Primary education on a tangent

The access to primary education is one aspect of the problem, the other important point at issue is the asymmetry in the quality of education being imparted. Why are the vast majority of children deprived of primary education, and those that are enrolled being denied of good quality education? The survey has cited many reasons for the limited accessibility and poor quality assurance -- administrative mismanagement, inadequate infrastructure, lack of quality teachers, to name the obvious problems. But the major cause for deprivation is none other than poverty plaguing the teeming millions. Large number of children do not go to school, because they are forced to accept some form of employment to support their families. To their parents, education is the last option for their wards. Even the stipends that are supposed to be distributed to the needy, disadvantaged children tend to fall in the hands of unscrupulous group of officials.

Many a time in the past, demands for recruiting able and qualified teachers were made, but these went largely unheeded resulting in the decline of educational quality across the board. Therefore, no matter how firmly the authorities try to emphasise that there has been commendable progress in primary level education unless the inherent anomalies are removed, survey results will continue to provide a gloomy picture.

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We agree with the survey group (Campe) that inequality and deprivation in primary education must be recognised as a serious issue in dire need for resolution. Indeed, allocation for education programmes must be based on equity and weighted in favour of the disadvantaged in the society.