Rethinking India’s Education System

• 18 Dec 2025

This editorial is based on The stark reality of educational costs in India which was published in The Hindu on 12/12/2025. The article brings into picture the rising cost of the schooling system despite legally guaranteed rights for education. It highlights how structural gaps in the schooling system have created an ecosystem of private institutions that are creating financial burden on poor families leading to further inequality.

For Prelims: NEP 2020, Foundational Literacy & Numeracy (FLN),NIPUN Bharat Mission, UDISE+,DIKSHA,PARAKAKH 

For Mains: India’s schooling system, challenges in achieving SDG 4, Committees on education.

Education is the foundation of India’s demographic dividend and long-term economic growth. While the Constitution mandates free and compulsory education for children aged 6–14 years under Article 21A, and the NEP 2020 expands this vision from ages 3 to 18, ground realities reveal a widening gap between policy intent and lived experience. Rising dependence on private schools and coaching, coupled with uneven public school quality, is transforming education from a social right into a market-driven commodity.Yet, with NEP 2020, a strong constitutional mandate, and a young population, India has the opportunity to restore education as a public good. Renewed investment in public schools and equity-driven reforms can turn its demographic potential into lasting national strength. 

What are the Key Reforms Transforming India’s Education System? 

• Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 – Universal School Access: The Right to Education Act operationalised Article 21A, guaranteeing free and compulsory education for children aged 6–14 years. 
  • Helped achieve near-universal enrolment at the primary level, with enrolment ratios exceeding 95%. 
• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 – Structural Overhaul:  India adopted the National Education Policy 2020, replacing the 34-year-old NEP 1986, to shift the focus from rote learning to conceptual understanding, flexibility, and multidisciplinary education. 
  • Introduced the 5+3+3+4 curricular structure, covering ages 3–18. 
  • Aims to raise Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 50% by 2035, up from around 28–30%. 
  • NEP 2020 introduced major reforms in higher education to improve flexibility and quality. 
    • Multiple entry–exit system and Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) for lifelong learning. 
    • Promotion of multidisciplinary universities and phase-out of single-discipline colleges. 
    • Establishment of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to streamline regulation. 
• Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) – Integrated School Education: Samagra Shiksha provides holistic support from pre-primary to Class 12. 
  • It focuses on infrastructure upgrades, teacher training, digital classrooms, and inclusion of disadvantaged groups. 
  • The scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million Teachers of Govt. and Aided schools. 
• NIPUN Bharat Mission – Foundational Learning Reform: The National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) aims to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3 by 2026–27. 
  • Focuses on early-grade pedagogy, teacher support, and learning outcomes. 
• Expansion of Digital Education Infrastructure: India has invested heavily in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for education. 
  • DIKSHA platform has over 200 million users, supporting teachers and students with digital content. 
  • SWAYAM hosts more than 5,000 online courses, expanding access to higher education. 
  • PM eVIDYA integrates TV, radio, and online platforms to reach students without internet access. 
• Increased Focus on Inclusion and Social Justice: Targeted schemes aim to reduce educational inequality. 
  • Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas support girls’ education in educationally backward blocks. 
  • Scholarships and hostels for SC& ST (eg, Post-Matric Scholarship), OBC (eg, PM-YASASVI ), minority (eg, Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship). 
    • Eklavya Model Residential Schools provide free, quality residential education to Scheduled Tribe students in remote and tribal areas, on the lines of Navodaya Vidyalayas. 
  • Female GER in higher education has steadily increased, reaching around 48% in recent years. 

What are the Key Issues Associated with India's Education System? 

• Inadequate Funding and Budget Constraints: One of the biggest challenges is insufficient investment in education. India spends only around 3–3.5% of GDP on education whereas, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommends 6% of GDP on education. 
  • Because of low funding, many schools can’t build or maintain facilities like science labs, libraries, toilets, drinking water, or digital learning tools. 
  • Poor infrastructure slows learning and sometimes keeps kids from even going to school. 
• Low and Uneven Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER): While India has expanded access to higher education, GER remains unevenly distributed. 
  • Some States (e.g., Tamil Nadu: ~47% GER) outperform others, while many states like Bihar are below national average. 
  • This disparity reflects regional and socio-economic inequality in access to higher education. 
• Digital Divide in Education: As per the Observers Research Foundation, only 32.4% of India’s 1.47 million schools have access to functional computers.  
  • And only 24.4% have smart classrooms to aid teaching new-age skills. This gap disproportionately affects rural and government schools, reinforcing educational inequality.  
  • It weakens students’ exposure to digital literacy, coding, and problem-solving skills essential for a modern economy.  
    • Consequently, the promise of NEP 2020’s tech-enabled and competency-based education remains unevenly realised. Bridging this divide is critical to convert India’s demographic dividend into a future-ready workforce. 
• Commodification of Education: Education increasingly functions as a market good rather than a public service. 
  • Household income now strongly determines access to “quality” education. This violates the spirit of Article 21A and the mandate of social justice. 
  • Households with children in private schools spend an average of ₹25,002 per student per year, nearly 9× the ₹2,863 spent for government school students, highlighting the heavy financial burden of private schooling 
• Research and Innovation Deficit in Higher Education: India’s expenditure on research and development (R&D) consistently remains among the lowest globally, at around 0.64–0.65% of GDP, compared to China (≈2.4%), the United States (≈3.5%), and Israel (≈5.7%), constraining research infrastructure and long-term scientific capacity. 
• Teacher Shortages & Poor Teaching Quality: Many schools, especially in rural areas, have huge teacher vacancies and a high pupil-teacher ratio. 
  • Over 33 lakh students across the country are enrolled in more than one lakh single-teacher schools,according to the Ministry of Education’s statistics. 
• Infrastructure & Basic Facility Gaps: Large sections of India’s public schools still suffer from inadequate classrooms, poor sanitation, lack of drinking water, and unsafe buildings, particularly in rural and remote areas.  
  • Shortages of laboratories, libraries, playgrounds, and hostels weaken holistic learning. These infrastructural deficits directly affect enrolment, retention, and educational equity.  
    • For instance 1.52 lakh schools still lack functional electricity. 
    • Government schools account for the majority, with 9.12 lakh out of 10.17 lakh government schools having functional electricity. 
• The "Transition Crisis"-The Funnel Effect in Education: While the Right to Education (RTE) Act successfully created a "pull factor" for primary enrollment, the system suffers from poor "Internal Efficiency", meaning it brings children in, but fails to retain them as they transition to higher grades. 
  • This phenomenon is often described as the "Funnel Effect," where a wide base of primary students narrows drastically at the secondary level due to specific structural and socio-economic bottlenecks: 
  • Policies like "automatic promotion" (up to Class 8) ensure high retention in early years, often without ensuring commensurate learning outcomes. 
  • When students enter Class 9, they face a sudden spike in academic rigor and standardized testing. Because their foundational literacy and numeracy are often weak (the "learning deficit"), they cannot cope with the curriculum and lead to dropout. 
    • Dropout rate at secondary level stands at 8.2% in 2024-25, as per UDISE+ data. 
• The "Recall over Reasoning" Trap: The Indian education system currently operates on a "Factory Model," prioritizing the efficient replication of information over the messy, time-consuming process of critical inquiry.  
  • This creates a disconnect where a student can be "academically successful" (high grades) yet "intellectually stunted." 
  • Also, when success is measured solely by a high-stakes, end-of-year exam, the goal shifts from learning to clearing.  
    • Teachers and students optimize for the path of least resistance: memorizing model answers and predicting question patterns rather than debating concepts. 

What Measures can India Adopt to Transform its Education Sector? 

• Enhancing Public Investment and Financing in Education: Gradually increase public expenditure on education to at least 6% of GDP, with a clear focus on school infrastructure, teacher recruitment, and training. 
  • Introduce outcome-linked and need-based grants for States to upgrade laboratories, libraries, sanitation facilities, and digital classrooms in government schools. 
  • Countries such as South Korea and Finland, which invest over 5–6% of GDP in education, have developed strong public schooling systems with minimal dependence on private education. 
  • Case studies from Delhi and Kerala show that high-quality public schools can regain community trust and draw students back from private institutions. 
• Improving Access and Equity in Higher Education Enrolment: Expand public universities and degree colleges in low-GER States through targeted central assistance. 
  •  Strengthen scholarships, hostels, transport facilities, and digital access for rural and first-generation learners. 
  • Replicate State-level best practices such as Tamil Nadu’s long-term investment in public higher education and social inclusion policies. 
• Reducing Household Financial Burden and Re-centring Education as a Public Good: Improve quality and credibility of government schools to reduce forced migration to private institutions. 
  • States can follow the Tamil Nadu Fee Regulation Committee model to prevent arbitrary fee hikes and ensure fairness for parents. 
  • Annual fee disclosures, online portals, and parent committees can make school finances more accountable. 
• Strengthening Research Capacity and Innovation Ecosystems in Higher Education: Enhancing India’s global competitiveness requires a robust research and innovation ecosystem within universities. For this:  
  • Increase public funding for university-based research and doctoral programmes. 
  • Promote industry–academia collaboration and mission-oriented research in emerging technologies. 
  • Develop research-intensive universities on the lines of global models such as U.S. and East Asian research institutions. 
• Strengthening Teacher Availability and Teaching Quality: India needs to fill teacher vacancies through regular recruitment and rational deployment across regions. 
  • Make in-service training mandatory with digital modules through DIKSHA, NISHTHA, etc 
  • Draw from international best practices such as Finland’s emphasis on teacher quality, training, and professional autonomy. 
• Upgrading School Infrastructure and Basic Facilities: Use UDISE+ data for targeted infrastructure planning and monitoring. 
  • Converge education initiatives with schemes like Jal Jeevan Mission and rural electrification programmes. 
  • Create a technology-enabled dashboard to track infrastructure gaps (toilets, electricity, digital access, boundary walls, safe buildings). 
• Preventing Dropouts and Strengthening Secondary Education Retention:Expand scholarships, conditional cash transfers and residential schooling facilities. 
  • Strengthen secondary schools in rural and aspirational districts. Scale up proven interventions such as the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme. 
  • Strengthen PM-POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal) to improve meal quality, nutrition norms, and hygiene. 
• Promoting Conceptual Learning and Reducing Rote-Based Education: Reform assessment systems to test conceptual clarity, analytical ability, and real-world application. The Yashpal Committee highlighted the burden of rote-based schooling and recommended making learning experience-based. 
  • Build competency-based assessments, reduce textbook load, and revise State curricula using NCF 2023 guidelines. 
  • Adopt international best practices such as OECD countries’ application-oriented assessment models. 
• Integrate Vocational Education & Life Skills Training: The Kothari Commission stressed that education must be linked with work and practical skills. 
  • Introduce vocational subjects from Class 6 onwards as proposed by NEP 2020. 
  • Collaborate with local industries, artisans, and skilling institutions (like ITI/PMKVY) for hands-on exposure. 
• Boost Digital Learning: Provide Internet connectivity, ICT labs, smart classrooms, and digital libraries in government schools. 
  • Train teachers in blended learning and use of platforms like DIKSHA, SWAYAM, and PM e-Vidya. 
  • Ensure low-cost devices and community digital learning centres in disadvantaged regions to ensure no child is left behind. 

Conclusion:

India’s education system stands at a critical juncture. While access has expanded, rising private costs and growing dependence on coaching risk transforming education from a constitutional right under Article 21A into a market privilege, undermining social justice and long-term economic growth. Recommitting to strong public institutions, equitable financing, and learning-centred reforms across school and higher education is essential. Only by doing so can India realise SDG-4 (Quality Education) and ensure that education becomes a genuine instrument of social mobility, inclusive growth, and national development. 

Drishti Mains Question:

Despite constitutional guarantees, education in India is increasingly shaped by household income rather than public provisioning. 

Discuss the structural causes of rising educational inequality and suggest reforms to ensure equitable and quality education across school and higher education. 

FAQs:

1. Why is education in India increasingly dependent on household income despite Article 21A?
Structural weaknesses in public schooling have pushed families towards private schools and coaching, converting education into a market-driven service.

2.How has underfunding affected India’s schooling system? 
Public spending remains around 3–3.5% of GDP, far below the NEP 2020 target of 6%, leading to teacher shortages, poor infrastructure, and weak learning outcomes.

3.Why is Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) critical for reducing dropouts? 
Weak early-grade learning creates a “funnel effect,” where students fail to cope at secondary levels and drop out due to poor conceptual foundations.

4.What role do private schools and coaching centres play in widening inequality? 
High fees and coaching costs disproportionately benefit affluent households, deepening socio-economic and regional disparities in learning outcomes.

5.How does NEP 2020 attempt to address structural issues in education? 
NEP 2020 promotes competency-based learning, FLN through NIPUN Bharat, digital platforms like DIKSHA, and governance reforms, but requires stronger financing and implementation.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs) 

Prelims 

Q. Which of the following provisions of the Constitution does India have a bearing on Education? (2012)

1. Directive Principles of State Policy 
2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies 
3. Fifth Schedule 
4. Sixth Schedule 
5. Seventh Schedule 

Select the correct answer using the codes given below: 

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 3, 4 and 5 only 

(c) 1, 2 and 5 only 

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 

Ans- (d)

Mains

Q1. How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate on your answer. (2020) 

Q2. Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail. (2021)