The number of Indians in the 6-19 age group is 375 million. And they have a common need -- education. But they aren't getting enough of it.
In an article, Business Week (Jan 31, 2005) called India "a nation of dropouts." The facts bear out the stark reality. "While 96% of India's children enroll in primary school, by the age of 10 about 40% have dropped out, says the education department. Just over a third of high school students graduate."
The challenge
Every year 25 million new Indians are ready to join the schooling system. The country has a million schools -- most of them in rural areas and government-run.
Here teachers and teaching leave much to be desired. India's education challenge is huge and conventional solutions may not work.
We need out-of-the-box thinking for speedy, quality and affordable education. This is where technology can play a role.
The education value chain can be thought of as comprising three elements: content creation (and/or aggregation), distribution (or communication), and testing.
Let us consider each of these elements independently.
Writing on his blog at Deeshaa.org, my colleague, Atanu Dey, advocates a shift from the teacher-centric model to a learning-centric model.
"The learning-centric model recognizes these two basic truths: that the universe is connected, and that every student is unique. . . Although the basic material is accessible to students is common, the path that a specific student takes is unique to the student."
In a dynamic world of rapid change, the most important thing is to learn how to learn. This is what we have to do with the content that needs to be created and aggregated.
The Web has a vast array of incredibly good content which can make learning a delight. But this content needs to be identified from among the average and even poor quality stuff that is out there.
In addition, there are amazing teachers who can simplify even the most difficult of concepts. We should be able to make videos of their teaching so their power and reach is multiplied many times over.
So, the underlying principle for content creation and aggregation is of identifying the best and re-using it across the spectrum of schools.
This will not be a cheap process, but considering the fact that the cost can be amortised over tens of millions of students each year for the foreseeable future, it will be a small cost per student.
The next challenge is content distribution. This is where we can look at multiple approaches. The interactive content can be made available on computers at the school for local access, without the need to rely on real-time connectivity.
Teaching videos can be broadcast (or narrowcast) over television - via cable, satellite or the Internet. In fact, broadband can make possible IP-TV, which can then enable the distribution of content on-demand from central servers to schools.
The quality content created can also be distributed over other media -- printed and electronic.
Testing is the third leg of the education system. Through the education process, it provides feedback to students, teachers, parents and administrators about the areas that need improvement.
As part of a certification process, it provides a quality of assurance to prospective employers at the end of the value chain. As such, instruction needs to be separated from testing to prevent conflict of interest.
Educated economy
Education is the best investment we can make in building our tomorrow. As Dey puts it: "Education is the lynchpin which holds the entire economic machinery together. . . Show me any economy that has ever done well, and I will show you that at its foundation is an educated population."
"I grant you that for short periods of time due to special circumstances, an economy may flourish without an educated workforce, such as an economy buoyed by a natural resource such as oil. But it is a hollow sort of an economy and cannot survive in the long run."
It is not just money that is needed. A mix of disruptive thinking and new technologies are needed to deliver quality education to an increasingly aspirational India.
This must be our promise and commitment to Generation Next.
The author is a dedicated entrepreneur from India who became an icon after the success of IndiaWorld.com
