Infrastructure refers to structures, services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. Roads, bridges, airports, sewers, telecom facilities etc are examples of infrastructure or what we often call capital.

For instance as an economy grows and people become wealthier, there will be more trade and more cars on the road but if existing stock of infrastructure i.e road is not augmented, there will be congestion on the road and infrastructure will put breaks on economic growth. That’s why it is said that 1st class modern economies can not be built on 2nd class medieval infrastructure.

But now it has been clearly recognized that health care systems, education systems, skill set of population etc are also of critical importance for an economy to function and these softer aspect of infrastructure is termed as social or soft infrastructure / human capital in contrast to hard physical infrastructure. As economy grows, there will be more and more jobs which will require highly educated, highly skilled workforce but if education system is not ready to provide such people, if work force is not healthy, there will be no one to take up such jobs and economy will stagnate.

Investment in human capital thus improves productivity and welfare of population and such investment is critical for India to reap its demographic dividend <working age population 63.3% in 2013 from 57% in 1991>

Let’s analyse some trends in social sector expenditure-

As we saw in this chapter controlling for both the level of economic and political development (democracy), India seems to tax less and spend less and this is most significant with respect to social expenditure (on health and education)

India spends about 3.3% of GDP on education and 1.3% on health i.e 4.6% total while comparable democracies at similar level of economic development spend 8% on health and education. And there has not been any significant increase in expenditure in last decade.

Some facts to be written in mains

1. Way back in 1966, Kothari commission recommended 6% of GDP to be spent on education, same was reiterated in education policy of 1968 and reaffirmed in new education policy of 1986 and its revision in 1992 <we spend < 4%>
2. Proportion of population in the age group of 6 to 21, which needs to be educated, is 29% for India compared to 18% for OECD and 23% for Brazil and so we need proportionately much more funding than these countries <presently we spend way below their level>
3. Draft national health policy and working group on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) recommended increasing spending on health progressively to about 2.5% of GDP <we spend about 1.3%>

But it’s important to note that, increase in expenditure per-se may not always guarantee appropriate outcomes and achievements. The efficiency of expenditure incurred should be assessed, accountability should be fixed and regular corrective measures should be taken <for instance teacher absenteeism, doctor-nurses absenteeism, governance issues would not go away simply by increasing fund allocation>

Let’s now discuss educational challenges

As per Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2014 <conducted by an NGO Pratham>-

1. Decline in enrollment in govt schools in rural areas from 73% in 2007 to 63% in 2014 <pvt schools are expensive> and this also reflects poor quality of teaching in govt schools and lack of faith in them
2. Poor and declining learning outcomes in both govt and pvt schools – less than half the std 5th children can read std 5th books or can do division
3. India ranked second last among the 73 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Later India withdrew from the test citing socio cultural disconnect in the questions asked

The quality of education determines the quality of human capital and we need to make more efforts to improve quality of education.

Teacher Training

• Only 79% of teachers are professionally qualified and in higher secondary level, only 69% are qualified.
• As only qualified, trained and motivated teachers can impart quality education, There is need to increase the percentage of qualified teachers and also the training of both qualified and under-qualified teachers

Gender parity in Education-

• Except for ST, we have achieved gender parity in all levels of education except higher education <0.89 gender parity>
• We need to bridge the gender disparity in higher education among total and at all levels of education for ST students.

Govt Initiatives

Digital Gender Atlas for advancing girl’s education– was launched on women’s day in 2015 in partnership with UNICEF

Three Components

1. Composite Gender Ranking based on aceess, infrastructure, teachers, outcomes
2. Trend Analysis of Gender Indicators across 3 years period
3. Vulnerabilities based on (i) rural female literacy (ii) percentage girls/boys married below the legal age of marriage (iii) working children

• It will help identify low-performing geographic pockets for girls, particularly from marginalized groups.
• It provides comparative analysis of individual gender-related indicators

National scholarship portal-  a single window system for various types of scholarship schemes administered by different Ministries/ Departments (like Pre-matric from Class I to X, Post-matric from XI to Ph.D. and Meritcum-Means for technical and professional courses), has been introduced under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao – Read this story to know more 

Issue of No detention Policy

• Under this policy, the students up to class VIII are automatically promoted to the next class even if they do not get a passing grade.
• The policy was implemented as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) under the RTE Act in 2010 to ensure all-round development of students.
• The concept of CCE imported from the West, which emphasises on evaluating a child through the year, and not just based on performance in one or two term exams.

Why this policy

• detention system led to increased dropouts among students, especially from economically and socially weaker sections.
• It will allow children to learn in an environment free from fear, anxiety and stress <stress of one end of the year high stakes exam>
• Learn at their own pace

What’s the problem then?

• students developing a lackadaisical attitude towards their studies.
• Parents also didn’t bother as their children cannot be held back in the class.
• Quality of learning going down <ASER survey mentioned above>

Geeta Bhukkal Committee report 2012

• No-detention policy has had a “very bad” impact on the children.
• no-detention policy be implemented in a phased manner so that all stakeholders understand what it entails instead of interpreting it as zero assessment.
• it should be applied only till Class V instead of Class VIII.
• government should make it mandatory for students to register minimum attendance of 80 per cent in their classes so that they are benefited by the CCE under the RTE Act.

Devnani Committee Report 2015

1. A‘learning level’ must be fixed for each class to check whether a student is eligible for the class that he or she is in.
2. The committee notes, Students must not be detained in Classes VI and VII. However, they must meet the required ‘learning levels’.
3. A month’s time would be given to students to retake tests and attain the required learning levels, failing which the students would have to be detained.

Why are educationists’ complaining then?

• it places the blame on the student for not being able to perform while absolving the school of any blame.
• It will prove to be most damaging for poor students as they will be the first to be pushed out of the system
• Instead of failing the child, the government needs to asks what it has done to create an enabling, learning environment for children
• Across the world, the no-detention policy has been successfully implemented with great results for students.
• If it can be done everywhere, why not India

Way Forward-

1. Invest in education <Kothari commission 6%, achieve pupil-teacher ratio, train teachers>
2. Train Teachers in the art of CCE
3. Schools must offer bridge course for slow learners

Let’s see what’s the process in UK

• In the UK, a student is promoted to the next grade irrespective of his level of progress.
• If students underperform, their assessment grades are compared with national data of progress levels and a ‘targeted intervention’ is made.
• The teachers analyse the reason for poor performance and find solutions to help the child perform better in the future.

Tell us in comments what should be done with No Detention Policy

Employment Situation

As per Fourth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey 2013-14, Labour Bureau <quote this surveyor as different surveys give different numbers> unemployment rate is 4.9% with 4% for males and 7.7% for females. NSSO gives 2.7% total unemployment rate

• Of particular concern is low female labor force participation rate (LFPR) of just 26% compared to >74% of males.
• Female LFPR in India is amongst the lowest in the world and the second lowest in South Asia after Pakistan
• In urban areas female LFPR is even lower – just 18.5%

Some definitions 

• LFPR- % of population in job or seeking job
• WPR – it’s worker population ratio i.e % of population in jobs
• Unemployment rate  LFPR-WPR/LFPR

We read in this chapter, to reap demographic dividend we need to create many more good jobs i.e formal sector jobs that pay well and come with some social security but a peculiar feature has been the rise of informalization in formal or organized sector

• share of informal employment in the organized sector increased from 48 % to 54.6 % in 2004-5 to 2011-12
• Share of informal employment in total employment is above 90%

To catalyze job creation, promote complaince and ensure ease of doing business govt while safeguarding safety, health and social security of all workers, govt has initiated many reforms in labor market–

1. The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Act 2015
2. National Career Services Portal
3. Shram Suvidha Portal
4. Universal Account Number

For more on labour reform, read this economic survey chapter , this story- labour reform in India, and Shramev jayate Karyakram

To improve female LFPR-

1. 33% of jobs in MGNREGA mandated for women <to date women take up about 57% of NREGA jobs>
2. National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)– aims at organizing all rural poor households and nurturing and supporting them till they come out of abject poverty, by organizing one woman member from each household into affinity-based women SelfHelp Groups (SHG) and their federations at village and higher levels by 2024-25.
3. Bihar govt’s quota of 35% for females

Reasons of low LFPR-

Demand side issues -non availability of suitable flexible jobs near home

Supply side issues – economic, social and cultural issues and care work distributions in the home

There’s also a U-shaped relationship between years of education and FLFP, not just in India but elsewhere. How and why?

• FLFP is high among illiterate women (> 20%), the lowest among literate women with some schooling or just high school (10-15%) , and highest among university graduates (25%),which creates a U-shape.
• At very low levels of education and income, women have no choice but to work to help support the family
• But as men in the family start earning more income, women tend to cut back their work in the formal economy to concentrate more on household activities.
• It is the women in the middle – those who are literate but have at most some schooling or have only completed high school – who are squeezed both by the pressure to stay at home and by a lack of plentiful jobs that match their intermediate level of skills and education.
• Patriarchal attitudes <stigma attached to women working outside the home – especially if it involves work considered ‘menial> , social restriction on mobility, concerns about commuting time and about security at work and the difficulties of managing domestic responsibilities along with the paid jobs are the other impediments.

To improve FLFP –

1. Deal with concerns about women’s security, focus on education that reduces the number of female dropouts and improves quality
2. Generate suitable, flexible work near homes
3. Address the huge issue of unpaid work, by recognising it ,reducing it, and redistributing it..

Issue of unpaid work and care work distribution at home

• Conventional employment and unemployment surveys have not been able to capture the various types of unpaid work that women engage in both within and outside households in rural and urban areas in India <for instance Household maintenance, care of children>
• Globally, men’s share in paid work is around 1.8 times that of women, while women have a share three times that of men in unpaid work
• Paid work which is visible and accounted for by the System of National Accounts (SNA) is dominated by men, while unpaid work which is not accounted for is dominated by women and remains unrecognized and unaccounted for.

A pilot time use survey in 1999 revealed that-

• Out of 168 hours in a week, males on an average spent about 42 hours in SNA-captured activities as compared to only about 19 hours by females.
• However, in the extended SNA activities, women spent 34.6 hours which included unpaid work home and outside, as opposed to only about 3.6 hours by men.

Extended SNA activities <would have to pay somebody else to do same work if not done by wives and daughters>

• Household maintenance, management and shopping for own household
• Care for children, the sick, elderly and disabled for own household
• Community service and help to other households

Time Use Surveys are important to design gender-sensitive policies for employment and to make women’s and men’s work visible.

In this regard  Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has conducted a pilot TUS in the states of Bihar and Gujarat in 2013 to test the NCATUS i.e National Classification of Activities for Time Use Studies

P.S.- Rest of the issues, Health sector, Skills Gap, HDI etc will be covered in the next part