Reader’s Digest India – August 2019

its development? The story of these

children illustrates at once how the RTE

has been an asset, while highlighting

the challenges that are holding it back.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

The most important achievement of the

RTE has been that it allowed India to

achieve almost 100 per cent enrolment

rates. The figures are nothing if not im-

pressive—total school enrolment stood

at a record 97.2 per cent in 2018.

Since the RTE was implemented

in 2010, India managed to improve

the law was passed, making elemen-

tary education free and compulsory

for children between the ages of six

and 14. By 2030, India is poised to be-

come the world’s third-largest economy

with the largest young, working popu-

lation globally. The RTE could usher

in rich dividends in its growth story

and help it gain a huge advantage over

arch-rival China and its rapidly age-

ing population. It is well timed (never

a day early, actually), but could India,

with 35 per cent of the world’s illiter-

ate, leverage education to accelerate

National Interest

readersdigest.co.in 71

Only policies won’t solve

the problems of school

education. Clearly defined

action plans, in consultation

with the stakeholders, will.

The focus has to be on

implementation and not just

“gyaan” [lecture]. More than

the Educational Policy, in a

diverse country like ours, we

require action plans for each

state separately on the lines

of those already prepared for

Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar

Pradesh. Intellectual debates

can continue but what is

needed is action based

on ground realities. Policy

will not improve learning

outcomes. Action on the

ground will. There are indeed

some good ideas, some of

which are not new. However,

the key question is whether

such ideas are politically

acceptable, socially

desirable, technologically

feasible, financially viable,

administratively doable

and judicially tenable.

Anil Swarup

Former Secretary,

Department of School Education

and Literacy, GOI

implementation.The
system currently has
largely succeeded on the

input side. Outcomes in
terms of bettering student
results are still a distant

reality. The traditional
approach to bettering

the physical infrastructure,
increasing the number
of teachers for training,

lowering teacher-student
ratio and hiking teachers’
salaries has not really mate-

rialized. The focus on the
input side was critical in the
first few years. We should

look beyond it. The soul of
the RTE is access to quality

education opportunities.