Sandeep Pandey questions the purpose of education in India

A friend of mine forwarded the following article to me where Sandeep Pandey questions the purpose of schooling in India. Sandeep Pandey is a social activist and also the co-founder of Asha for Education and Asha Parivar.

Click here to access the article.

Mr. Pandey starts off by pointing out the most commonly given reasons for imparting education to individuals-  becoming progressive and building a civilized society, assimilating knowledge and becoming employable.

But has the Indian education system been really achieving this?

Take the most desirable reason today in peoples’ minds for receiving a good education – becoming employable. The reality in India is that the number of people receiving education and going without a job is growing at a faster rate than the number of job opportunities that are being created by the economic liberalization.

Or take the issue of becoming a progressive individual by receiving good education. Even educated people would agree that they are no more happy than uneducated people. Nor are they any more sensitive or sympathetic towards other human beings.

Or take the notion that educated people are more knowledgeable. Who decides as to “what is knowledge”? Do the skills and capsules of information that the state has designed as”knowledge” for the majority of the schools enough? Do the products of the education system and it’s most advanced programmes (like doctorate programs) feel knowledgeable enough to be able to provide answers to all queries related to his/her specialization?

Take this opportunity to reflect on some of the most fundamental questions about the Indian education system by reading this article.