Education in Government Schools

These high rates of school dropouts as a result, lead to the ineffectiveness of the
reservation policy in institutes of higher education.
Complete privatisation of education is certainly not the answer. It would only drive costs of
 education or the whole of society higher up and cannot possibly enhance accessibility of
schools substantially. The option of securing seats under the reserved category for the
economically weaker students in private schools may seem like an inviting option at first
 glance but neither does it solve the problem of high costs of educating children, nor does
 it respond to the dire need for schools in rural areas. Providing free education to children
methodologies stand obsolete and outdated, with the emphasis being on rote-learning and merely
developing reading and writing skills instead of holistic education. Lack of vocational



 belonging to this category is a policy which private schools are in disagreement with. A
system in which the schools are owned by the government but managed and operated by the private
 sector is a workable alternative. The government could bear the costs of running the
institution, with suitable incentives to the private players willing to invest in such a
venture (possibly in the form of tax benefits to the private organisation); while the
management and operation of the school would be in the hands of the private organisation/
establishment. While this would ensure an exponential increase in the quality of education
 that is accessible to the masses, but it may drive up the government’s expenditure on
education. However, a public-private partnership in education is the most suitable scenario

 to check corruption, ensure efficiency and proper utilisation of allocated funds.training and non-availability of such courses renders students with barely any employable
skills at the end of their schooling. These factors, coupled with other social circumstances
 have lead to alarmingly high dropout rates in the country. Most schools are miles away and
largely inaccessible to the students. While noting that adequate number of elementary schools
 is to be found at a “reasonable distance from habitations”, the ministry admits in its website
 that this is not the case with regard to secondary schools and colleges. The gross enrolment
 rate for elementary education in 2003-04 was 85 percent, but for secondary education, the
enrolment figure stood at 39 percent. Figures put out by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development’s Department of School Education and Literacy indicate that as many as two-thirds
of those eligible for secondary and senior secondary education remain outside the school system
today.