Student Name: Maher Adoni -- Winner (High School Cohort)

Grade During 2019-2020 Academic Year:11th Grade

Hometown: Champaign, IL

The Democratization of Rural Indian Education

"True education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not a healthy growth." – Mahatma Gandhi

I…                                   INTRODUCTION

My grandmother is the headmaster of Jawahar English Medium school in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The school hosts kids from lower primary to high secondary school. Every morning, kids from across the district come to the building—comprised of three stories right above my grandmother’s house—and walk upstairs up to the teachers, boards, worksheets and lessons waiting for them. 

I had a unique perspective growing up. My family has been quick to take advantage of my summers off ever since I was a kid. I would be free from the “rigors” of grade school—and then I would be swept off to India to visit, and end up spending summer observing school there anyways—and I came to observe things. There would be the kids entering the school walking barefoot, with dusted-up uniforms. I overheard working-class families in my grandmother’s office—tearfully explaining why they couldn’t pay tuition. 

They were located in rural areas, with a near-nonexistent system of schools. These families wanted to secure the best future possible for their children, because where they were, it wasn’t available. My grandmother would waive the tuition. But my mind always wandered to those across the country in the same situation, with nowhere to turn to. 

How could they get the education they deserve?

And how can we help? 

"What is really needed to make democracy function is not knowledge of facts, but right education." – Mahatma Gandhi

II…                                          THE NEED TO DEMOCRATIZE EDUCATION

I firmly believe that the most significant issue facing India today is the fact that the ability to access and utilize a fulfilling, modern education is increasingly out of reach of the rural/working class. Education in India is not democratized. The playing field is skewed, and those in rural India are suffering.

The Parliament of India enacted the Right to Education Act in 2009, declaring that every child of the age of 6 to 14 has the right to a free education. And yes, that seemed like a great step forward. But a decade later, the RTE Act hasn’t resulted in a better education environment for all. In an annual Status of Education report, it was reported that over 50% of rural students in the fifth standard can’t solve basic mathematical processes. The Aser Center of India conducted a study of 30,000 rural youth, and found that in two separate groups of 14-year-old and 18-year-old students, over 40% in each age cohort couldn’t read a basic English sentence. What exactly is causing these deficits in the rural school system?

According to the team behind Education Growth Summit (a forum for discussing Indian education reform), there are a handful of deep-rooted issues with the Indian education system that explain these stats. 

“The problems range from lack of funds necessary to establish educational institutions, primarily in rural areas, to a low standard of education… The worst offender of all, however, is the pitiful infrastructure of the schools…”

The majority of rural schools are working off of a meager budget, cutting every corner they can to save money. That produces a domino effect—because the money is so scarce, the infrastructure suffers as a result. In 2018, 53% of government schools had electricity, and only 28% had access to a computer—which means a whole lot of rural schools will miss out on the modern digital education revolution.

What can the U.S. do to help? And what can the IPA do to target Indian-American philanthropy? What are our next steps?

“If you want to change the world, be that change.” – Mahatma Gandhi

III…                                         WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

How do we get the Indian-American population to believe in and contribute to the cause of rural schooling in India? 

I believe that a campaign centered around awareness and funding for education reform in India is vital. It should be targeted to Indian-Americans of all ages. Older Indian-Americans who have immigrated to the United States can be reminded of the role the Indian education served for them. First and second generation Indian-American youth can be informed about the disparities between the education they receive, and the education rural youth receive in India. And when I say campaign, I mean a campaign using the IPA’s wide reach and resources worldwide—one that can be powerfully channeled through social media to fit the modern age.

Every dollar donated counts—a page could be set up to collect donations for this campaign. Social media awareness would be critical as well—it’s entirely possible to spread this cause and get it to trend worldwide on social media platforms would serve as a big boost. A hashtag, an official account, an official fund—that could really amp up public engagement. I also believe a concentrated effort to create media—shareable videos, etc.—to spread the message would appeal to all kinds of demographics. 

I believe groups in the U.S. could also serve to amplify this message, while working on a solution—by looking at ways to merge what we’ve seen as successful outcomes in the U.S. education system with the Indian education system. Groups like mosques, temples and cultural centers nationwide could take up the message of reform and amplify it through their base -- the same unified campaign I proposed at the individual level. At the same time, I think non-profit educational coalitions and tech companies could serve to help create a more updated curriculum for Indian schools that consists of digital literacy efforts and critical thinking (as opposed to rote learning). A pilot program could be instituted, targeting smaller rural areas in India with pop-up schools following these curriculums. Or sending this curriculum overseas and funding an already existing school to reset and prep students and teachers alike. 

There are groups doing valuable work in this space that I admire. I am excited at the prospect of the US-India Knowledge Exchange, which was founded by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. It’s a program aimed at highlighting the role U.S-based groups can play in order to open up and improve the state of the Indian education system. There is also a group in India called the Digital Empowerment Foundation, running a program called the National Digital Literacy Mission Program. They seek to help rural Indian communities become digitally literate by updating their curriculum to include digital engagement. They aim to make one adult from every one of India’s 147 million rural households digitally literate. 

I am deeply aware of my roots. I am here in this country because of my parents’ hard work, but also because the Indian education system gave them the tools they need to succeed. I wouldn’t be writing this essay without it. I have to be cognizant of the opportunities afforded to me here. And I have to work to channel that privilege into good for the generation growing up in India now. I’m here because of India—a country that is now facing an education crisis. I have to use my perspective as an Indian-American to help it change and grow. 

Seeing my grandmother’s school, seeing those kids walking miles to school barefoot, observing them in class—it has always stuck with me how much potential Indian youth have. They are hard-working, perceptive, genuine people. I want to be a part of the Indian education solution, so I can help ensure that the youth get the future they deserve. 

Works Cited

Counts, Alex, and Bala Venkatachalam. "How 11 Humanitarian Organizations Collaborated to Strengthen Indian Americans' Giving and Impact." Stanford Social Innovation Review, ssir.org/articles/entry/how_11_humanitarian_organizations_collaborated_to_strengthen_indian_americans_giving_and_impact#. Accessed 26 May 2020.

Digital Empowerment Foundation. www.defindia.org/national-digital-literacy-mission/#:~:text=In%20India%2C%20across%20over%206,than%2090%25%20of%20India's%20population. Accessed 30 May 2020.

Education Growth Summit. "Critique of the Right to Education Act." Medium, medium.com/@tegsofficial. Accessed 27 May 2020.

Krishna, Ananye. "The Sorry State of Education in India." Oxford Human Rights Hub, 22 June 2017, ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/the-sorry-state-of-education-in-india/. Accessed 28 May 2020.

Nguyen, Anh, and Martina Mettgenberg-Lemiere. "Funding Education With Impact: How We Can Address Student, Market Needs in India." Next Billion, nextbillion.net/funding-education-impact-can-address-student-market-needs-india/. Accessed 26 May 2020.

"THE RURAL-EDUCATION SCENARIO AND THE RURAL-URBAN DIVIDE IN INDIA." EKAM Foundation, 9 Jan. 2020, www.ekamoneness.org/the-rural-education-scenario-and-the-rural-urban-divide-in-india/. Accessed 27 May 2020.

"Small schools in rural India: 'Exclusion' and 'inequity' in hierarchical school system." SAGE Journals, 15 May 2015, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1478210315579971. Accessed 28 June 2020.

"US | India Knowledge Exchange." US-India Knowledge Exchange, usike.org/.