TOEFL Scholarship Essay

(I composed this essay which was a prerequisite in applying for the TOEFL India Scholarship which I won!The following paragraph in bold was the topic of the essay following which is my response.)

Since Independence it has been India’s dream to ensure all children are enrolled in primary schools. However, drop-out levels are high despite many initiatives, such as

free schooling supported by the government’s Mid-day Meal Scheme. What new initiative would you recommend to ensure minimal schooling, and how would you

implement this initiative? Explain why your recommended initiative will be perceived as relevant by Indian society and why it will be effective.

Education is the most powerful instrument in bringing about social, economic and political change. They don’t say that knowledge is power for nothing. Feudal lords and despots of the past intentionally sought to keep the populace unenlightened as they considered an educated mind a threat to their hegemony. Today, education is a constitutional right in most countries of the world and everyone is entitled to an education regardless of one’s race, religion or nationality. Yet, there are still millions of people who still only dream of going to school and getting an education.

India is one such country where a large chunk of these millions of illiterates still live. Since Independence, the Government of India has implemented several schemes to ensure that the residents of even the remotest of villages get a chance to study. In spite of these initiatives, a large number of Indians still do not attend school. Many of them join a school but drop out after a few years. Urban areas of the country and a few progressive states have a high percentage of literates but the residents of the vast majority of villages cannot even read and write. On several occasions, parents do not let their children, especially girls to go to school as they themselves are uneducated and do not understand the value of knowledge. The Government offers monetary rewards, free housing and free lunches to those families which allow their children to study. However, simply luring people to study without them understanding the priceless nature of an education is futile. Also, there exist several shortcomings in the existing system of education like poor infrastructure, large student faculty ratios and poorly trained, uncompensated teachers. I believe all this is due to poor management of resources allocated for primary education as well as below par governance.

The initiative that I suggest consists of 5 parts:

a) Creating a department of education through an assimilation of elected political officials, officials from the corporate world and officials from NGOs

b) Creating a special fundraising team under the wing of the ministry of education dedicated solely to the task of raising funds from donors and philanthropists throughout the world

c) Making it compulsory for new graduates to undergo a short teaching service commission for a period of 3-6 months

d) Making effective use of educational propaganda to achieve a change in the outlook of the public

e) Modifying the current teaching methodology which underscores rote learning and changing it to education based on problem solving

The existing department which handles both primary and secondary education is the Ministry of Human Resource Development. I suggest a slight overhaul of the governing structure in that it should consist of not just the usual coterie of politicians but officials from the corporate sector and NGOs as well. The government officials should be selected on the basis of elections and portfolios assigned to them by the Prime Minister. Today, most corporations have a department of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate officials in the ministry can be appointed by the elected officials based on their demonstrated CSR. A similar appointment of NGO officials can be made by the elected officials. Additionally, such a structure should be implemented at the union as well as the state or zonal level. Such a hierarchal structure would ensure effective governance of the educational system where corporate officials would be better able to manage funds and officials from NGOs would actually implement the policies and objectives of the ministry because of their interactions with people at the grass roots level. The involvement of government officials would be to ensure that a laissez faire system doesn’t develop.

Further, under the purview of this ministry, I recommend the establishment of a committee dedicated solely to the task of fundraising. Throughout the world, there are several altruistic individuals and organizations which would love to donate money to uplift the destitute and needy. Such a fundraising team can thus be an effective way in reaching out to such individuals. This income along with the compulsory educational tax levied on all goods and services produced and sold in the country; which is already in place, can help raise a sizeable amount of money, which can be used solely for providing better education.

This money which if effectively utilized can help create better infrastructure such as better school buildings, better laboratories, playgrounds and classrooms. Not only can the existing infrastructure be upgraded but new infrastructure can be set up. Salaries of teachers can be raised and they can also be paid on a regular basis thus prompting greater efficiency among the teachers. Also, time and money must be invested for training teachers so that the quality of education received by the children doesn’t suffer. A panel must be appointed to periodically assess the performance of the teachers themselves, in order to ensure that they are up to the mark.

In addition to teachers on a fixed payroll, introducing compulsory teaching for new graduates for a short duration of 3-6 months would help lessen the burden on the existing teachers and would also help reduce the student-faculty ratio. It would also expose the children to outstanding students from elite institutions in the country who could inspire them to continue studying and not drop out prematurely.

The mindset of the Indian public regarding education and work ethics also has to be changed. Only when all minds in the country are tuned to the same thoughts can change resonate through it. Radically changing the way we perceive education is one of the most important ways to garner national support to usher in a revolution in education. This can be achieved by effectively using educational propaganda through advertisements and short movies on not just government television and radio channels but private channels as well. Roping in popular and loved personalities like movie stars and sportsmen to encourage children to study will prove extremely beneficial. Individuals along the length and breadth of the country should be made to believe that denying their children an education is a crime.

Also, the emphasis in the vast majority of Indian Institutions is on learning by memorizing. This technique is the reason why most fresh Indian graduates are not considered to be job ready. Further time and effort has to be invested in brushing up their skills. Being a byproduct of the current educational system in India, I too have studied in the same way. If we continue in this fashion, all of the above initiatives will only partially fulfill our aim of gaining true knowledge. Therefore, the Indian educational system should be gradually changed to one which focuses more on problem solving and obtaining working skills which would prove more beneficial in the real world.

I believe that by implementing this plan, India’s long term objective of achieving cent percent literacy will surely be achieved. Every child in the country will eventually be able to attend school and more importantly complete his or her basic education by which time he or she would surely be able to appreciate its value. I believe that this initiative would prove successful because it is essentially a public private enterprise. Over the last couple of decades, public private enterprises have proved to be very successful in India. Ever since the Indian Government opened up the markets in the country to private entrepreneurs, the economy has flourished. Thus, I feel that this healthy partnership between the government and private companies and NGOs would help India make tremendous progress in education as well. I do not merely say this but I have observed it firsthand. The mid-day meal scheme is a national government enterprise implemented by all state governments in the country. This program which was pioneered by the painstaking efforts of K. Kamaraj, the congress president following the demise of Jawaharlal Nehru, has proved very effective in attracting scores of children to attend school. Yet, in many states, the mid-day meal scheme does not reach maximum efficiency due to gross misappropriation of funds, use of substandard food as well as food wastage. Most of the times, the same preparations are served to the children over and over again which makes the children feel jaded. Poor food quality and adulteration has sometimes resulted in a large number of children falling prey to several diseases. However, in the state of Maharashtra, the mid day meal scheme is managed entirely by the organization ISCKON and it has proved to be one of the most successful implementations of the scheme because of better governance. ISCKON is a not profit organization, albeit a religious one and ensures that the food they serve is of the highest quality. Thus, I believe that my plan coupled with the sustained efforts of all individuals in the country can help us achieve our objective of cent percent literacy and ensuring minimal schooling for all.

The importance of education in India is indubitably very important as we strive to achieve progress and meet our long term goals of eliminating illiteracy and poverty. If India is to achieve the status of a developed nation, it must expedite the process of revamping the educational system. As I mentioned earlier, changing the mindset of the Indian public is essential in making our country a progressive one and thus implementing my plan will have positive repercussions throughout our country.

Where there is true knowledge, there is light. The ancients in India possessed knowledge in abundance which is why our country was an economic, political and cultural superpower in the world at the time until the period of decadence set in. It is thus, the responsibility of the present generation of Indians to restore India’s lost glory and usher in a second golden age in our country which this time, lasts for all eternity.