Politics as it is today can remain infested with individual agendas and party polarisation.
Either the parties’ manifestoes can follow the people’s aspirations and create a structured growth for India or politics as it is today can remain infested with individual agendas and party polarisation.
An exercise for capturing the people’s voices and aspirations was conducted across the state as a part of india@75. Stakeholders’ workshops were conducted in six cities in Gujarat. After receiving views from over 450 people and taking 42 people’s personal interviews, the following vision elements, gaps have been identified in the field of education.
Gujarat has over 10 universities, four of them being agriculture universities — Anand Agriculture University, Junagadh Agriculture University, Navsari Agriculture University and Sardar Krushinagar Dantiwada Agriculture University. Gujarat is home to the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), rated as the best in Asia by Asiaweek in 2000.
The Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology is the first institute in India to recognise Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as an emerging technical discipline. Gujarat also hosts the prestigious NID and CEPT at Ahmedabad.
Gujarat is also home to some of the premier research organisations, such as Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and Institute of Plasma Research. But, the state still has a long distance to cover.
A) Aspirations/Visions:
100% literacy
Equal and affordable education opportunities for all
Industry academia to be connected at secondary education level
Linking education with employment, skill development and practical learning
Education is the key to further the development of the state. For any society to move ahead, education is its growth engine. Gujarat has realised the same and hence started various initiatives to spread education among its residents. Government has appointed 83,000 Vidya Sahayaks to bridge the gap in number of teachers available. The dropout rate in schools has reduced considerably to 3%. An enrolment rate as high as about 99% has been achieved. Training in English language is being provided under the programme called SCOPE. Under the highly-ambitious schemes of Vanbandhu and Sagarkhedu Kalyana Yojana, provision has been made to open 203 secondary and 222 higher secondary schools in the state. Overall literacy in state is 69.14%, whereas literacy of women in state is 57.8%. Yet there are gaps:
B) Gaps
Inadequate awareness is the reason for the 3% dropout
Poverty and rising cost of education are to be blamed. The families living below the poverty line cannot afford children’s education. The need of money results in making the children start earning at an early age.
Need to spread awareness about the skills required than exam-oriented approach. The theory and memory based approach needs to be more practical.
Inadequate facility and infrastructure: Schools in several rural and semi-urban areas lack basic amenities. Drinking water is lacking in about 20,903 schools and electricity in about 7,647 schools.
Education loans are given to those privileged, against property at higher rate of interest: There is need to provide financing to poor people with low rates of interest.
C) Action Agenda/Roadmap
Generating interest at school level, both industry and academia should align to work towards the same.
Qualities of education in government-run schools and colleges to be improved. It is perceived that the quality of education disbursed in public schools is not comparable with private schools.
Value-based education sustaining Indian culture, tradition and moral values. Course content and teaching methodology should be regularly updated and developed as per the needs of the market.
Increased awareness towards importance of education for all should remain a top priority for the state. Necessary campaigns and workshops should be held on a regular basis in all neighbourhoods. State should also arrange for incentives to encourage female literacy.
This is a blueprint of the aspirations and the gaps perceived by the citizens of Gujarat. It is believed that if the state government works along this blueprint it will help Gujarat attain a holistic growth in education over the next 15 years. However, what remains to be seen is whether politics feels the need to implement citizens’ voices.
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