Is Education in India Really Free?

When I first started field work in West Bengal, I noticed an interesting trend among the young kids with whom ShivaMaya usually works. Whether they are growing up in rural areas or in urban slums, most of these kids are going to school, or at least they are enrolled in a school. The problem, however, is the standard of education that they are receiving in such schools. In India, education is a fundamental right of every child. While the Indian authorities recognize the importance of free and compulsory education, the implementation of this law appears to be faulty.

Many of the parents we encounter often tell us how difficult it is to get their kids admitted in the neighborhood schools. They often ask for exorbitant admission fees and even “donations”, which these poor parents cannot always afford. So, these parents are then forced to take their kids out of school and send them off to work, thereby further aggravating the menace of child labor – another big problem in India. This issue becomes even more complex when the child is a girl. Girls in such families are traditionally considered a burden and any extra spending for girls is seen as wastage. So, they consider it more prudent to commit the evil act of child marriage and marry their daughters off at a very young age. Some girls are even forced to become under-paid domestic workers or are pushed into prostitution, depending on the whims of their respective families.

So, it’s clear that a lot of the problems that the Indian society is trying to solve right now can be tackled better if the country could establish a robust and reliable education system which gives every child the absolute freedom to go to school and have a normal, productive childhood which can enable them to do great things in the future and take their country to new heights. These children are the future of India.

There is a popular idea that India suffers from a brain-drain because all the smart, educated Indians get better opportunities in developed countries and they abandon their nation to earn more money and lead comfortable lives. But, my opinion is that India is capable of becoming one of the most dynamic and advanced nations in the world if it could only create the space for its children to grow up as happy, healthy individuals who genuinely want to contribute towards the betterment of the nation. My earnest wish is that ShivaMaya can also contribute towards creating such a future through its various programs and workshops.