The government appears quite bamboozled on how to handle the aftermath of last month’s student protests spearheaded by the overnight phenomenon, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), against the malfunctioning examination system.

Although it was forced to surrender to the agitating students by conceding its key demand, the head of former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, this has palpably failed to defuse the growing momentum of India’s young cockroaches now demanding a drastic overhaul of the entire educational infrastructure, or lack thereof, from primary school upwards.

The School Theek Karo campaign, launched by the CJP on the eightieth anniversary of Independence, enlisting Gen Alpha as well as Gen Z, poses a far more daunting challenge to the current regime since it focuses on rural schools, a sector which is in such shambles that the government wouldn’t know where to start repairing.

Rural Education Crisis

Unfortunately for the ruling party and its cheerleaders, there is no place to hide from the wretched condition of education in rural areas, particularly in large BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh.

Statistics from a recent survey sponsored by the central government’s key policy vehicle Niti Ayog have revealed 94,000 government schools have closed, 26,000 in Uttar Pradesh alone over the past decade.

Meanwhile, a parliamentary panel earlier this month flagged a "drastic decline" in the number of schools and students as the education level rises, noting that nearly 73 per cent of students drop out before finishing higher secondary.

Other official statistics are equally damaging. According to........

© Free Press Journal