Learning Crisis at Elementary School Level in India: Need for Systemic Interventions

Abstract

Right to Education is considered to be empowering each and every child of the nation by bringing educational opportunity to their doorsteps. Developing countries have made tremendous progress in getting children into schools. But learning is not guaranteed. Evidences suggests that children who are in school are not learning the basics of literacy and numeracy or the additional knowledge and skills necessary for their all-round development as specified in the policies. An estimated 617 million children and adolescents around the world are unable to reach minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. Without foundational learning, students often fail to thrive later in school or when they join the workforce. World Bank also indicated that we are in the midst of a global learning crisis that threatens countries’ efforts to build human capital – the skills and know-how needed for the jobs of the future. This learning crisis is the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship. In India also, where GER at elementary level is 100%, more than fifty percent of children are ‘learning poor’. This paper is an attempt to highlight the dynamics of the learning crisis in India in terms of its antecedents and repercussions. Further, evidence based systemic interventions have been proposed to eliminate the present and future crises, and ensure that every child learns.