Leveraging Technology: Solving the Top Challenges in India’s Education System
By Kiram Dham
It is undeniable that Indian society has changed dramatically throughout time, with technology advancements playing a key role in this evolution. Healthcare, education, hospitality, and the auto industries, among others, have all seen significant changes as a result of technology advancements. The way students currently consume education has evolved as a result of advancements in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, machine learning, and blockchain technology. By bringing education closer to students, these contemporary technological advancements support their better development.
The education market in India is expected to grow quickly. The introduction of contemporary technology advancements can be ascribed with the growth trajectory of the ed-tech sector in India. In reality, these cutting-edge technologies have helped to solve long-standing problems in the educational system by making learning for students more experiential and immersive.
Tech-enabled solutions address the systemic issues in education.
Limitations imposed by the population: India has a sizable and diversified population, making it challenging to meet the need for universal access to high-quality educational resources. Rural Indian students still do not have access to the same high-quality education that urban students receive. This results in a significant discrepancy in their educational attainment and individual job development.
Budgetary Restriction: Despite the government’s enormous initiatives to bring about a radical change, the scale must be large. The level of investment needed to address the educational problems is considerable, and the budget allotted is very small, which has an impact on the quality of education in the majority of India’s rural areas. It not only causes educational opportunity disparities, but it also restricts their employment options.
Infrastructure Issues: One of the biggest obstacles to providing students with a high-quality education is a deficient educational infrastructure. Lack of basic amenities, inadequate classroom space, and poor cleanliness do have an effect on students’ willingness to attend class.
Challenges with connectivity: One of the biggest obstacles to establishing an equally accessible educational environment is the digital gap. Lack of internet access, networks, and digital devices limits students’ ability to take advantage of online and remote learning opportunities, but in other cases, having access to digital resources and connectivity can completely change the situation and help realise the goal of universal access to education.
Communication abilities: The diversely rich culture of India includes a variety of mother tongue languages. Even though English is a universal language, learners from rural and distant communities need to considerably enhance their communication skills if they hope to become fluent in it. This restricts their options and prevents them from taking advantage of the educational opportunities offered by other platforms. The lack of content in regional languages has an impact on the student’s willingness to study from the resources that are available.
Insufficient Student-Teacher Ratio: We still do not have enough teachers to support the kind of student quality that is present throughout India. Teachers continue to struggle with the enduring general problems because they lack the motivation or power to address the modern concerns. Digital empowerment, training support, and strong professional motivation are crucial for solving such problems. Even if the government has introduced a number of laws that benefit teachers, there is still a long way to go.
A multi-pronged strategy is needed to address these issues, including increased investment in technologically enabled solutions, language-focused learning materials, digital empowerment to close the digital divide, inclusive education policies, etc., which will eventually inspire our nation to work towards granting everyone equal access to educational opportunities.
Solutions that use technology are a method to go forward. Classrooms that have been digitally enabled to offer a distinctive blend of inclusive pedagogical methods, including technical tools, resources, animations, gamifications, and advanced content, as well as to support personalised learning and hands-on learning. An accessible and interesting learning environment can be created by offering a wide range of affordable technology-enabled classroom solutions including Smart Classrooms, Virtual Learning Solutions, Digital Language Labs, etc.
These solutions include multilingual content and learning materials in English, Hindi, Sanskrit, as well as many other regional and international languages, in order to encourage language acquisition as a skill. This ultimately enables people to learn with confidence from various resources and develop language as a second talent.
Major corporations can provide digital classrooms and labs for rural and semi-rural areas of India as part of their CSR programme expenditures.
Future of technology and education
According to the most recent study, as the education sector grows, we will inescapably see the emergence of cutting-edge technologies and instructional strategies aimed at maximising educational effectiveness. This will focus on maximising the impact of education in its best form while also bridging the learning gap.
(The author is Kiram Dham, CEO, Globus infocom Ltd., and the views expressed in this article are her own)
