Why is there a Gap between Primary Eduaction and Secondary Education in India

Posted by Divya on June 11th, 2018

The Indian primary education is the biggest system of the world. With a number of policies being made for the extension of primary education, secondary education is the one which lacks effort both from the side of administration and common people.

While the enrolment ratio in the primary education sector sums around 48%, the enrolment ratio for secondary education comes to be 24%.

The growth of Indian economy being laid out on the development and education of the youth, can only be achieved with a number of measures being to taken to promote and establish a greater secondary education system.

While one reason can be of opening more chains of school franchise in India, however a number of reasons make the secondary education system deprived and inefficient.

Financial Aid

It is a well-known fact that higher education goes hard on the pocket. With primary education being free of cost for children in the age group of 6-14 years, secondary education was certain to face this kind of downsizing of enrolment ratio.

Hence, there is a need for the side of the state to at least extend some financial subsidy to students from weaker economical backgrounds.

Lack of Teachers

With a huge disparity between teachers in primary education sector and secondary education sector, students often have no choice to just let go of studies even when they wish to go for higher studies.

With courses and subjects getting tougher in higher education sector, there is growing need for more and more teachers.

However, due to lack of well-trained and qualified teachers, students don’t get proper or sometimes even no teaching faculty for their higher studies.

Child Workers

Despite the ban of child-labourers, a number of children are forced to work in various labour sectors of the economy to support their family.

With most of them being taught to prioritize family and work, a major role for their dropout ratio in secondary studies or not going for secondary studies is their collectively socialized psyche.

While their priorities are set according to the family norms, however, there are few who go out of their to receive education, but owing to lack of opportunities after primary schooling, they also end up changing their mind and focusing on their work.

Sometimes, even the harsh working environment requires greater effort from them and, hence, they get no time to invest in education themselves.

Lack of Schools

This is one of the biggest reason why this whole cycle of substandard secondary education began. While it is important that priorities, psyche, faculty play a role in expansion of secondary education and bringing students and teachers, however, a need for a setting to carry out the task is the initial requisite for the development of secondary education.

The pity state of secondary education is visible with meagre figures of schools offering secondary and higher secondary education. Hence, a need for more school opening must be realized to set secondary education on the right track.

Drop out ratio

In the past decades, there has been an increase in students getting enrolled in schools, however, the count recorded of them after completion of secondary education shows less students being passed than were promoted.

The reason for this state is a large dropout ratio, which occurs almost within a month of joining school for secondary education purposes. While a number of reasons can be responsible for such high numbers of dropouts, this state is even more severe when minorities, marginalised communities and females are taken into account.

While most of them don’t plan on going for higher studies, however, even if they enroll they tend to drop school within a shorter span.

With most of the youth not being able to receive higher education, the nation is and will be faced with major developmental challenges in the near future with almost no positive change in comparison to the present state.

While a major change is in the hands of the people themselves, as they are the ones influencing and controlling their wards to take up economic or marital roles before they even complete their primary education.

However, they can’t be expected to change their perception, if an initial step towards development of schools is not taken.

With less schools available, there is a need of effort from both the government’s side and private side to initiate and escalate the new school opening procedure.