Have you ever seen an earthworm standing straight like a human, their body rising up from the ground? If you have seen earthworms, your answer will be ‘No’ because they don’t have a backbone and that’s why they slither. Similarly, education is the backbone of a country or society. A country can hardly develop without education.
In this era of technology and innovation, India is in a terrible position. It is in a dismal state with regard to its educational system compared to other countries and even itself from historical times, when numerous world-renowned and reputable personalities and philosophers had existed. While Canadian children as young as four and five are playing with technology and computers, Indian children are busy playing Gilli Danda and Chhupan Chhupai.
Nelson Mandela once said that education is the most powerful weapon one can use to change the world. If we fix this quote into our brain, we will understand that if we pursue knowledge, then we can not only turn our country into a global knowledge superpower, but also the whole world.
So what are the reasons and challenges that India is facing today that are stopping it from becoming developing? If we look closely, we will find many challenges that India is facing today in this innovative era. The biggest of these is its political disbalance and poverty.
Firstly, if we talk about politics, I will say that politics is playing a crucial role in keeping India backward, especially in the educational sector. Our new government is a slave to power and does not have a vision for the educational welfare of the country. It is always busy playing politics. Due to this politics, young students of India are fighting with each other.
Secondly, poverty is one of the most important issues of India that is preventing it from going forward. In my experience as a rural resident, I have seen that most rural students drop out of school due to a lack of money between the age of 13 to 15.
So, what are the solutions or remedies that might transform India into a global knowledge superpower? According to me, our prime leader ought to be an educated person with a far reaching vision for the welfare of the country — someone who can control the inflation to produce more jobs so that the talented and educated people can make India rich instead of feeling the need to go to foreign countries to find jobs. In this way, everyone will be able to achieve knowledge and India will be transformed into an educated country.
Secondly, India should adopt superfast technology and tools in order to improve its educational status and make Indian students world-level students. This will not be possible if poverty and bad political confrontations are not ceased and controlled.
Thirdly, India should have its own strategy or follow and trace the steps and strategies of the most developed foreign countries that have some of the most developed education systems. These countries, including the UK, Canada and the US, are ahead of other countries in the world. This will be very fruitful to the educational upgradation process.
Fourthly, India should have a centralised educational framework with various large-investment schemes. Moreover, the theoretical study should be changed to a practical mode. This will make study a fun activity.
Finally, Indian universities should affiliate themselves with the world’s best colleges and universities. They should establish foreign universities’ off-campus branches to offer Indian pupils an opportunity to learn advanced education at low fee. These universities must offer reservations to poor students.
A few months ago, the New Educational Policy got approved by the Union Cabinet of India and introduced by the Government of India. But no policy can make a change if it is placed in the wrong hands. Let’s see what developments are made by this policy and how far it takes India towards being a global knowledge superpower.