Ansari concerned over poor learning skills of Indian students

Expressing concern over the prevalent education system in India, Vice President Hamid Ansari today noted that learning level of school students here is far below corresponding grade levels in other countries.
"The learning outcomes for children in Indian schools are far below corresponding class levels in several other countries," he said, speaking at the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the Hindi Vidya Prachar Samiti and the Hindi High School at Ghatkopar here.
"The reason for poor quality lies in the weak teaching process, that is neither child friendly nor adopts a child-centred approach to curriculum," Ansari said.
The capacity, motivation and accountability of teachers to deliver quality education need to be critically and urgently addressed at primary, secondary and higher education levels, he added.

Ansari observed that despite higher levels of enrolments and a massive increase in physical infrastructure, the value added by formal education is still weak. He also expressed concern over the steep drop out rate after the elementary level.
"Drop out rates continue to be high, especially among socially and economically marginalised groups," he said, indicating that this adversely affected the process of inclusive growth.
The mean years of schooling in India at 5.12 years is well below other emerging market economies such as China (8.17 years) and Brazil (7.54) and significantly below the average for all developing countries at 7.09 years, he said.