There are worrying questions all around us related to education and literacy, but no one’s taking them seriously
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A couple of weeks ago, a university professor in America put up a post explaining why education in America was in a state of crisis. He explained how he had asked his high school students to read three contemporary novels, all highly acclaimed, and was shocked to realize that a majority couldn’t get through any of them. Apparently, the students struggled with some of the longer sentences and gave up after a chapter or two.
The professor was at pains to highlight that these weren’t particularly difficult novels to comprehend, and that they would have been enriching for anyone who got through them. That no one in class managed to finish even one came as a shock, prompting him to check with other teachers across the country. An impromptu poll quickly revealed versions of the same story playing out everywhere.
In 2024, a report by the US Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress testing showed that only 32 per cent of fourth graders in America could read at or above proficiency for their grade level. It also stated that 18 per cent of America’s adults were illiterate and 52 per cent did not reach a basic level of literacy considered necessary to function in society.
That report prompted me of think of two things almost immediately. First, it helped me understand why that country had elected a convicted felon to power not once, but twice. Second, it made me wonder what that meant for India, where education has never been a priority, and where there has never been a shortage of felons. Statistics published each year tell us where things stand when it comes to literacy levels, but I began questioning the parameters of those surveys given that signs of intelligence are rarely on display around us.
I believe our reverence for stupidity and disregard for education trickles down from the top. Consider the hours spent in Parliament debating issues that mean little to most Indians: endless debates on what should or shouldn’t be renamed, announcements of schemes that aren’t tethered to economic reality, budgets diverted towards projects that benefit no one, and an endless stream of decisions that make as little sense on paper as they do in real life.
History teaches us that a poorly educated populace is good for governments that are interested in complete control. A nation of morons will always be easier to manage than one where the literate may outnumber the illiterate. It explains why America has spent much of the past couple of years trying to limit access to knowledge. Books are being banned for flimsy reasons, teachers are being discouraged from sticking to their profession, and we are now at a stage where students who raise banners protesting atrocities against other human beings are being deported with their visas revoked. Learning is becoming a bad word.
India hasn’t managed to get to their point yet, even if it isn’t for lack of trying. The vilification of students has been underway for a while, along with measures to limit funds for teachers and resources. Ten years ago in America, 183 books were targeted for removal from libraries, according to the American Library Association; by 2023, that number had risen to 4240. This year, 112 state bills have been proposed to define what is deemed obscene, and what libraries can or cannot hold. In India, that won’t be possible until we first have enough libraries, which won’t happen because no one will talk about the need for them in Parliament anytime soon.
The lack of attention being paid to education should worry us. For years now, illiteracy and insecurity have helped turn groups of citizens into mobs. They are easy to control and easier to unleash upon the rest of us at the slightest provocation. All a politician must do is wave a red flag before a film, movie theatre, or stand-up comic, and the mob turns up, ready for violence. This doesn’t happen in countries that focus on learning.
Much has been said about how the future of India is bright, and how we are supposedly marching towards becoming a superpower. And yet, this is also a country where the police can ignore real crime and spend hours issuing notices to attendees of comedy shows. It may seem as if these things aren’t connected, but everything eventually boils down to one’s capacity to separate right from wrong. If we don’t take education seriously, we will always be the kind of country that fights viruses by banging thalis.
When he isn’t ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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