Major Problems In Education

Major Problems In Education
Major problems that confound plans to implement education programs in rural India include:


 * teacher absenteeism,


 * student absenteeism,


 * ineffectual policy with regard to focusing resources on learning,
 * imbalanced education investment - too little in primary, relative to higher education


 * isolated lack of demand for education, and


 * inability to pay for education (opportunity costs related to lost income).

Randomized trials seem to work well as means of determining efficacy of various policy measures; for example, conditional and unconditional cash transfers (See PROGRESA ). “Supply wallahs” favor direct government intervention, while “demand wallahs” suggest that individual families should seek education for their children in the market place, if they so chose.[1]

[1] Banerjee, A., and Duflo, E. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. New York: PublicAffairs/Perseus Books Group, 2011. 86-88. Print.

Supply Wallahs
According to Banerjee & Duflo, Poor Economics, from the perspective of supply wallahs, governments should continue to:


 * implement education programs where they exist and begin them in regions where they do not.


 * institute more effective accountability measures in order to improve the consistency with which teachers perform their duties.

Student participation could be adjusted positively by the use of conditional cash transfers, such as those used by PROGRESA, which may help offset opportunity costs. It should be noted that World Bank studies conducted in Malawi and Morocco found that unconditional cash transfers worked just well as transfers made on the condition of student enrollment. This suggests that it is not necessary to compel parents to send their children to school. They simply need financial help.[2] It is suggested that NGO’s could assist by:


 * providing further randomized trials to monitor the effect of governmental interventions,


 * conducting studies and providing recommendations designed to bring about increased learning rather than mere completion of training


 * disseminating information

These would have the effect of educating parents to have realistic expectations for their children’s participation at school in order to augment the demand for education. Individuals should be encouraged to help all of their children get an education, rather than view the opportunity for learning as “all or nothing.” NGO’s and government can play a large role in providing the impetus for this kind of societal evolution.

[2] Banerjee, A., and Duflo, E. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. New York: PublicAffairs/Perseus Books Group, 2011. 78-80. Print.

Demand Wallahs
Demand wallahs propose that government could best help poor people by providing an environment that is conducive to business operations.This may take a few steps:
 * 1) If a government can encourage interests with capital to invest within the country, the demand for labor will increase.
 * 2) If the type of labor demanded requires workers to have a nominal level of education, families will demand more education.
 * 3) The market, then, will meet this demand with the requisite and appropriate tools for learning that the people desire.

According to Banerjee & Duflo, Poor Economics, demand wallahs believe that government would do best not to interfere. They believe intervention would at best create a surplus of educated labor, further reducing the rate at which business would pay for a limited number of jobs that require an educated workforce. Intervention in the form of forced education may take resources from those who can least afford to send their children,especially older potential bread-winners, off to school, and discourage children from participating in the productive maintenance of their families’ well-being. Demand wallahs point to studies provided by NGO’s that suggest that private schools are more effective than public schools at eliciting actual learning. The demand wallah perspective suggests that NGO’s could best help governments to eliminate poverty and foster education by determining the most effective way to spur growth through the attraction of capital investment.