Schooling not enough.

fiogf49gjkf0d

Higher spending on education is not improving dismal outcomes India came 72nd of 73 nations in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) competition, despite fielding students from its best states, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The dismal quality of Indian education is confirmed by the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Throwing money (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) and legislation (Right to Education Act) at education has produced no quality gains at all. Abhiyan spending is up from Rs.7,166 crore in 2005-06 to Rs.21,000 crore last year, yet parents are shifting wholesale from free government schools to private options (schools and tuition). In the last five years, private school enrolment has gone from 18.7% to 25.6% of the total, with Kerala already at 54%. The shift has not, however, improved dismal learning outcomes. Half the Class V children cannot read Class II texts, and 40% of Class V children cannot solve a two-digit subtraction. This represents a fall in outcomes, especially in Government schools in the Hindi belt. Higher spending by the Government and parents has not yielded better outcomes. Many studies suggest that private schools have better outcomes, but the shift to private education has not achieved that at a macro-level. In 13,000 schools visited by surveyors, student absenteeism was 50% and teacher absenteeism 45%: neither seem motivated.