Opinion | India Is Failing Its Young. But Happy Children's Day, I Guess

As the nation celebrates Children's Day, can we look a child in the eye and say: ‘Happy Children's Day'. Have we let the kids of our nation down.

The Union government had sanctioned an Eklavya school near 11-year-old Sulekha's home. Today, Sulekha is 16. The school in her neighbourhood is still not functional. This is true for two out of five schools sanctioned under the Eklavya Model Residential School scheme. Sulekha is forced to enrol in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) located in an ‘educationally backward area'. Her favourite class isn't held because the teacher's position has not yet been filled by the administration that reports to the Union government. As of July 2024, there are over 4,000 teacher vacancies in KGBVs. The highest vacancies are in Uttar Pradesh. Even for subjects with assigned teachers, classes do not take place daily—teachers are frequently absent. It is common practice that even for a five-day week, teachers take an extra day off.

Sulekha is in class 10 now. She struggles to read texts of what a student in class 2 should know. She is unable to solve maths problems that are from the class 3 level. One out of four rural youth, between the ages of 14 to 18, demonstrate a similar gap in learning. Research suggests that half the students in this age group are unable to solve arithmetic that is taught in class five.