[I reviewed “The Smart and the Dumb: The Politics of Education in India” for YouthKiAwaaz].
When I visited government schools, especially in rural areas, I was often asked to speak to the high school students. The intention of the headmaster was clear- they wanted me to give a motivational talk on how education was the passport to a better future; a means to move not just themselves but their entire family into a more aspirational circle. Yet this was the one thing I could never bring myself to do.
However, much we may want to believe it, education is not a silver bullet, certainly not in India. While education was expected to be the great leveller, it has instead created a different kind of inequity, one that is more insidious, because it is invisible. “What is the point of education?” “What does education mean to different people?” These are some of the questions that Vishal Vasanthakumar examines in his book, “The Smart and the Dumb: The Politics of Education in India.”
When policy makers or educators think about education in India, they first look at the numbers. But while there is a lot of data available, statistics alone doesn’t tell the whole story. For instance, the data tells you that more than 90% of children in India are enrolled in schools, but data also tells you that a large percentage of students in (and beyond) grade 5 struggle with basic literacy and numeracy which should have been accomplished in grade 2.
Clearly the truth is somewhere between these two data sets. And it is this truth that the book seeks to uncover. The author spent many weeks understanding the many aspects of education in India, and the issues he has brought the issues to light through impactful case studies.
Challenges in Pedagogy and Social Capital
Perhaps the greatest challenge in India today is around the quality of pedagogy and teaching. Do we have a sufficient number of schools, are there enough teachers teaching in those schools, are the teachers competent to teach, does the curriculum address the needs of education, is our grading system adequate and accurate, and (perhaps most importantly) does our system prepare students for success in life. These are the questions that policymakers and educationalists contend with on a daily basis; and each of these issues is brought to life in this book.
The book also talks about how India has literally set up an industry around entrance exams, where the worth of a person is reduced to how well they perform in these national and state level entrance exams. When you need to pass an entrance exam for everything from getting admission into professional colleges to getting a coveted government job, the focus of education shifts from acquiring knowledge and skills to acquiring the ability to pass an exam.
Isn’t such a system designed to fail? Doesn’t the proliferation of coaching centres like the ones in Kota help people were already privileged to do well in the exams, though not necessarily in life or learning. What of somebody who does not have access to the kind of money and the kind of resources needed to go to the centres. How will they measure up against a definition of success they can never attain?
The author has also gone deep into the issue of social capital, where people who have the privilege of being born into a certain caste or class genuinely believe that their intrinsic worth is responsible for their success, while ignoring the social networks and the cultural background that helps them at every stage. These are the same people who oppose affirmative action because they believe that it will snatch away the opportunities they feel entitled to.
As the author puts it, “by continuously peddling the myth of meritocracy in a neoliberalized world where opportunities are getting farther and farther out of reach, the politics of education become a politics of humiliation where regret and comparisons are constantly provoked.”.
Curriculum, Women’s Challenges, and Conflict Zones
The book also questions the curriculum, especially the social science curriculum. Instead of creating an environment where students learn by debating and questioning, our curriculum has always reflected the political ideology of the period. In the early days of the republic, the curriculum was used as a tool for nation building and students were taught that their identity as Indians superseded their tribal, religious or linguistic identity.
Today, the predominant ideology is one of hyper-nationalism, which seeks to erase inconvenient parts from history. Both these ideologies have, in different ways, marginalised the already marginalised sections of society. Is either the right way to teach social science?
The author devotes two chapters to specific challenges that women face. Many women especially from marginalised backgrounds struggle to access education for a host of cultural, physical, social and financial reasons. This is a vicious cycle because education will continue to be deprioritised for women till the status of women improves, yet for the status of women can only improve if they have access to education.
The other issue which is not discussed at all is the expectations from mothers, especially mothers of children with a learning disability. Why does society put the burden entirely on the mothers? Why are mothers expected to do so much more? Why do they feel so much guilt? Is it because our education system is not equipped to deal with anybody, who is not, exactly confirming the definition of normal?
The author also talks about the role of education in conflict zones, and the dire need for adequate trauma counselling.
Takeaways and Reflection
The book does not offer solutions, because the author acknowledges that the “problems of education in India are diverse and are being handled by some of the best in the world.” Instead, what the book attempts to do is the explain the challenges, and invite the reader to engage with the fundamental question- “What do we educate for and who’s needs are served by education.” It is only by understanding and engaging with these questions that education can be democratised so it leads to an equitable society.
Whether you are a policy maker, a teacher, a school administrator, a parent or just a concerned citizen, this is an important book to read to understand the education system in the country. The book will force you to look at education in a different way, and it is only after understanding the challenges that one can work towards finding solutions.
When I would be asked to speak to school children, I would not speak about why they should study hard- instead, I would focus on their dreams, and emphasise that while not every dream can come true, they should dream big because it is only when they dream big that they can achieve more than what they now have. The book has a number of stories of students for whom the education system didn’t deliver what they thought it would deliver. Understanding why would be the first step.
[I received a review copy of the book from Penguin India. The views are my own.]
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