key throughout the development of the world over the ages. With time, more has been learned and discovered about everything. Education has allowed all humans to build a stronger relationship not only with the Earth, whether this be working together with the environment or unfortunately exploiting and destroying the ecosystems that exist, but also with fellow humans and all other surroundings. A general consensus across the world has been ‘the more people around the globe who are educated, the better chance there is at achieving equality and progression as a global society’. Education leads to understanding and exploring, as well as delving into new areas that one had no experience or knowledge in previously. Education is universal and endless, meaning it does not reach a limit. Better education leads to job security, being able to contribute to the economic development and daily functioning of a country; personal financial stability; more general life skills, improved and more reasoned decision-making, as well as ultimately an increased life expectancy. The benefits are very clear and cause extensive change in a positive sense. Therefore, there is only one thing to do, which is to provide a platform for education for all. Easier said than done, but that should be the main objective of every country around the world, in order to get all of their citizens literate and educated. Unfortunately, currently, this is not the case universally and is not exactly close either. India is an example of one of the many countries that suffer with educational inequalities.

In India, gender, place of birth, ethnicity, class, and linguistic background all have an impact on the educational experience children have in the country. Each and every single one of these factors derives from something the child themselves cannot control; they have not done anything wrong to deserve this; yet the punishment is as harsh as one could possibly imagine. All of this results in substantial inequalities in knowledge within India’s society. Statistics show that 10% more boys completed secondary school education than girls. India’s childhood literacy rates, in 2011, reached 73.5%, which may not seem like a low percentage, but it is certainly not high either. The UK compares with a literacy rate of 99%, as every single child is provided with the opportunity to be educated. Furthermore, in India, gender educational inequalities complicate the situation even more. UNESCO states that for each additional year of education a girl completes, the chances of an adolescent pregnancy are lowered by 10%. This change has been seen previously in the process of less developed countries becoming more developed with time. The same change has happened before, so there is a clear example set ahead for India to follow.

Young children in India are being deprived of the chance and opportunity to continue to go on to pursue greater accomplishments by not even being taught how to read and write, which is the pure basis before building onto greater, more complex areas of study. Naturally, this is causing issues in older age also, since the way in which these youngsters, who have not had the opportunity to explore even the absolute minimum of educational prospects impacts them severely in the later stages of their lives, at which they may fail to secure a reasonable job, resulting in other issues such as homelessness and poverty, which could end up being life-threatening. The aim is clear. Countries need to get their citizens educated and increase equality for all around the world to have the same opportunities and chances to succeed and thrive. Research has shown that with development education levels, such as literacy rates, are gradually increasing. ‘Gradually’ means many, many more will miss out on education over time, and it will be a long, arduous journey to somewhat educational equality. However, to catalyse this process awareness can be raised. As has happened with climate change, raising awareness has impacted everyone, and let everyone know that this is a problem that needs addressing promptly. Through writing this article, I am playing my small part, so why don’t you play yours in some way at least?

Rome wasn't built in a day, but together we can, and will, tackle the educational problem in India and, in turn, ensure that one day we will yield an India which is full of bright, young, well-educated prospects capable of changing the world.

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