Despite India being a country having strong focus on education and having plenty of resources available, the education system in rural parts of India are facing a lot of issues.

Mostly the children of rural areas are dependent on the government – aided schools for education. Unfortunately, their educational journey unlike the urban children is not easy. They face many challenges till they finish their education. Some issues are listed below-

1. Poor foundation skills/learning outcomes – As per RTE law in India every child is entitled for education including the rural children, but the issue is that their foundation skill in reading and arithmetic is highly poor.

Results of ASER 2018 data – A 7^th std student has an IQ level that of a 2^nd std student and only 44% of the 8th std students can solve a basic arithmetic problem.

2. Access to advanced learning tools – Students from these areas don’t have access to advanced learning tools like, computer education, non-academic books.

Results of ASER 2018 data – 55.5% students have never used computers.

3. Financial troubles – Many families in these areas are financially weak, so they prioritize household work or farming over schooling for their children.
4. Sports training and equipment, after school activities – These rural children don’t have access to proper sports equipment, nor do they have a proper sports teacher or coach.

Also, keeping them engaged in activities like music, dance, foreign languages etc. should be considered important but it’s not here.

5. English communication – In present India, English is used so widely yet rural people have considered it a vernacular language. Hence, this leads to poor English communication and then low interest in the science field in higher education.
6. Personal attention – Majority schools in rural areas don’t have enough classrooms for all the children; hence classes are conducted in the same classroom for more than one standard. Even the teacher – student ratio is very low. This causes low attention of teachers on students who are lacking behind in learning.

But the government of India is trying to handle these situations and therefore have come up with few solutions –

1. Education fee waiver – Poverty is one of the most critical and common problems in present India. Therefore, the government of India is providing free education or minimal fees to all the unprivileged students.
2. Establishing more schools – The government is trying to establish more schools in the rural parts so that the number of classrooms is more, and teachers can pay more attention towards the weak children.
3. Bringing innovative methods of teaching – To inculcate the importance of education, the government has started to bring innovative methods such as linking to daily life, drama-based learning.
4. Promoting computer literacy – The government is establishing more computer labs in all the schools so that the children get a better knowledge of computers and other gadgets.

It’s not only the government’s job to help these talented children out it should be a part of our routine to help the rural children, after all they are also human beings, right? So, with this let’s have a positive mind and let’s stand together to educate these children along with NGOs.

By -Saayuri Joshi
Inspiring VIIIB