The educational inequity in our country has hindered the right of education for all. The multi-fold socio-political and economic problems encumber the growth of the nation by keeping education missing from its seekers.
In order to challenge this inequity, Avanti Fellows, an NGO founded by the alumini of IIT Bombay, has been working on improving access to premium STEM college courses for the under-served, by addressing the systemic bias which exists against low-income students. They select the concerned students from Narvodhya Public Schools and provide free tuition for NEET and IIT-JEE examinations in order to make them at par with the competition.
Grassroot solution
“The rural students are unable to aspire to pursue a career in medical, engineering, or even commerce. As one not only has to be exceptionally smart but also fortunate enough to come from a strong economic background,” said Avanti Fellows’ Director, Deepak Kamble.
“There is a seven times lesser chance of a rural student making it to a good institution as compared to his urban counterpart due the lack of facilities. The vast gap between the education offered at private schools and the public schools deplete the chances of a bright student making it to the top notch colleges as they stand nowhere near the expected markers of qualification,” he adds.
According to him, the need of the hour is to work at the grassroot level and raise the quality of schooling in order to prepare students to fight the inequity of the educational system. “This is the beginning of a long battle, as the chances are very less that these students would be able to pay the tuition fees as even the most premium colleges of the country are unaffordable for many.”
Another initiative to bridge educational inequity is taken up by Prabudh, a PH.D student in sociology who gives free coaching classes for NET in Delhi. According to him, the commercialisation of education is hindering the right to education of students.
“The ‘eligibility’ paper of NET has become a tough competitive exam. In order to get into the academic system of the country, one has to splurge thousands on private coaching centres for learning the basic skills and qualify this arbitrary examination. The ones who are able to spend lump sums are at an advantage as compared to the ones who cannot,” he said. “The intervention of the government to formulate effective policies becomes important. However, these initiatives are only gaining momentum, the inequity in education system is yet far-fetched and hence needs to be raised and challenged.”
