Recently, the World Bank has given its approval to the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) programme. The aim of this programme is to enhance the quality as well as governance of school education in six Indian states – Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan, via the Samagra Shiksha initiative.
Expected Beneficiaries of STARS
Around 250 million students, aged between 6 and 17, across 1.5 million schools and over 10 million teachers in India are set to receive benefits from the STARS programme. The $500 million programme is an attempt to strengthen the public school education system and aligns with the country’s objective of giving every citizen access to quality education.
Objectives of the STARS Programme
STARS is expected to improve learning assessment systems, reinforce classroom instruction, streamline transition from school to work, and solidify governance structures and decentralised management. The programme aims to bring STARS’ focus back to addressing the challenge of learning outcomes and preparing students for a rapidly changing future job landscape by way of a variety of reform initiatives.
Key Initiatives Under STARS
The key initiatives under the STARS programme include the provision of customised solutions tailored towards school improvement at the state, district, and sub-district levels, and specific demands such as greater accountability and inclusion. Furthermore, the program will give special attention to students from vulnerable sections like Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and minority communities. The curriculum will be made more adaptive to the swiftly evolving job market needs.
Equipping Teachers and More Investments
STARS acknowledges the central role of teachers in achieving better learning outcomes and endeavors to equip teachers with the right tools to manage the transformation. It aims to invest more in India’s human capital by strengthening foundational learning for children in grades 1 to 3 and preparing them with the cognitive, socio-behavioral, and language skills necessary to meet future labor market needs.
Alignment with SDGs
STARS will also help India in its participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The World Bank’s STARS programme aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal for education (SDG 4) and is designed to improve the National Achievement Survey (NAS).
Successes and Challenges of Indian Education
India has made substantial progress in increasing access to primary education and achieving gender parity in enrolment. However, challenges persist, including issues with capacity, an overemphasis on standardized assessments and excessive use of information and communication technology (ICT). Furthermore, the outsourcing of educational responsibilities to non-state actors can undermine the sense of accountability and ownership.
Way Forward
For a better education system, administrative or governance reforms must allow greater discretion to front-line bureaucracy to address local issues and bring innovations if required. Over-reliance on measurements by standardized assessments, excessive use of ICT, and outsourcing are not the solutions. The education system needs to be enabled to reform itself for a self-reliant India.
