India’s school education system, long plagued by inefficiencies, saw its deep-rooted learning crisis laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite major investments, outcomes remain poor due to lack of accountability and ineffective regulation.

India’s Learning Crisis

• The Pre-Existing Crisis in Education: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed but did not create the education crisis.
• Learning Poverty: 10-year-olds unable to read basic text was already at 55% in 2019 and rose to 70% post-pandemic.
• Systemic Failures and Poor Outcomes: Despite significant funding, India’s schools underperform on quality indicators.
• Missing the Mark on Student Success: The education system lacks accountability, with more focus on inputs (like infrastructure) than outcomes (like student learning).
• Accountability Gaps in Public and Private Sectors: No fee structure, weak accountability, little incentive to improve.
  • Over-regulated in irrelevant areas (e.g., land norms), under-regulated on learning outcomes.
  • Innovation and investment in the sector are stifled.
• Failure on Compliance of Global Standards: India fails to meet global standards such as RAPID Framework, especially on quality and outcomes.
• Principal-Agent Problem – Chanakya’s Warning:
  • Hidden corruption is hard to detect
  • Government corruption is often invisible, like fish drinking underwater.
  • Personal integrity alone is not a reliable safeguard.
  • Education – The Unregulated Sector: Despite its importance, education lacks regulation. This threatens both quality and national progress.
  • Need for: 
    • Public welfare sectors need oversight.
    • Independent regulators ensure accountability where systems fail.

Actions Required

• Need for Independent Regulation: Education suffers from the principal-agent problem: those tasked with serving public interest often evade scrutiny.
  • Other sectors like finance have benefited from independent regulators (e.g., RBI post-1990 crisis).
  • Education still lacks this crucial oversight.
• Take action on Proposed Reform – State School Standards Authority (SSSA): Mentioned in NEP 2020, the SSSA could:
  • Provide independent quality ratings.
  • Ensure uniform standards across public and private schools.
  • Reduce information asymmetry for parents.
• Need to adopt Global Best Practices: Global Example: Chile’s Agencia de la Calidad de la Educación has driven improvement via transparent school performance data.
  • Follow the RAPID Framework: The World Bank’s ‘RAPID’ strategy outlines five steps:
    • Reach every child and keep them in school
    • Assess learning levels regularly
    • Prioritize teaching the fundamentals
    • Increase instructional efficiency
    • Develop psychosocial health and wellbeing
• Linking Regulation to Financial Incentives: Transparency alone isn’t enough—incentives matter.
  • NEP recommends linking SSSA evaluations to Finance Commission allocations.
  • Example: ₹4,800 crore recommended by the 15th Finance Commission for improving learning outcomes.
• Implementing the SSSA Effectively: Should be independent and agile, not housed within education departments.
  • Must avoid becoming a retirement post for bureaucrats—genuine autonomy and integrity are essential.
• Urgency for Reform and True Accountability: India must move from input-based metrics to outcome-based regulation.
  • A transparent, incentive-linked, autonomous regulatory framework is urgently needed.
• Need to use Technology as a Backbone:
  • Aadhaar-enabled UIDAI System for accurate student-school mapping.
  • National Digital Educational Architecture (NDEAR) for data analytics and predictions.
  • Digital tools reduce compliance burden

Conclusion

India must urgently overhaul its education governance by prioritizing learning outcomes, establishing an independent regulatory authority, and linking funding to performance. Only a bold shift can ensure equitable, high-quality education for every child.