The quality of education is largely dependent on physical infrastructures such as classrooms, water and sanitation facilities, availability of electricity to power digital learning equipment like tablets or computers.
Other aspects include provision for sports activities such as sporting equipment and their safe storage space. Additionally, other elements that affect the overall experience at school are things like having enough chairs and desks available in each classroom along with proper lighting throughout all spaces so students can see what they’re reading or writing during class time (and homework).
“The condition of schools in rural areas is not promising.”
“As per ASER report, more than 50% children 3-16 years old are unable to read or perform arithmetic skills at the age group 5-16.”
The quality of education available in most private and government schools located outside market villages is far better when compared with that found inside a village itself. Moreover, the main reason behind this difference between the two types of locations has been identified as being transportation facilities provided by parents for their kids’ schooling purposes.
These are clearly various issues that create a crippling lack of education in rural areas:
- Shortage of teachers
- Lack of resources in practical education
- Lack of computers
- Lack of school/Large distance schools
- Lack of funds or misuse of school funds
- Callousness of teachers
- Government Inaction
- Presence of household chores
- Lack of resources for meritorious students
- Poor infrastructure
As you can see, these are the top 10 reasons, so let’s go deep and try to understand these reasons deeply.
Shortage Of Teachers
Teachers in rural India often take on auxiliary tasks such as attending to the maintenance of school infrastructure, sensitizing students & communities about education, and ensuring that social schemes are implemented. This takes away from teaching time, which can affect student learning quality.
In 2017, students performed poorly in arithmetic and unitary methods. They also had trouble calculating simple problems or telling time to the hour. One major problem was their inability to solve complex math problems successfully.
Resource Dearth In Practical Education
In rural India, the education system doesn’t focus on practical knowledge as well as teaching students how to improve their learning. Teachers should change the way of teaching and disseminate concepts rather than just facts in order for them to learn better.
Rote learning is not everyone’s cup of tea; it only helps a little with the basic understanding that does not help kids academically at all. The main goal must be focused on conceptualizing ideas early on through examples anyone can understand easily.
According to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Indian teachers are usually trained in traditional ways that do not always best serve their students. However, newer teaching methods such as project-based learning which is becoming popular among urban schools may help improve educational techniques used by rural areas where education remains primitive and old-fashioned.
Lack Of Technology
Education is necessary to escape poverty. However, rural areas are being left behind due to poor internet connectivity and smartphone usage. This creates a barrier for education in India’s rural communities that need it most.
Modern technologies play an important role in imparting knowledge throughout the world but this has become very bad. Some people do not have smartphones which makes them unable to access online education so they cannot get out of their impoverished state.
If there was no lack of knowledge of technology, then the children of rural schools would have known the benefits of technology and children themselves would have got the knowledge. A few examples are given below:
- Online news sites to be informed of day-to-day events.
- Mail throw submits assignment, tests, project submission.
- Community group YouTube channel for education.
- Payment for work over digital platforms.
- Self learning many things with many free encyclopedias.
Long Distance Between Home And School
Setting up more schools in rural India will decrease the drop-out rate of children and improve education. Most students have to leave their studies due to long distances between home and school, especially girls. The few who attend end up dropping out because there is no transport available, but if we create a school at every village this issue would be resolved! This action could increase enrolment rates as well as help all these Indian children achieve better futures for themselves.
In the rainy season, you must have seen videos of many children on social media platforms who have to go to schools with many risks. , it looks like: they are going for ‘jungle adventure’ not for schools.
Misuse Of School Funds
Schools in rural areas of India lack funding and thus provide poor quality education. A large percentage of the population lives in villages, making up 72% of Indians, however, only 27.8% live in towns which also can be seen as small cities with populations under 1 lakh people.
These schools are funded by the local government but they don’t have enough money to focus on improving infrastructure or hiring more qualified teachers for students who aren’t able to pay tuition costs at private institutions.
A researcher at the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, Provita Kundu shares her ideas by saying that Indian education is underfunded in almost all areas. This is because of improper use of funds received from the government despite receiving any form thereof.
Callousness Of Teachers
The lack of accountability for teachers and school authorities has increased absenteeism. School Development and Management Committees (SDMCs) have been appointed to oversee the work done by teachers, but performance trends reveal that urban students are able to secure better grades than their rural counterparts even though they may not be putting in as much effort.
Somewhere in the villages, teachers are also like this, that they don’t know what’s trending news in India, what’s going in India, etc. Now, you can imagine that there will be some conditions of that school.
In rural areas, most schools are run by the government. Teachers in these schools may be ad hoc instead of permanent ones and they’re not always paid enough for their work compared to Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) salaries.
Major Issues:
- Non-permanence of teachers is demotivating
- Late or blatantly absent
- Non-teaching duties
- Exemption from TET
- Lack of quality teacher training
- Lack of Digital knowledge
- Fill secure better than the urban teacher (parents strictness)
Government Inaction
In India, education is a right and not just an option. It became compulsory for children between the ages of six to fourteen years old under The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act in 2009.
The government should create a digital platform in which every child would be given books in the format of PDF as well as create a real-time-based test, which every state government could easily make. Well, it is a suggestion that it should have been like this, which most people think.
The fact is that government employees very rarely go to far-flung schools, even if they go, they go on a special occasion, in which there is not much discussion, only promises are made and work goes on top of the top. Although government employees keep coming to some schools for inspection.
Presence Of Household Chores
As you know the condition right now, especially in this pandemic, Instead of having a book on the hands of the children, there is a phone. However, this popular colloquialism is not every family’s story. Some are different, especially in rural areas.
Rural families in these villages work hard to put food on the table for their families every day, but they don’t have enough money to afford school supplies and fees. Their children help out around the house after school ends.
This might sound impressive but on the other hand it’s a little bit quiet inside. So, there is no time left over at night for studying with little or no electricity.
When students leave school, they are not encouraged to study because their parents don’t understand the value of education and do nothing to make it happen. This is problematic for two reasons.
Firstly, these children aren’t reinforcing what they learned in class that day and secondly, this situation creates a cycle where both generations fail each other by passing on bad habits.
Lack Of Resources For Meritorious Students
Perhaps this is the saddest fate, that you have the ability to be able but you are not getting guides, perhaps this is the only difference that makes the children of villages and cities a little different because the base knowledge of those people remains correct. Due to which they do not have any problem interviewing, conversational, confident, and speaking English.
Human resources include teachers, administrators, and others involved in education. Material resources refer to educational or learning materials such as textbooks, maps, or other aids that are needed for the delivery of an effective program. Financial Resources refer to the funding required by schools at all levels for meeting their financial requirements including salaries etc.
Three kinds of resources are necessary for quality formal primary education programs: Human resources (the definition), material resources (also called “learning” things), and financing which is money they need from governments.
Poor Infrastructure
The classroom conditions are poor, with broken chairs and desks, no benches to sit on during breaks or lessons. There is little infrastructure available for digital learning purposes – no computers of course but also water sanitation facilities which vary from school to school.
Sometimes, there’s running water in the building, so at least students have a place they can wash their hands after using the restroom. Other times, bathrooms aren’t present either making it difficult for teachers without classrooms where bathroom areas exist to go about their business while trying not to step in human waste lining hallways between classes every day.
I hope you must have understood why Indian education system, especially in the villages, is in dire straits.