Concrete solutions for the overhauling of the Education System have been suggested, its time for some action.
PM Narendra Modi in his customary opening statement on the first day of the Monsoon Session, said, “Whether it is the monsoon or the Monsoon Session, when both are proactive, they become highly productive and contribute to the welfare of the nation.” Drone shots and non-mainstream media videos of the Jantar Mantar Protest march, where our youth were brutally assaulted with lathis and tear gas, show that dark clouds are indeed gathering for the regime. Thousands of young protestors, mostly organic in nature, joined in to demand the resignation of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and a complete overhaul of the education system. Both in love and hate, there is no logic. In a Democracy, people are supposed to be rational actors, but more often than not, they are just not. This outpouring against the government may be the first tangible sign that there is no more fear and Democracy is alive. But there is a deeper political connotation attached to it.
A poison of division and hate has been injected into the minds of ordinary people. They have tended to align with the worst of the institutional plunder, simply for their own survival. And those in power have taken complete advantage of this poison. Now an antidote to this poison is finally emerging. A thunderstorm with lakhs of footsteps marching towards the new Parliament is brewing. Democracy is awake. Thriving and marching on the streets.
In the Parliament, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, emphatically raised the issue of the lathicharge and barbarity of the government against our own children. While many gates of the Parliament were hurriedly closed and the internet in the area was shut down, ordinary youth from different walks of life walked on. Sonam Wangchuk was in the hospital, continued fasting. But Abhijit Dipke was missing in action. Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were doing inconclusive photops with Health Minister J P Nadda, and one more spokie, Vijeta Dahiya, was having a burger at a metro station, only to be caught and questioned by an angry protester. The CJP leadership virtually did not participate in the protest march they called. The youth was left to fend off the police batons and fight for their lives. It is only late at night that Dipke reappeared, only to announce that there would be no more march to Parliament on 21st July. I doubt that will happen.
The unchoreographed flux of the young and restless is now the hope of this movement. Nobody is denying that the initial protest was purely orchestrated by the RSS-AAP ecosystem, with the Left playing a supportive cast. CJP is and shall remain an RSS project to rebrand AAP in order to discredit the Opposition. This was again reinforced by their cowardly absence in the protest march. But sections of the protest have definitely gone beyond labels. The young have genuine anger. They are becoming fearless. They are demanding comprehensive structural reforms in the education system. A complete overhaul, as I mentioned in my previous post.
Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi in his “Chhatron Ki Goonj” rally in Dehradun, has come out with a 3-point charter to take this forward. A glimpse of what the Opposition, particularly the Congress party, actually envisages.
First, India needs a 21st-century testing system. Student-centric, with flexible dates. Digitally secured question bank and randomised questions for exam papers.
High-stakes examinations should move to secure digital platforms with large encrypted question banks, AI-enabled randomisation, and flexible testing windows, reducing the value of leaked papers almost to zero. Countries such as Denmark, Estonia and Australia have already adopted computer-based assessments, while OECD research highlights that adaptive digital testing can improve measurement, reduce testing time and enhance security. The objective must be simple: every student faces a different but equivalent paper, making organised paper leak syndicates obsolete rather than merely illegal.
Second, an independent and accountable education system, free of any political influence, merit-driven. More public spending on education, at least 6 per cent of the GDP and strict convictions for the paper leak mafia.
India needs an autonomous National Examination and Assessment Authority, accountable to Parliament but free from political interference in appointments, administration and evaluation. The National Education Policy itself reiterates the long-standing commitment to raise public expenditure on education to 6 per cent of GDP; instead, we have reduced spending to below 3 per cent now. Alongside greater investment, paper leak offences must be met with swift investigation, time-bound trials, and exemplary punishment. Unless integrity is institutionalised, public trust in merit will continue to erode.
Third, protection for students. Immediate re-exam in case of irregularities and compensation for students.
No student should become collateral damage because the system failed. Whenever an examination is compromised, the law must guarantee immediate re-examination within a fixed timeframe, reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs, and compensation for demonstrable financial or academic loss. International examination boards have established protocols to protect candidates whenever irregularities arise, ensuring that students are not punished for institutional failures. India must adopt the same principle. The burden of paper leaks should fall on those responsible, not on millions of honest students whose futures are placed in uncertainty through no fault of their own.
There are solutions to the problems, but is the Parliament listening?