By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

The Gen Z protests in India under the auspices of the Cockroach Peoples’ Party brought to the fore the injustices of the educational system.

The attempt by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to control the protests also revealed the simmering political and economic crises.

In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Pragati K.B. and Somini Sen Gupta write: “The Gen Z protests that convulsed the streets of Indian cities in recent weeks began with dreams dashed in the classrooms of India’s schools” (Aug. 4).

They insist that this is “the Achilles’ heel of India’s demographic promise.”

The reality is that India has the world’s largest youth population.

In principle, this demographic dividend should boost economic growth as most Indian children are attending school.

But the crux of the problem is that millions of them pass out ill prepared for university, let alone for the modern workplace.

The government is under immense pressure to fix a system that leaves many pupils not prepared for the demands of higher education.

At the same time, families are paying more than ever for education and tuition and harbour big ambitions for their future.

This is significant because India’s young demographic – 367 million people between the ages of 15 to 29 – is the largest Gen Z cohort in the world.

Their street protests may have temporarily ended last month with the grudging resignation of India’s education minister, but the rage against the country’s education system remains one of the most serious challenges yet to the 12-year political, economic and social leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A frustrated, demonstrating college student said that they were not learning anything in school – nothing.

“Our schools are not up to the mark” (NYT).

Moreover, access to education remains unequal.

There’s an exodus from government schools into private institutions, further increasing the financial burden for low- and middle-income families.

In addition, families spend dearly on private tutors.

College admissions are intensely competitive, expensive and, in fact, out of reach for the middle class, let alone the poor.

Jobs are scarce, even for the educated.

Currently, never before have so many young Indians been as educated and as connected.

An exhaustive, academic study came to the conclusion: “Creating remunerative and meaningful employment for this highly aspirational cohort is imperative if we are to reap the dividends of demography” (NYT).

With more than a decade in power, Modi with his ‘acche din’ policy promised good days ahead.

But the hopes and aspirations of the young have been dashed to the ground.

Unequal education

According to the latest government assessment of language skills, nearly half of all nine graders in India are unable to summarize the main points of basic texts.

Their scores on math, science and social science are even weaker.

Rural schools are in especially bad shape.

According to an education report, roughly 30 percent of children in eighth grade in rural schools struggle with reading and understanding second grade-level texts.

Around half struggle with basic arithmetic.

The son of a farmer and a high school graduate from a rural district in Uttar Pradesh conceded: “Teachers don’t care whether we are studying, understanding or even coming to school.”

College is out of the question, he said, because paying for extra tuition to crack the college-entrance exams is beyond his family’s means.

Instead, the farmer’s son is preparing to take the army-entrance exam.

Many schools are still without the basics.

Over a lakh schools lack functional electricity, and tens of lakh schools lack a girl’s toilet.

Nearly half of all government secondary schools don’t have science labs.

There is an acute shortage of teachers and many are not properly prepared to teach.

Classroom instruction is primarily dominated by the pressure to just complete the curriculum, at the cost of foundational learning.

And Modi’s BJP government continues to brag about the immense progress made in all sectors!

High costs

India’s Gen Z was born after the opening up of India’s economy under the previous Congress-led central government under Dr. Man Mohan Singh.

Many of them were buoyed into school by a transformative 2009 law that promised free and compulsory primary school education.

Their ambitions are high, as are the ambitions of their parents; so much so that spending on tutors more than doubled between 2017 and 2025.

Many pupils are so weak that without tutoring they cannot progress to the next grade and families have to spend a substantial amount of their monthly income on tutoring. This is especially hard on low-income families.

In another measure of ambition, there’s been a steady exodus from public to private schools.

Intense pressure

Because of the intense pressure to get ahead, it was all but compulsory to pay for private tutors if one wanted to compete in school or get into university.

It is especially gruelling getting into medical or engineering colleges.

Families spent around US $ Dollar 2,000, almost equal to India’s annual per capita income, on a yearlong coaching class to prepare for the medical school entrance examination in 2025.

This year, the entrance examination was scrapped after it was revealed that some questions had been leaked beforehand.

2.2. million students were ordered to take it again later.

“That leak burst the dam of India’s Gen Z fury” (NYT).

There was widespread heartbreak. Many just cannot afford tuition and many committed suicide. The country was then engulfed in protests.

The Modi government has yet to announce how it intends to reform the college-entrance examination system.

Little reward

Today, the cost of getting a medical or engineering degree far exceeds the per capita spending of poor households.

As one frustrated candidate stated: “No matter how well you study, the system finds a way of breaking you” (NYT).

The writer can be reached at: shashimalla125@gmail.com