The inequality in education in India

The context - inequality

I have always known that India is a country of contradictions. We know this to be true in the area of income inequality, social and economic justice and so on. However, in the past six months as a teacher, I have been confronted by the contradictions in India's education system.

On the one hand, we have new age schools coming up incorporating the latest ideas and findings from learning science. And on the other hand, we have more than one lakh schools in India running with only one teacher. Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh have 20000, 8000 and 12000 teaching vacancies respectively.

International schools are all the rage in the cities and metros, where students who may not do great academically still can go abroad for higher education and get an edge on students from rural areas, where even the reading and arithmetic abilities are abysmally low and have in fact deteriorated in the past ten years. In other words, if you are not great academically from a rural area, you have no hope. And academically, you get very little help in terms of infrastructure as well as teachers. Whereas, in the city, even if you are not good academically, you have innumerable opportunities to do well in life. The fluency in English language that is easier obtained in the cities also gives the urban kids an edge over the rural ones. Now, I studied in both a semi urban setup (Bacheli, Chhattisgarh) as well as an urban set up (Bangalore). And I have seen how much more options are afforded to the kids in the cities. And so this is not just inequality. It is a vicious cycle of inequality, where the affluent continue to be so, and the majority of the poor continue to be denied opportunities.

My natural reaction to this inequality is anger. I am angry at the way the world is. I am angry at our education system. I am angry at our country. And I also feel guilty when I see less privileged people. And perhaps this might be some of your feelings too. I have not done anything wrong and I feel guilty. According to this video,

psychologists say that a little bit of guilt feeling is good because it encourages people to act in what they call pro-social ways, where they are concerned about the society, and try to do good and so on.

The responsibility of the privileged

I am not going to focus on the policy possibilities or what the government can do. But rather I want to look at what we as individuals can do.

John Green in the above video asks the question, "what are you going to do with the guilt and the resources you were born with? But do people even feel guilty? Indian cities and especially the corporate world does a brilliant job of keeping you with people like yourself. As the popular adage goes, "ignorance is bliss." This also translates to how people migrate from rural to urban settings but there are extremely rare cases of people migrating from urban to rural settings. Call someone to Bangalore, and it's very easy to get someone to come. Call someone to Balod, Chhattisgarh (where I live now) even for a short visit, and people will hesitate a lot (though funnily, population in the cities is the overwhelming minority). And just so you may not feel guilty about these things and think about quitting your high paying jobs, the mega corporations keep you distracted on netflix, steam gaming, social media, youtube, etc.

But in case one does feel guilty. I believe it is right to take appropriate action. The guilt might just be God given to spur you to do the very thing God gave you those resources and privileges for. One of my friends put up a post on facebook a while back. It was a quote by Jacques Ellul, in 'Money and Power.' I have not read the book myself, but the quote was pretty interesting:

"The wealthy have duties toward others and God. Job lists them: to care for the poor, to consider the needs of people, animals and even things. The rich have a potential that allows them to understand and assist the unfortunate. This is the true price of wealth. This is the only good use they can make of it. Scripture goes even further and speaks of the rights of the poor over the rich...
Thus when when the rich give, they acquire no virtue, no merit; they are only doing their duty. For to give to the poor is only to grant them their rights...whenever they are denied their rights, God's justice must intervene to reestablish them."

It is this Biblical ethic and understanding that spurred the Church through the ages to set up schools, hospitals, and other avenues for societal development. Many missionaries left the safety and comfort of their own home to venture to dangerous and uncomfortable places with the light of the gospel and the burden to help the people there. Much of it was in the past. And much of it still continues on till today, whether we know it or not. But it is vital for each one of us to ask and answer the question: How are we going to fulfill our responsibility towards God and others?

The responsibility of the privileged with respect to education

How does this responsibility apply to the education field? And why do I choose to talk about it now? As a teacher, I want to give my students the best learning experience they can get. And being new to teaching, I try to learn as much as I can about teaching. I read articles, blog posts and find other resources online. Much of it are great resources, but they are all set to the Western context. I find that I cannot implement a lot of it in my classroom. So there is a huge need for good literature and resources to help the Indian student. This is especially true in the 21st century when the world is undergoing massive changes. Kids, even in the villages, grow up familiar with smartphones. At the same time, they are extremely inadequate in their English language capabilities. How do we implement innovative teaching practices in such contexts? Most of the resources online for innovative teaching are not helpful since the context is too different. We teachers need resources (and good training). For this need for resources and literature to be met, we need brilliant minds with good exposure. I don't want to sound elitist and condescending, but from my experience here I can say that cities have more such people than villages generally. And until people from cities are willing to move to semi urban and rural settings, it's going to be difficult.

But I teach in a private school. What about the Government schools? There is a Government school less that 5 kilometers from my house, where 80 to 90 students are there in a general 9th grade classroom. And there are students who cannot write a single word. The Principal was telling us that she is trying to make the kids draw shapes such as triangles to teach them to write letters of the alphabet such as A. So there is a huge need for good policy makers in the Government. Or perhaps one can work even outside the Government through NGOs, like Operation New Hope and their work in Ladakh shows. Even such operations require people with vision who have the ability to think and solve systemic problems.

Conclusion

I could go on, but I think I have made my point. There is a lot of need, when it comes to education. And I'm sure the need is also in other areas such as rural community development, urban slum community development, healthcare and so on and so forth. Perhaps, you could come down to Balod where I live (please come here 😛) or go elsewhere. Or maybe stay where you are. But the question does remain. What are we doing with the resources we have been given? After all, to whom much was given, of him much will be required [Luke 12:48]

P.S.

This entire post may have been motivated by a desire to see some of my friends come down to Balod. (I'm lonely here 😐 Just kidding 😅). I see a great need here, both in the school and elsewhere. And for some reason, people are too reluctant to make such a commitment to come here. But I do also want people to think more on such issues.

Rejoice in the melody you make

Unless you're strung
And you're struck,
You cannot make melody.
So the Master strings you
And strikes you.
Rejoice in the melody you make
For the Master.

Unless you're hollowed,
God's breath cannot fill you,
And you cannot make melody.
So the Master hollows you
And breathes in you.
Rejoice in the melody you make
For the Master.

Are our lives too busy?

I was having a conversation with a friend, who was telling me about her busy schedule and how she was finding it difficult to balance the various aspects of her life. Being a big manga fan, my mind immediately went to various shonen manga, where the sensei says that to be more efficient one needs to cut down unnecessary movements. I tried to apply this to life, where we have a lot of small unnecessary activities which slow us down and eat into our time. This could be as small as checking our instagram feed. But what does the Bible have to say about it? I believe there are two aspects to consider here.

I. The first aspect is discipline.

Why do we need discipline? The Bible more than once employs two metaphors to describe the Christian walk. It is compared to a soldier (Eph 6:10-18; I Tim 6:12; II Tim 2:3; II Tim 4:7), as well as to an athlete (II Tim 2:5; Heb 12:1; I Cor 9:25). Both these roles require a lot of discipline. Athletes have strict dietary restrictions; they wear clothing that allows them to train and perform more efficiently; they have strict schedules; and they cannot slack off in training even a single day if they are to maintain peak performance. Soldiers similarly cannot get involved in civilian affairs (II Tim 2:4); need to maintain their physical fitness; wear the full armour (Eph 6:10-18); and march in files as a mark of their discipline. In fact, during the time Paul wrote the epistles, Roman army was already famous for its superior discipline.

There are two aspects of discipline we can see from these metaphors. One, there are things we must do, and two, there are things we must avoid. Let's look at the athlete. He has to work out every day. He does various drills and exercises as part of his training. If he slacks off, he can not survive in the competitive field for long. He cannot afford to exercise just once a week. It's a daily effort. Similarly, the Christian cannot slack off in his Bible reading or prayer. It's a daily exercise which cannot be compromised. And just like the athlete when he develops disciplined schedules (fixed times for waking up, reading the Word, etc.), he will be more effective in his training (I Tim 4:8).

The athlete also has to avoid various things. For instance, junk food. If he eats junk food and has an unhealthy diet, it will adversely affect his performance. Similarly, the Christian has to avoid things that could slow down his sanctification. He has to be serious about avoiding every unnecessary thing in his life. That could be watching movies or TV shows, getting involved in extra curricular activities at College more than required, hanging out with friends more than required, spending time on social media or other addictions. Do all (whether eating or drinking, playing or talking, sleeping or singing, etc.- all) for the glory of God (I Cor 10:31). That also means: anything that does not bring glory to God needs to go out from my life.

II. The second aspect is being an active Christian.

I know that this could be categorized under the first aspect of discipline. But I felt it necessary to put it in a separate point because there is a lot to say here. In the parable of the talents (Mathew 25:14-30), we see the master is not happy with the third servant. What was his mistake? He certainly did not commit a big sin, such as fraud or murder. He did not steal the money given to him, but dutifully returned it to his master. What then was his mistake? His mistake was that he was not active in his discipleship. He did not make himself busy for the work of the Master.

I fear that a lot of us may often think that avoiding sin, reading my Bible and praying daily, and going to Church regularly is enough. Sadly it is not. One of my mentors says that there is a joy in being worn out for the Lord. Paul says that he was poured out as a drink offering (II Tim 4:6; Phil 2:17)). He says that he beats his body and brings it into subjection (I Cor 9:27). It is very active. In other words, if I am busy because in addition to my work, I have Church activities or other ministries, don't complain about it. That is how it should be.

I have been an utter failure in this regard for many many years. By God's grace, I feel I am growing but have yet a long long way to go. But because I fail, I should in no way reduce the bar. I should instead rely on his grace more and keep striving.

If my life is too busy, there might be a lot of junk activities I need to get rid of. And then when I have gotten rid of them, I still need to be busy for the Lord, actively seeking the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. May we all seek to do so day in and day out for the glory of His name.