The Malaise In Indian Education System And How It Is Ruining India’s Future

A silent but significant crisis has been brewing in the critical pillar of India’s socio-economic architecture: public school education, especially at the primary level. The latest revelation has come from Rajasthan, where the government admitted in the state Assembly that around 10 per cent (611 schools) of its 64,484 schools have no buildings; 2,047 lack toilet facilities; and 1,049 lack drinking water facilities. This is basic infrastructure, the foundational layer, on which indicators such as enrolment, student-teacher ratio, qualification of teachers, and outcomes of students are measured. The aggressive campaign by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a pressure group focused on shortcomings in the education sector, recently exposed that classes in Rajasthan’s ‘schools’ were held in a cowshed.

Nearly 15 years after the Right to Education (RTE) was enshrined for all Indians—a landmark decision of the Dr Manmohan Singh government—its purpose is being hollowed out by the still-crumbling infrastructure of government schools across India and poor outcomes where Grade 3 students are unable to read Grade 2 text or do simple mathematics. While some are legacy problems, four related issues should worry the current government. First, there is a contraction in the number of government schools from 15.09 lakh in 2020-21 to 14.67 lakh in 2025-26—a net loss of over 42,000 schools across India. Second, in the same timeframe, there has been a worrying decline in enrolment of over 10 per cent in government schools (from 13.24 crore to 11.89 crore) and nearly 7 per cent in government-aided ones; only private school enrolment increased by 12 per cent.

This data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus, of the Union Ministry of Education, is worsened by the other two issues. The existing schools are beset with age-old infrastructure problems from dilapidated buildings to lack of classrooms, toilets (especially for girls), drinking water, and electricity. In the fast-digitising India, barely half the schools have computer and internet facilities; only a few states, like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, show near-complete coverage. Lastly, over 100,000 schools with 29 lakh students function with a single teacher, and the pupil-teacher ratios are nowhere near the RTE-mandated 30:1. The CJP campaign has rightly exposed it all.

There are wide variations across states, but the general picture is one of malaise and distress. Among the worst-hit students are girls, despite the government’s decade-old Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign, and Dalits, who do not enrol or drop out due to systemic issues. While the government must increase its spend on education to 6 per cent of the GDP—it currently allocates about 4 per cent, half of which goes to primary schools—merely throwing money at the crisis will not help. Only determined political will and social vision can strengthen the very foundation of India’s demographic dividend.