Rural Education in India and its Dynamic Transformation

A majority of India lives in rural areas. The way progress and development happen in these areas indicate the direction in which our country is moving towards. One of the key indicators of development is education. It is an essential element that indicates the progress of a country in the long run. What we do today to uplift and upgrade the education system for rural students will demonstrate results in the future.

History shows us that the transformation of any economy is a process that diverges from an agrarian industry and converges into a manufacturing and service-oriented industry. The transformation of an economy is structural and leads to a host of factors that fuel the change.

The labor markets in such transformation are highly dependent on skilling, industry location and choice of occupation for these markets. In a diverse and structurally imperfect labor market such as India, the social process of development is driven primarily through education.

However, there is no end game with transformation, but rather a continuous and cyclical process of change.

The perils of education in rural areas

At the outset, we need to understand the gap in rural and urban education systems. On one side the urban education systems are equipped with modern infrastructure, innovative and international exposure-based learning methods and accessibility of education to all.

But when we look at the rural education system it lacks accessibility for all, and inclusion and is far behind in the other aspects such as infra, innovation, and global exposure.

The reasons are a mix of demographic, social, and economic factors. The pandemic has only added to the glaring disparities in the Indian education system.

Infrastructure
With dismal investment and maintenance of physical and basic infrastructure, primary educational institutions in rural areas are bereft of classrooms, toilets, playgrounds, etc. When the basics are missing, the children also go missing, enrollment is low, and dropout rates are high.

Faculty
Underqualified teachers, absenteeism, and lack of timely recruitment of teachers lead to poor quality and a limiting reach of education.

Economic Issues
With low income, education is often a low-priority area to start with. Employment opportunities are also limited and add to the perception of the futility of education.

Social Issues
Some societies do not permit girls to go to school as part of the social culture, to a lack of transportation, or missing toilets. While the solution is to build more schools, in reality, rural schools are instead being shut down, and there is little effort to promote girls’ education.

Technology
With the shifting emphasis to digital learning, schools and children in rural areas are devoid of the basics in terms of computers, internet access, and also the know-how to derive benefits from the intentions of the policymakers.

Dynamic actions for the transformation of education
This lack of resources makes high-quality education an important desire, and the primary focus for policymakers and NGOs.

Bharat e-Shiksha is a flagship initiative that aims to make quality education accessible across the country.

They are doing this by introducing a hybrid learning model to underprivileged students. Further, they develop innovative solutions in education, as well as engage with the system to drive sustainable and positive impact.

Under this flagship initiative, teachers and children in remote areas and urban slums are empowered with technology-based solutions. They are provided content-loaded tablets or Smart TVs to access digital devices and mentored learning.

The programme targets learners from government schools, with a special focus on students between classes 6 to 10. Digital Learning Centers (DLCs) which run under the guidance of well-qualified, tech-driven teachers, act as catalysts of change in various vicinities.

Each DLC can cater to 20-25 students who come from marginalized communities facing socio-economic challenges.

These centers use a 3L approach for learning, that involves:
Learning (L1) - Teacher mentored and digital adaptive learning using tablets and smart TVs.
Lifeskills (L2) - A 4-hour life skill program is conducted every month through interactive virtual sessions by domain expert faculties.
Library (L3) - The centers are equipped with 100-150 books targeting learners between the ages of 11 to 17 years. Storytelling sessions are conducted to generate interest in reading and thereby improve comprehension and critical thinking skills.

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