In Andhra Pradesh the Government on 30 January, 2024 entered into an agreement with an international organization to start the school education with IB (Baccalaureate Syllabus) syllabus from class one onwards. This is another major step in linking up the Government school education in English medium to global standards. The students will get a joint certificate. The focus of the AP Government on school education by spending huge amounts as a future investment for building knowledge India, is reflected in the Republic Day parade Tableau that the Andhra Pradesh Government put before the nation and the world.
The Republic Day parade, 2024 in Karthvya Path, New Delhi, displayed a new vision of the future with the Andhra Pradesh Government putting out a Tableau with the theme “ Transformation of School Education” before the global and national leadership. It required courage and confidence on the part of the AP Chief Minister to put out a tableau creatively constructed by the officials with school children and teachers singing and dancing on and around the tableau as it kept moving. The international and national viewers were clapping quite enthusiastically as it marked a major difference from other state tableaus. The Tableau song:
Sakala Vidhyalaku Me Me Saati
Vishwa Vidhyaku Me Me Poti
(We are capable of learning all forms of Education
We can compete with Global Education).
The song tells about the quality of English medium education that the AP Government is providing in all the Government schools for the poorest of the poor children. The students in their school uniform were showing their tablets and bilingual books, and the teachers were helping them learn skills and knowledge. This is the most futuristic tableau of India to tell the world that India will produce world-class philosophers, scientists, engineers, and doctors from its rural school education, which is being given free for every child. A translator was explaining to the French president, Macron, about the message of transformation of school education and he was looking at it with curiosity.
No state Government during the last 74 years of Republic Day parades presented the innovative school education model of that particular state. The only state which could dare to show its literacy rate, if not its quality education was Kerala. But even Kerala also did not think to celebrate its school educational achievement as the AP Government did in this year. Perhaps one of the reasons is that Jagan is going to 2024 elections making his education model a vote catcher.
Of course, every ruling political party tries to win the election based on its performance and policy programme. But the new English medium school education that he introduced, along with the improvement of school infrastructure is a heartening thing in a democracy that thinks of becoming global power house. Jagan shifted the idea of quality school education from private to public. The children of the poor in remote villages are hoping to get into national and global markets with confidence and dignity while learning modern global skills in their own village schools. Jagan seems to have chosen this model of development in opposition to the development model of his predecessor, Chandrababu Naidu. He invested the state resources in pooling 30,000 acres of land to build a Singapore like capital city. His model is private-sector investment model without bothering much Government sector. Even education sector he promoted private investors.
CONTRAST TO OTHER TABLEAUS
The AP tableau stood in contrast with other state tableaus, which either presented their past glory or symbols of freedom struggle, or religious symbols or tribal or life of women from their states. The parade was meant to specifically present women’s empowerment in India. It was designed to show the world in every field how the country is encouraging women—in all wings of army, scientific activities like ISRO and so on. The ISRO put its own women power in space science on its tableau. That had its own futuristic merit. The tribal states and traditional states like Rajastan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (which brought a tableau on Ram Lalla) put out tableaus with dancing traditional women. But AP was the only state that showcased school education as future of this nation, with modern well equipped English medium education in the globalized world.
The challenge before other states is what about the future of tribal (North East, Chattishgharh or Jharkhand and so on) or non-tribal women who still hang on to semi-medieval life systems. No Tableau has shown what is the status of Muslim women. At least one tableau should have been brought from Kashmir. Ultimately the betterment of women of all states points to the model of Andhra Pradesh school education.
It is one thing to showcase the history of the state; it is another thing to showcase the future of the country through a well-planned education of the nation’s children. AP had done that with a clear vision. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was carefully watching the school education tableau as the AP tableau was moving. Even his own Gujarat model did not work on well-defined English medium education for its students studying in Government schools. Gujarat also now depends on its quality English medium education in private schools. But That is accessed only by the rich.
When India aspires to compete with the West and China the only way is quality education preferably in English medium with a good grounding in their regional language.
The Andhra students’ confidence comes from the quality English medium education with a conscious effort by Jagan Mohan Reddy. He has now made that as his poll plank. With that idea the showcasing of school education in Republic Day parade in Delhi.
THE POSITIVE SIDE OF IT
Any major positive step in school education by the Centre or a state must be appreciated. There lies the future of the nation. Ideological differences could be there on any issue, but certainly not on providing quality school education in the Government schools on par with private schools, so that the child’s future cannot be setback. Any child can learn two languages quite easily and in our case, it has to be English and the regional language of the child. One hopes that even the central Government understands and appreciates the Andhra model.
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is a political theorist, social activist and author of many books.
