Q. When we consider the work of educationists in school education, it is primarily to improve the quality of education; why should they be concerned about socioeconomic aspects? Would such concerns not divert their attention? 

A: A majority of educationists and education practitioners who try to improve the access to, and quality of school education understand the importance of socioeconomic contexts. However, let me explicitly focus on the connections between education and social context. 

One major challenge that countries like India face is that a sizeable section of children do not complete schooling. Nearly half of all the children of school-going age in India, do not complete ten years of schooling successfully. These include those who do not enrol in primary and secondary grades, those who drop out in the latter, and those who fail the 10^th-grade examination. A set of educationists may argue that children are not attending school regularly and hence, drop out since the education is not attractive or joyful enough. This is true but all systematic studies globally have shown that children drop out of school due to one or more familial, social, and economic reasons. These may include poverty, ill health, gender norms (which may prevent girls from attending schools and completing secondary education), discrimination prevalent in certain contexts, etc. The occupation of parents (like migrant workers) is not very conducive to the education of their kids. Though the poorer parents want education for their children, many among them cannot ensure that their children attend school regularly. Irregular attendance leads to children dropping out of school. There is also a set of poorer parents who think that the completion of school education may not lead to an improvement in the life of their children, and hence may encourage, or be indifferent when their wards drop out of secondary education and take up paid work. Hence, the connection between non-completion of schooling and socioeconomic contexts is obvious to most practitioners. 

There is a connection between the quality of school education and socioeconomic context too. It is true that the quality of school education depends on whether there are enough teachers, what teachers do in the classroom if students enjoy the classroom interactions, whether teachers take care of the learning differences among their students in their pedagogy, and so on. However, the learning outcomes (a measure of the quality of education) depend on several socioeconomic aspects too. Studies have noted that children getting additional learning support at home is an important factor in determining learning outcomes. Less educated parents may not be able to provide such support. Those who have disposable income may arrange private tuition, but it may not be possible for all poorer parents. There can be a few intangible aspects too which may determine learning outcomes as evident from studies from different parts of the world. Do parents ask children about their learning and activities in school? What are their aspirations for the education of their children? Do they discuss this with their children? All these aspects which are reflections of family and socioeconomic conditions are important in determining the quality of education.

Even if we focus on what goes on in school, these can also be reflections of the socioeconomic and political environment. Whether the school has enough teachers and if they come to teach regularly may depend on parent’s interest and ability to exercise their voice. Their ability to demand and the willingness of elected representatives to respond to their demands matter greatly in ensuring that enough teachers are appointed, and other facilities are provided in the school. So overall, if the objective is to improve the quality of school education, it is grossly inadequate to focus only on classroom transactions. The fact that certain states in India perform relatively well in school education compared to others also indicates the role of politics and governance. The role of these socioeconomic and political factors is also evident from the relatively better educational status of certain countries.

Q: Why should development practitioners be concerned about education? 

A: It is a well-recognised fact that development does not depend only on economic growth and that is why there is a greater interest in human development. Conceptually, education and healthcare are crucial components of human development, and the measurement of human development takes into account education indicators (such as average years of schooling of the population) and healthcare (life expectancy). 

The completion of school education by the majority is important for the availability of enough skilled people in the economy which has a bearing on personal incomes and also the development of the economy. Education is an important contributor to inclusive economic development. Development practitioners may perceive the importance of education in multiple ways and their development practice, some work towards enhancing access to education, for example, prevention of child labour so children can attend school; education of girls to check the population growth rate and reduce infant mortality (needed to enhance the life expectancy of the population as a whole). 

Social activists have tried out different pathways including mobilising people and violent revolutions for social change in the past. However, historical experience shows that such revolutions or regime changes may not be sustainable and there can be reversals. On the other hand, the spread of education can be a steady pathway for social change, which is the reason why scholars like Amartya Sen lay so much emphasis on the capabilities and functioning of people as part of their empowerment. 

The answer to the previous question indicates that underdevelopment is against education. The fact that people are poor, and their children’s work is important for their survival, leads to the non-use of education and this non-use of education by a section of people leads to the persistence of underdevelopment. Hence, there is a need to break this vicious cycle if development is to be achieved and here the connection between education and development is paramount. 

Q: The impact of poverty on school education and the role of education in human development are well known. Is there a need to understand the linkages between education and development beyond these known connections? 

A: Yes, let me highlight the importance of this connection by taking two not-very-obvious challenges from both education and development. 

We all know that many parents in India want English-medium education for their children. This is an important reason for the flow of students from government to private schools. Even poorer parents use fee-paying private schools which have minimal infrastructure and (very often) unqualified teachers, just because these provide English-medium education. How do we understand this situation? There are many misconceptions about the importance of the English language. Many consider that it is needed to succeed in a global economy. This is untrue if we consider China which is more successful than India in the global market. The manufacturing of globally demanded products in China is done in the Chinese language. Another line of thought is that India needs a common language for a common economic entity. This is also invalid if we take the European Union as an example. Others argue that the impact of colonialism (hence, English) has persisted through the 70 years of independence. The fact is that even though the state governments started focusing on regional languages after independence, the demand for English did not decline. There must be some other socioeconomic reason for the persistence of the higher demand for English in India and this will be discussed in another Q&A note in this series. 

There are several challenges in India’s higher education. Though the enrolment rate is only 25 percent, a majority of those who complete school education successfully, go for higher education (which is not the case even in many developed countries). However, there is a higher level of unemployment among people with higher education. One can see people with graduate, post-graduate and even doctoral education competing for jobs, such as police constables and clerks which do not require higher education. The quality of instruction in most colleges is unsatisfactory, and students focus on getting degrees and not knowledge. Even to understand these problems, there is a need to connect these with India’s socioeconomic context. 

Many observers of Indian politics and democracy note higher levels of corruption and ill-governance prevailing in the country. What could be the reasons for the persistence of these problems and how can this situation change? This may not be due to the non-availability of laws and institutions since India has been creating more of these to combat corruption over time. But is still not unusual for people to vote for corrupt politicians, or for sections of poorer people to take cash for votes. However, it is noted that in contexts where middle-class voters constitute the majority, there is a greater concern about corruption in electoral choices. Therefore, the role of education and its contribution to the creation of middle-class, cannot be avoided in these discussions. 

There is a global concern about the unsustainability of development and how to make it sustainable. How is the latter possible? Many people view education as an important tool for this purpose. There are attempts to include environmental concerns as part of education. Have these efforts been effective? People who are interested in sustainable development should be concerned about this question. 

In summary, there are multiple benefits in understanding the possible interlinkages between education and development. 

Q: How does an understanding of the linkages between education and development help policymaking and practice in education?

A: Policies or actions to improve the educational status in the country need to be galvanised in both domains – education and development. Better schools (with better and trained teachers, good quality infrastructure, appropriate curriculum, joyful pedagogy, a non-discriminatory school environment, etc.) are important to address these issues. However, this necessitates socioeconomic changes. A well-functioning Public Distribution System (PDS) and effective implementation of the Employment Guarantee Act may encourage parents to send their children to school. Parents’ literacy may enable them to take a greater interest in their children’s education. Changes in gender norms are necessary to overcome the current situation in which girls outnumber boys among dropouts from secondary schools. The deepening of democracy is needed to see that there are enough teachers, and they are motivated to do their jobs well. Policies and actions are needed on all these aspects even if the purpose is to improve the access to and quality of education. 

Q: How does an understanding of the linkages between education and development help the development practice?

A: Those who are interested in addressing poverty and ill-health, improving livelihoods, and quality of life, and achieving inclusive economic development have to take certain actions in the domain of education, for example, ensure that all girls get at least secondary school education to check population growth and reduce infant mortality rate; ensure the quality of school education to improve the quality of workforce, which in turn will promote inclusive economic development. Education of girls and less privileged groups is an important factor in reducing different kinds of discrimination in society. Formal and informal education contribute to the creation of a citizenry that is capable of demanding and achieving better governance.

The key insights of the interlinkages of education and development is that education and development are part of an equilibrium. Each contributes to the other, and the underachievement in one will cause deficiencies in the other and improvements in both domains must take place simultaneously.

Q: What is your professional experience that has encouraged you to argue for a course on ​‘Education and Development: Interlinkages’ (EDIL)?

I am not an educationist by training and during the first half of my career. I was a social scientist whose interest was in issues of human development. However, I developed a strong interest in issues of educational underachievement when I became part of Azim Premji University. The fact that nearly 50 percent of teenagers in India did not complete school education even in 2010, came to me as a shock and encouraged me to pursue studies on those children who drop out and their socioeconomic conditions. These studies identified the constraints faced by different underprivileged social groups in terms of accessing and getting quality education. These groups include the rural poor, lower castes, and religious minorities.^[1] 

One such group is the tribal or adivasi people who face severe constraints in terms of access to and quality of education, but there is a widely recognised disconnect between their lives and the education that is available to them in our schools.^[2] These include the non-availability of education in their own languages; adivasi households having very little ownership of the education system that caters to the requirements of their children. This situation has encouraged me to conduct a set of comparative studies on the education of adivasi population in India and that of indigenous people and other such groups in Latin America and other countries.^[3] I have also looked at the transformation of education for the Roma people in Europe.^[4] There have been some experiments in India which attempt to provide an ​‘appropriate education’ to adivasi children. Some of these have been documented by me and my colleagues and are available here. 

These experiences have encouraged me to reread the historical development of education in the region.^[5] This could bring out the role of pre-colonial social context and colonial education in shaping the post-colonial trajectories of education in South and Central Asia.^[6] A related issue can be seen in the language or the medium of instruction. I have tried to understand the socioeconomic reasons which increase the demand for English-medium education in India.^[7] All these experiences and studies serve as the background for the preparation of the learning materials of this course. 

Q: How can one get insights into interlinkages between education and development? 

I intend to prepare around 20 Q&A notes like this one covering different aspects of this subject. These will include the following: 

• Who drops out of Indian schools? (What personal, familial, and socio-economic factors lead to this?) 
• Who may not be learning well in India? 
• How did other countries address these problems and improve their educational status? 
• What may be the reason for the better performance of certain Indian states in terms of education? 
• What could be the reasons for the relatively poor performance of other Indian states in this regard? 
• Why do we see a greater dependence on private schools in India than in the US or Europe? 
• Can a dependence on private schools address the challenges of school education in India? Why not? 
• What may be driving the demand for English-medium education in India?
• What can be the role of technology or online education? 
• What can be attempted by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and philanthropic foundations in education? 
• What is the connection between the challenges of Indian school education and higher education?

One can take these Q&A notes as part of an open-access online course. This is mainly intended to help readers understand the linkages between education and development, acquire the ability to apply what they have learnt in a new context, and think through and design policies and actions to improve the educational status in those contexts where they work. Each of the following notes may have an assignment that may help the reader evaluate one’s assimilation of learning materials. 

Author

Santhakumar V is former professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. 

References

Santhakumar, V., Gupta, N., & Sripada, R. 2016. Schooling for All in India: Can We Neglect the Demand? Oxford University Press.

Shephard, K., & Santhakumar, V. 2023. Universities with a Social Purpose: Intentions, Achievements and Challenges. Springer. 
https://​link​.springer​.com/​b​o​o​k​/​1​0​.​1​0​0​7/978 – 981-99 – 8960‑7

Shephard, K., Kalsoom, Q., Gupta, R., Probst, L., Gannon, P., Santhakumar, V., Ndukwe, I.G., & Jowett, T. 2021. Exploring the relationship between dispositions to think critically and sustainability concern in HESD. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 22(5), pp.1166 – 1185. 
https://​www​.emer​ald​.com/​i​n​s​i​g​h​t​/​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​d​o​i​/​1​0​.​1​1​0​8​/​I​J​S​HE-07 – 2020-0251/full/html

Santhakumar, V. 2022. Education in South Asia. In C.C. and A.W. Wiseman (Eds.), World Education Patterns in the Global South: The Ebb of Global Forces and the Flow of Contextual Imperatives. Emerald Publishing Limited. pp. 59 – 78.
https://​www​.emer​ald​.com/​i​n​s​i​g​h​t​/​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​d​o​i​/​1​0​.​1​1​0​8​/​S​1​4​7​9​-​3​6​7​9​2​0​2​2​0​0​0​0​4​3​B​0​0​4​/​f​u​l​l​/html

Santhakumar, V. 2020. Education in India. In R. Yule, N. McKay, J. Seroto, M.N. Davids, C.C. Wolhuter (Eds.), Decolonising Education in the Global South: Historical and Comparative International Perspectives. Pearson.

Santhakumar, V. & Wolhuter, C.C. 2020. Language of learning and teaching in South Africa and India: A comparative study. In C.C. Wolhuter (Ed.), Critical Issues in South African Education: Illumination from International Comparative Perspectives from the BRICS Countries. AOSIS Publishing.

There are about one hundred articles which assess the practices in the domain of education published under University-Practice Connect on the Azim Premji University website. 

Featured photo by Marwan Ahmed on Unsplash