The education imperative: India’s Parliament must tackle its learning challenge

In ancient Indian philosophy, vidya—or wisdom—is celebrated as the ultimate liberator, the force that dispels ignorance and uplifts individuals and societies. From the Vedic chant “Asato ma sadgamaya”—lead me from ignorance to truth—to Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Nai Talim, education rooted in self-reliance and character building, a broader construct of knowledge has always been central to India’s ethos.

Yet today, this vision remains unfulfilled for millions of children. Despite attending school, many fail to acquire even basic literacy and numeracy. Bridging the gap between schooling and learning is essential if we are to deliver on this ancient promise of vidya.

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India has made remarkable strides in education. Literacy rates have soared from 16% in 1947 to over 80% today. Landmark policies, from the National Education Policies of 1968 and 1986 to the transformative Right to Education (RTE) Act, have expanded access, pushing enrolment from 50% in 1951 to a near-universal level today.

Yet, every year, 2 million five- and six-year-olds enter Grade 1 in India. By age 10, over half of them cannot read a basic sentence and fewer than 29% can comprehend what they read. If these children formed a nation, it would be as large as Japan and it would be unrealistic to expect this nation to thrive without addressing this learning crisis.

In a world driven by science and technology, the absence of foundational skills among India’s next billion learners is a looming disaster. But this crisis can be averted—if parliamentarians step up.

Five key priorities have emerged through my interactions with the International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd).

The first step is to acknowledge the scale of the challenge and foster a unified political commitment to tackle it. Since India’s vast and complex education system serves 260 million children, taught by 9.5 million teachers across 1.5 million schools, bringing about any form of reform into this system is an uphill battle.

Encouragingly, the government and the opposition recognize the urgency of improving learning outcomes. The government’s Nipun Bharat mission aims to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by Grade 3 by 2026-27, while the opposition has also made increased FLN investment a manifesto priority.

However, political will alone isn’t enough—it must translate into effective funding.

In 2022-23, the Indian government allocated nearly $319 million to states for them to improve primary education. Yet, only 20% of children gained basic language and mathematical skills. The government has been spending large sums every year, but unfortunately, improvements in learning outcomes remain abysmally low.

This situation calls for parliamentarians to advocate smarter use of education funds. Ironically, while the government spends around 80% of the budget on printing textbooks, only 1.14% is spent on teacher handbooks, and less than 2% on assessments.

It’s like buying a car but spending almost nothing on fuel or maintenance. Without proper guidance and measurement, textbooks won’t drive learning improvements. We need to shift focus, investing in the tools and training that help teachers use textbooks effectively and measure progress to ensure every rupee spent drives progress.

Also read: Basic literacy and numeracy: Why it’s proving so elusive in India

The third step is to boost teacher motivation. Low teacher salaries aren’t the root cause. The real challenge is that the majority of teachers are often expected to manage diverse classrooms that have students of different ages and learning abilities, making it hard to address everyone’s needs.

Yet, only a small portion of the budget goes towards training teachers to handle such challenges. We must amplify our efforts to not only create sharp goals for teachers, but also train them on the right skills to manage such classrooms, while creating a cadre of mentors who can guide teachers in tackling challenges as they arise.

Parliamentarians should recognize and endorse innovative methods to provide teachers with the necessary support, while taking out the time to felicitate teachers for their efforts. Parliamentarians also need to engage with teachers to understand the challenges they face and convey those concerns to local authorities or the government.

Once supply-side issues are addressed, parliamentarians must focus on empowering communities, especially parents, to demand quality education. Raising awareness of how parents can support their children’s learning and institutionalizing platforms for parental involvement are key steps.

For example, in Chile and Peru, providing parents with information on the income benefits of education, school quality and funding options led to higher student attendance and improved outcomes. Parental engagement programmes in Madagascar, Chile and the Dominican Republic significantly strengthened parent-school collaboration and boosted learning outcomes.

Data transparency and public disclosure can be powerful tools to rally community support for better education. Reliable assessments to measure student learning can be shared in a clear format for parents to assess school performance and hold them accountable.

This exercise can lead parents to focus on outcomes rather than just school infrastructure. Parliamentarians can amplify this information, empowering parents and communities to demand better education in their schools. It could help turn education into a political priority.

Better FLN outcomes can create a ripple effect across the education system. As children master the basics, schools can focus on broader development, integrating opportunities for sports, arts and cultural activities. Strong foundational skills lay the groundwork for holistic education—one that not only strengthens academics, but also nurtures well-rounded, responsible citizens.

Also read: Education and national development must go hand-in-hand as India emerges

Just as ancient India flourished with the transformative power of vidya, today’s political leaders empower children with ‘modern vidya.’

To achieve this, we need a coalition of political leaders across the Global South, committed to empowering teachers, engaging communities, securing timely funding, ensuring data transparency and sharing good practices in the mission of holistic learning.

The journey begins in the classroom, where we must lead our children from ignorance to truth—and enable prosperity for generations to come.

The author is a leader of the Indian National Congress and a three-time member of Parliament representing Assam.