The government must harness technology’s ability to provide quality education to all, a scholar with US-India Policy Institute, Washington DC wrote in The Indian Express. While platforms like Khan Academy are used by billionaires such as Bill Gates, the government must also leverage the potential of such platforms to provide affordable and homogenised education to all, Abusaleh Shariff, a research scholar with US-India Policy Institute wrote in the national daily. Among many relevant issues that the recently released draft National Education Policy 2019 fails to discuss, the government must also consider incorporating financing of education; privatisation; technology (ICT) as a leveler and equity enhancer; English as a medium of instruction and the state’s responsibility in educating the masses in the draft policy, he wrote in the newspaper.

Technology– The great equalizer

Exemplifying the use of Khan Academy, a free knowledge-sharing platform, Shariff said that technological platforms like these must be leveraged “to impart equitable access at primary, elementary and high school levels and to increase the quality of education.” The government must ensure that children get homogenised and affordable education and technology has provided an answer to that. 

Privatisation and its bane

While the draft National Education Policy has appealed to philanthropists and companies to float their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to help government efforts, the government didn’t factor in the role that private investments can play in education, and the proliferation of private English-medium schools across India. “Reckless and unregulated private schools and colleges, besides compromising on quality, will only increase (not reduce) social inequalities in India,” Abusaleh Shariff wrote.

Further, public sector facilities must be used to provide education to children belonging to various castes, classes and religions. This will promote a sense of belongingness and nationalism in the children, Abusaleh Shariff wrote. 

Role of English

Calling English an income augmenting language in India, Abusaleh Shariff said that the government cannot ignore the fact that those who know the language live in households with three times higher income than those without any knowledge of English. While the idea of protecting and promoting classical language is laudable, the government has “laid out a “language trap”, which will create social inequality and impede economic growth due to loss of the demographic dividend,” he added

The recently released 477-page draft policy has brought the focus on spurring economic development as the investments made in education have far resonating impact on India’s ability to reap the benefits of its “demographic divide,” Abusaleh Shariff wrote. While economic development can be achieved by deploying India’ youthful labour force efficiently, the same is heavily dependent on investments made in human development, including education.