India, a country of culture and traditions has always followed the tradition and disciple known as Guru—Shishya parampara.
Our history is witness to the fact that Chanakya was the Guru of Chandragupta Maurya but he never charged a penny from him. Similarly, Dronacharya was loyal to his royal students. The gurus, just for the name & fame did not open the gates for other willing candidates like Karna or Eklavya who could have paid more. Education has never been business. That trend is being carried out even today.
Now let us rewind the sequence of our lives. We all know that a mother is the first and the best educator to the child. She is the one who presents the past, reveals the present, and creates the future of the child. Till date, has any one of you, come across any mother charging hefty fees for her lifelong lessons? Thus, we begin our lives with free education at home.
Further, the state comes to our rescue. Through Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and many other schemes, our government has provided us with free and compulsory education for all, up to class VIII, with special attention to the education of girls.
At the university level too, there are government colleges, for all the streams, where the fees charged are meager. Even government medical and engineering colleges provide education at a very low cost. Institutes like IITs and IIMs are well known for their international standards in education at subsidized rates. Organizations such as AWES i.e. Army welfare Education society have the mission to provide quality education at low cost to the wards of the defense personnel. Army Schools pan India are run by AWES where teachers teach with passion and not a profession. Is the implicit cost incurred as staff salary not necessary?
Private institutes like Super 30 provide free IIT coaching to meritorious students from poor families. Some companies like Vodafone have a separate arm (Gurushala) for providing free education in the form of educational videos, courses, or webinars. Many other big business houses have opened educational institutes as part of their, CSR ie. Corporate social responsibility. Thermax’s Akshara group of schools, Times group’s Teach India are some of the renowned NGOs who provide free education to underprivileged children. Lila Poonawalla Foundation, Maharishi Karve Stree Sansthan from Pune, and many others all over India catering to the needs of the girls for their higher education. There is no dearth of schemes by big companies like Tata’s, Infosys, Wipro, etc that provide full support for higher education. They have taken up education as a gateway to the path of Good karma.
There is an endless list of scholarships provided by big business houses. Even the government provides for various scholarships under the Pradhan Mantri Yojana.
Though some people say that education is hijacked by business houses. But the statistics that I have, suggests quite a contrary view. The window of privatization is still very small. It is a mere 6% to 7% and if nearly 93% of education in India is delivered by government or NGOs, then don’t you agree that it is safe to say education is no way near to becoming a business.
There is also a fear that private colleges and tutorials are mushrooming in every nook and corner and will soon overtake the rat race. I, on the contrary, feel that the increase in the number of educational institutions have brought competition in this field and the institutes have to maintain quality to stay put in the market. Besides, the little cost that has risen, is because the parents wish the best infrastructure for their wards. Installation and maintenance of ACs, water coolers comfortable seats, etc obviously cost more.
In the end, I would like to conclude that the situation is not grim as imagined to be.
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