The Indian Education system has progressed to great extent, with a wider reach. According to a report prepared by Ernst & Young, in association with FICCI, India’s expenditure on higher education is set to increase in the next 10 years. With an increase in the income earning capacity of individuals these days, nearly 55% of the parents in the country are able to spend money on academic quality, employability-linked education as well as foreign education. In short, the progress is essentially visible in towns, cities and to a small extent in some developed villages. However, in almost all villages, dropping out after primary education is still a prevalent practice.
In the village of Mundrampatti, in Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, the odds of children making it to college are one per cent, ten times below the low national average. Some children have completed their primary education, but have dropped out of school due to many deterrents. The same are the reasons for many of them who do not go to school, even for primary education. The article talked about N. Priya, a 17 year old girl who dropped out after completing her education till class XII. For pursuing higher education in government colleges, she would have to walk a couple of kilometres, which is not considered safe for her. Bus services are also inappropriate for her – one each early morning and late evening. So that too is not a safe option for her. A daughter of agricultural workers, her parents cannot afford to admit her in nearby private colleges.
Priya is not the only student with this kind of a problem. Children as young as 6 year walk 2 kilometres every day to their schools due to the inconvenient timings of the buses. Hence, the significance of free bus passes given by the government to these children remains questionable.
The roads are perhaps amongst the best in the state, with almost all villages roads concretised and highways and main roads in good condition. But traveling from one village to the other either entails walking or a ride from the occasional two wheeler rider. Neither mode of transport is considered safe for girl children by parents. Many then choose to pull out their children from school in the name of safeguarding them. This then sets up a kind of trend in absence of any choices and alternatives.
Another factor which acts as a deterrent for sending children to school is the unhygienic surroundings. Some schools are built right next to the dumping ground of the village. There are some schools build in places where people have been defecating for generations. Who would want to send their children to such a place of mess?
In Nagamangalam village, S Rajesh and his friends have an ambition of becoming police officers, given the rate of crime, domestic violence, alcoholism in their midst. A class topper, Rajesh says he wants to enter the Indian Police Service, inspired by movies. But for secondary schooling, Rajesh and his friends will have to travel to the Block headquarters Kelamangalam and for college another 16 kms to Denkanikottai. Rajesh's prospects may be better than his friends' given his interest in academics.
Also, the transition from high school to higher secondary school is especially hard for the children in Telugu-medium schools, given that the medium of education in colleges is either English or Tamil. Even if the children manage a different medium of instruction, the distances lead to poor enrolment rates. Given the distances between schools and villages in Kelamangalam block, the drop-out rates in higher classes are very high. Only about 10 percent of those starting school complete school and perhaps one in that 10 enter college. Children are married off at an early age which too interferes with their basic education.
Even those who finish schooling end up earning Rs 3000 or so per month. Agricultural work gets them Rs 50 per day for women and Rs 100 per day for men, with nothing extra for overtime. Schools charge for uniforms, notebooks, tuition fees and other fees. Then there is the bus charge. Managing all this obviously becomes difficult. What makes it even more difficult is that major part of this fee is charged illegally by schools. Being unaware of ways to complaint or the Right To Information, which again is due to lack of knowledge and education, it is next to impossible to bring about transparency in the system.
Education is one tool that stays with us throughout our lives and gives returns in the most difficult times as well. There is a need to begin at the grass root level first in order to strengthen the entire education system and hence the society.
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