From policy to practice : a story from Uttarakhand

The discourse around the dwindling state of our Public Education System is endless and is heard everywhere irrespective of the depth of the analysis. The state of education affects everyone, consequently, everyone seems to have an opinion about it. Our judgements are often superficial and we miss taking into account the complexity of our Public Education System – right from the classroom to the educational policies. At one end of the spectrum is the classroom, which is an astoundingly heterogenous space with each student bringing to it hers or his own diversity in the form of social and economic background, emotional and intellectual temperament, response to learning, and a variety of interests, abilities and limitations. If we consider the education system of the country, the complexity in terms of creating and administering a huge system of Secretariats, Directorates, Board of Examinations at the state and central levels, the constitution of the basic functional structures at the district and sub-district levels; and the ground-level engagement with local self-governments, parents, teacher communities and school management – is colossal. From the Parliament to the parent, everyone has a stake in the Public Education System at some level. The challenges of this vast system, with such complexity and scale, are often overlooked when we talk of educational reforms