Crows are black until we find a white crow

Crows are black until we find a white crow

The debate on the future of education in India has never been as intense as it was in the last week. Earlier, it was limited to a few experts, politicians and academics. But now, the debate is happening all over - in media outlets, on social media and at our dinner table. The publication of an article on Delhi Education in The New York Times has been debated widely among people. The article was written by an Indian journalist and it talks about how the Delhi Education system has provided quality education to students. The article also talks about how the system was overhauled and teachers were motivated. The publication of this article in a prestigious newspaper like The New York Times has sparked a debate among people who are concerned about the future of education in India.

Public debate for democracy is like oxygen for life. Democracy cannot survive without healthy debate and discussions on the matter of important issues. Unfortunately, Education was seen as sacrosanct and thus out of public discourse. This led to a significant decline in the status of the Public Education system across the country. Thanks to a new Politics of Education that the debate has begun! Ultimately, it’s the common people who benefit from such debates.

Who should participate?

The answer is— all of us! As a citizen of this country, it’s a matter of concern for all of us. The lives of 280 million children are directly related to the kind of public discourse we have. Keeping it out of the public debate is itself a political attempt to evade responsibility for ensuring good public education. Because of the loaded meaning the word "politics" carries, many of us wish to keep education out of politics. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Education is always political. The option to differentiate it comes from the privilege. The privileged class don’t want to see a relationship between politics and education. Maintaining the status quo is in their favour. But, this is against the larger interest of the nation. The development of the selected few cannot ensure the development of the nation. For a nation to develop, we need a provision of quality education for the mass. This is not possible unless we start understanding and talking about the politics of education.

Why do we need to discuss Education?

The Economic Times reports that on average in India, parents spend 30 lakh on the education of a child. It simply means that most of us cannot afford it. The whopping expenses on education are a burden that most of us can't bear in a country where a monthly income of Rs. 25000 puts us in the top 10 percent of the population. Especially when inflation is over 7% and people are feeling the excruciating heat of inflation. Education has to be debated, there has to be a greater provision for quality public education by the government.

Until we find a white crow, crows are black

An interesting argument is made that the Government cannot ensure quality services because of inherent challenges. Thus, we need to transfer essential services to the private sector. The success of Public Education in Delhi has significantly refuted this claim. We can claim that all crows are black until we find a white crow. The moment we find a white crow, the assertion that crows are black gets refuted. The success of Delhi Education is like a white crow. It has refuted the claim that the government school system cannot deliver quality education.

Let’s debate it.

With the new politics of education, it is expected that the debate will grow deeper and wider further. It is an opportunity for all of us to take part in it and ensure that together we develop a Public Education System that ensures quality education for all. In a democracy, if politics carries a bad name, it’s because we don’t make an effort to reconstruct its meaning. Let's participate in the politics of education. Your views through different social media platforms matter and it adds to the ongoing debate. Let's debate it for the sake of our 280 million children, let's debate it for the sake of our nation!