Education in India is mainly dependent on the state-regulated public education system, which exists at three levels: federal, state, and local.According to the 2011 Census, about 73% of the total population was literate.Among them, 81% were males, and 65% were females. In the year 2017–18, National Statistical Commission surveyed that literacy just increased to 77.7%. Among the literate persons, 84.7% were males, and 70.3% were females.
Since Independence, the main challenge of the Indian education system is a continual mismatch between the knowledge & skills acquired and the availability of jobs. This matter is until today.
Primary education in India holds a high impact with its wide-reaching capabilities. But the truth is that students seem to learn nothing in schools. A survey confirms that only 44% of government schools are capable of reading class two texts. Only 22.7% of students of class 5 manage to do the numerical division process. As a result,among school-going students, 47.5% prefer to go to private schools in India. As parents are dissatisfied with the education in government schools, they are more likely to select private schools, despite the vast expense. On the other hand, the high percentage of dropouts in several stages of education, growth of educated unemployed, the drain of skilled workforce are main concerns related to the education system of India.
Moreover, the Indian higher education system confronts some issues relating to quality, access, and equity. The population of India is main rural. But as higher education institutions are found explicitly in urban areas, neither the rural people can get a chance of higher education at their premises, nor the urbanized individuals can feel the pastoral ethos.
The adversity of lock down deeply affected the education system of India. The closure of schools amidst the crucial times affected the timid class mainly. The weak infrastructure cannot provide online education properly, and the real challenge is faced by children coming from impoverished backgrounds.Most of them are not well off enough to buy even a smartphone.
The new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, embraced by the government, is undoubtedly a fair policy that promises a holistic, flexible,multidisciplinary education system with an eye to sustainable development goals. But its implementation is quite impossible for this idiotic and unjust government.
The contribution of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar to the development of education in the country is diverse. His fiery statement "Educate,Organize and Agitate" is still considered a powerful message in education.He believed in the empowerment of an individual and communities as well. The term empowerment bears a multidimensional definition covering a large area,including economic, sociopolitical, and psychological spheres. He wished the people to develop liberty, equality, and fraternity among themselves, and he firmly believed that it is only possible by education. He firmly opined that education is the only means to attain light and awareness, eliminating the gloom of ignorance. He emphasized that education should be secular by strict moral character. Education frees an individual from the barriers of caste, creed, and race. In one of the speeches, he announced,
"The people don't sustain in the struggle of life until they get educated. Since then, they get caught in the clutches of social problems such as insult, suppression, and desecration."