Why have three decades of pedagogical reforms failed to translate the learner-centred vision of national documents into reality? This paper presents empirical research that corroborates what Indian educationists are increasingly noting, that there are entrenched cultural mindsets restricting a shift in India’s education system. The research finds three central worldview beliefs widespread among government teachers that contradict the assumptions of policy documents and in fact of the Constitution: a belief in inequality vs equality, knowledge transmission vs liberty of thought, and purpose as individual advancement vs fraternity. In turn, teachers simply reflect the worldviews they themselves experience, creating a vicious cycle.
The initial period of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party rule indicates that the focus of the new chief minister is on rolling out welfare policies, as articulated in the manifesto. Nevertheless, the government is embroiled in controversies over policies pertaining to education, sand mining, and a new capital for the state.
The article probes deeper into the Uttar Pradesh state board examinations of 2019 and argues that there are deep-rooted systemic flaws, relating to pedagogical planning and execution, which have potentially contributed to the mass dropouts and failures that came about as a result of the examinations.
Over the past one month, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, with the JNU Teachers’ Association standing in solidarity, have built a mass movement against the proposed hike in hostel charges, as they realise that what is at stake essentially is the very idea of public-funded higher education.
The students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, have been waging an agitation for nearly a month now demanding the rollback of hiked hostel fees. That education is a right and not a commodity has been asserted by the democratic student movement for long.
The Draft National Education Policy, 2019 lacks commitment to the idea of common school and encourages segregation and differentiation of schooling experiences for different socio-economic groups.
The Draft National Education Policy, 2019 is silent on the role of the state in providing equality of opportunity in and through access to school education. It has fallen into the trap of measuring outcomes while remaining indifferent to input shortcomings and systemic inequalities.
The 2019 Union Budget has touched on all the components of the social sector in bits and pieces. However, the overall framework for the sector is not clear. Though a key initiative of the current government has been the increase in direct benefit transfers for welfare schemes, there is a need for increasing the state capacity, particularly of the poorer states, as the major social sector expenditures, mainly on health and education, are done by the states.
Patriarchal structures have ensured that women’s access to resources, health, education, and political representation among other things, have remained heavily unequal.
