📘 Research White Paper
Title: The Politics of Pedagogy: Comparing Government and Private Education in Post-2014 India
Author: Akshat Agrawal | June 2025
🔍 Executive Summary
This white paper investigates the closure of nearly 90,000 government schools in India since 2014, the overwhelming share of closures in BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and the broader socio-political, economic, and ideological factors shaping India’s education crisis. By contrasting state-run institutions with private English-medium schools, this paper argues that the notion of "quality education" has been hijacked by market-based models and WhatsApp-driven narratives, displacing inclusive, value-based learning with exclusionary, performative literacy.
📊 Key Data Points
- 89,441 government schools shut down in India between 2014–2024
- 60% of these closures occurred in Uttar Pradesh (25,126) and Madhya Pradesh (29,410)
- Over 2 crore children dropped out from classes I to VIII (2021–2024)
- English-medium private school enrollments have grown at ~10% CAGR in urban India
- States with lowest closures: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh — also those with better learning outcomes
🧠 Defining “Quality Education”: A Cultural and Political Question
"Logical or illogical depends upon what you call quality education."
This question strikes at the heart of the issue. Is quality defined by:
- Fluency in English?
- Access to elite job markets?
- Moral and civic grooming of citizens?
- Rootedness in constitutional and cultural values?
Post-2014, “quality” has been increasingly associated with Anglophone elitism, commodified learning (e.g., Byju’s, Unacademy), and performance metrics that ignore equity, inclusion, or character-building.
🏫 Comparison: Government vs. Private English-Medium Schools
| Criteria | Govt. Schools (State-run) | Private English-Medium Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | Nominal (₹10–₹100/month) | High (₹1,000–₹25,000/month and above) |
| Language of Instruction | Hindi/regional, some English | Predominantly English |
| Student Demographics | Rural, poor, marginalized castes/tribes | Urban/middle class, upper castes |
| Teacher Qualification | Often better (TET, B.Ed mandatory) | Variable (many untrained teachers) |
| Accountability | Transparent (RTI, audits) | Private boards, minimal oversight |
| Dropout Rate | Rising due to closures, migration | Low, but only for those who can afford fees |
| Infrastructure | Varies; often inadequate | Better buildings, but not always pedagogically superior |
| Civic Values & Ethics | Strong grounding in constitutional values, Gandhian ethos | Largely absent; focus on competition & status |
| Medium of Political Propaganda | Lower (informed teachers resist bias) | Higher (religious-nationalist bias via curriculum choices or peer group influence) |
⚖️ Why the Mass Closure of Government Schools is a Crisis
1. Disempowering the Rural Poor
These schools served as the only pathway to upward mobility for millions of Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs. Their closure pushes them either into:
- Subpar private schools with no quality assurance, or
- Complete dropout and child labor
2. Urban Migration ≠ Educational Access
Ravi Bale rightly points to urban migration and fertility decline, but this doesn't justify abandoning entire regions. Migrant children often end up in overcrowded slum schools or no schools at all.
3. Privatization of Education = Commercialization of Childhood
The rise of "ed-tech" and "smart English schools" turns learning into transactional consumerism, often reinforcing caste-class divides.
📖 Cultural Reflection: Learning Beyond Literacy
You, the author, are a product of a value-based government education, which instilled in you humility, respect for teachers, music, and simplicity. The current saffron education push undermines:
- Secularism
- Critical thinking
- Mother-tongue learning
- Indian pluralist pedagogy
🧯 The WhatsApp University Model
The parallel "education system" promoted through social media and WhatsApp forwards:
- Spreads historical revisionism
- Undermines scientific temperament
- Propagates xenophobia under the garb of patriotism
🧩 Recommendations
1. Moratorium on School Closures
Central and state governments must immediately stop closing rural schools.
2. Rural Education Task Force
Create a decentralised task force with retired teachers, panchayat leaders, and alumni of govt schools.
3. Public Funding over Ed-Tech
Massive redirection of budget from surveillance-based digital classrooms to teacher training, midday meals, and mother-tongue learning.
4. Resurrect Gandhian Nai Talim
India must revisit Gandhi’s model of "learning with the hands", combining vocational skill with spiritual grounding.
📚 References
- ASER Report 2023 – https://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER2023
- UNESCO Education Monitoring India Report 2022
- Pratham NGO School Closure Data – www.pratham.org
- Scroll.in – "Why Govt Schools Are Being Shut in BJP States"
- The Hindu – "The Silent Crisis in Indian Rural Education"
- NITI Aayog SDG Report Card 2024 – https://niti.gov.in
📣 Conclusion: "Nahi Padhega India" or “Sab Padhega Bharat”?
This is not just an education debate — it’s a civilizational turning point. Are we building an India that educates its people, or merely an economy that filters them? The closure of schools may appear as data, but it is the burial of dreams for generations. We must rise to defend real education — rooted, just, and inclusive.
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