CAPF: India Needs to Focus on Imparting Quality Education Instead of Merely Increasing its Gross Enrollment Ratio

India Needs to Focus on Imparting Quality Education Instead of Merely Increasing its Gross Enrollment Ratio

Argument For:

Gross Enrollment Ratio determines the ration of children enrolled in school/college w.r.t to total eligible children of that age. Govt has promoted enrollments through Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Sarv Sikhsha Abhiyan, Banning child labor, scholarships etc. But, enrollment has come at cost of compromise with quality of education. Govt could not keep up with the quality of education; as a result, the children are becoming literate on records but are not skilled enough to fetch employment. Once literate, students seek jobs in market, but, govt has failed in job creation in the past 3 years, as a result, on one hand govt has spent huge amount of money on running the schools to make students literate on other hand due to scarcity of jobs and quality education, the youngster is pushed back in to vicious loop of poverty and menial job without any economic upliftment for family and society.

Argument Against:

It’s well said that, whatever is taught or learned never goes in vain. Same goes good with education too. The govt push towards education has lead to increase in enrollment ratio in school and colleges. Earlier poor parents opinioned that kid should involve in daily earning tasks so as to meet daily bread and butter requirements of the family, but with Mid-Day Meal scheme, Aganwadi scheme and other govt initiatives, poor people also started sending children to school although on pretext that child will get meal in school thus, reducing overhead from parents to arrange for their meal. In school, with course curriculum child learns moral values, interacts with other children, which helps in braking class and caste barriers which transforms overall personality of child. Thus, even though higher GER doesn’t assure quality education but plays a major part in social inclusion and integration on weaker sections into mainstream economy.