Education is essential for attaining one's full human potential, building a just and equitable community, and advancing a country's development. Quality education is essential for India's economic development, scientific advancement, national integration, and cultural preservation. Many aspects of life are changing, including the knowledge landscape. With the pace of innovation and technology advancement, the emergence of big data, and the introduction of artificial intelligence, a diverse workforce with skills in science and the humanities will be in great demand. As India progresses toward becoming a developed country, the need for arts, humanities, science, technology and vocational education will rise.

In 2020, Covid-19 pandemic hit the world and caused enormous global upheaval. The pandemic has adversely affected many crucial sectors of life, Education being one of the important one. With the pandemic in picture, the majority of the countries declared closure of education institutions like schools and colleges and shifted to digital learning. The temporary closure of educational institutions has affected around 91% of the students around the globe. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the education sector has been severely impacted, perhaps reversing all of India's educational accomplishments over the years.

The pandemic has put the weaker and more vulnerable members of society in high disadvantage than the wealthy and well-off. The education environment has switched to online mode due to the pandemic, and it has reached all sections of society. While there have been some negative connotations resulting from the digital divide between the rich and the poor, it has made education more accessible to a large number of people, making it more accessible and inclusive. “Government programmes such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Right to Education have benefited many individuals in India”.

The quality of education in India is poor resulting in poor learning outcomes, which further leads to students dropping out and falling prey to abuse and child labour. “Many school-aged students are not learning the essentials of literacy and numeracy, as well as the additional knowledge and skills required for their general development as defined in the Right to Education Act''. For children to gain benefits of the education system there is still work to be done in infrastructure building for a child-friendly learning landscape so that children learn gender-sensitivity, and foundational learning resulting in inclusive classrooms, improved water and sanitation facilities.

Thus, to conclude India has a long way to go in the education sector considering its educational landscape. There is a lot of scope in the higher education sector for India. However, the primary and secondary sector has made considerable progress with government schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Right to Education. The pandemic has hampered the progress made in the education sector by pushing many students out of schools and colleges. Thus, the government needs to put its policies and programmes in place to increase the general enrolment ratio to improve the educational environment of India.

– Shivam Vitthal Parab.
(MSc-Economics).