The state of the US primary education system has important lessons for Indian policymakers. India’s goal should be to decouple educational performance from socioeconomic background. But this requires treating the problem of access to, not just quality of, education.
A 10-year survey of elementary education reveals the good, the bad and the ugly of India’s education system. Since 1996 much has improved yet teaching quality remains abysmally low, it seems. And privatization is an illusory solution.
India has announced a $10 laptop, and critics cry that it isn’t technically possible. But the Tata Nano has shown that what we can build is limited less by technology and more by our imagination and the assumptions that frame our world.
The WSJ says that Indian universities are suffering from overregulation. But what is the solution? To have it withdraw or to hold the government accountable? One is easy, the other an essential part of a working democracy.
Natasha argues for pragmatism in this debate. While there may be a theoretical case for public education, there is no inherently better model. Universal public education, as a value, should not interfere with choosing whatever works best in a given situation. Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good.