Public Provision of Primary Education in India : Challenges and Issues

Education plays a vital role in human development, social and economic mobility, and long- term economic growth. An inclusive model of provision is indispensable to achieve the broader goals of education. The post-liberalization era saw a deviation from the social goals of education and the increasing presence of the private sector to achieve the profit maximization goal of private capital. Though education is a part of the concurrent list, state governments are the major stakeholders in the public provision of education. In the current paper, we argue that market-friendly policies and fiscal austerity in the social sector by neo-liberal governments lead to under staffing and less provisioning for education which encourages the privatization of education. Furthermore, the Nation-State has withdrawn itself from its primary function of providing education, a basic need of modern civilization. The education policy chose to fall in line with the neo-liberal framework based on utilitarian thought that bolsters the blatant commercialization of education. We show the contradiction in ensuring universal access to education and policies facilitating privatization. We argue that the increase in private provision reinforces class and other social disparities failing the broader social goals of education