How Politicians can Improve Educational Outcomes?

Given that education is closely related to human development at individual as well as societal level, the politicians are always under-pressure to perform in this sector. They need to be seen as doing something – preferably something revolutionary – with a great reformist agenda.  Something that is very concrete and they can throw back at their opponents, media or civil-society or whosoever asks them questions about. Something that the voters may easily digest and vote them back to power. Importantly, they need to do this “something” within a span of a couple of years so people can see results before the next election. So what do they end up doing?

1)    Create a law or introduce a new policy: This is something that politically makes sense the most. Out of all other options, this is often the easiest thing to do given that the governments have majority in the parliament (or state assembly). It does not take more than a few months to draft a law/policy; and once the bill is passed, the political party can trumpet the passing of law as an historical achievement for all subsequent elections.

2)    Create new institutions: The second best politically lucrative option is expanding educational infrastructure. Though this strategy may take a few years of time, the masses see actual concrete-structures. Increasing number of schools/colleges definitely boosts a government’s report-card. In addition, this creates more jobs, increases enrolment-rates, and in-turn expands skilled workforce, which may fuel economic growth.

So far, Indian politicians have primarily relied on the above two strategies. Unfortunately, this could be necessary, but it is certainly not a sufficient condition for improving the quality of education. Then the big question is –

·        Is improvement of education quality not a politically sound strategy?

If the answer is no, then we should probably accept that the quality of mass education will never improve given its politically adverse consequences. The politicians are certainly smart (some may say ‘selfish’) enough not to ruin their personal interest. I have heard cynical arguments saying that the last thing politicians want is citizens with education and independent minds, because they will be difficult to manipulate. The voting pattern will be then based on government’s performance and not on caste/religion-lines. I find it difficult to buy this argument, given that India is already showing a voting-pattern where the government perceived to be not performing is voted out (e.g., Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc.). In order to retain power, the governments have to perform as evident in most elections in the past decade (e.g., BJP in Gujarat, Congress in Delhi, JDU in Bihar, BJD in Odisha, CPIM in Tripura, BJP in Chhattisgarh etc.). Therefore, governments not just need to be functional but need to be efficiently governing in today’s India in order to remain in power.   

This raises a second question -

·        If it is a good strategy to improve educational outcomes, then why has there not been any serious political discourse on it?

The primary reason is that India does not have standardized state administered testing. Therefore, the quality of education is never clearly defined. After all, what is quality education? Is the passing-rate of 80% in the tenth grade state board exam a high quality? The answer is – we do not know. Lack of standardized testing has kept all educators, policy makers and politicians clueless. Also, there is no way one can compare students of various states on their educational outcomes as their educational boards conduct independently developed unscaled tests. Therefore, when a new policy is introduced or a new institution is built, we do not know if that is improving the educational outcomes. It is not possible to compare same cohort of students across grades or different cohorts of students across years. Though in recent years Pratham (an NGO) administers ASER surveys (testing for word and number recognition, and basic addition/subtraction) on nationally representative sample, it unlikely to drive any direct effect on states’ policies or educational practices given its non-governmental nature. In other words, the states may not target those outcomes for driving policy change.

Note that, I do not advocate a system analogous to America’s No Child Left Behind Act, where all students take tests at various stages of their schooling and high-stakes decisions related to funding and staffing are based on the student scores. I firmly believe student achievement can be one of the many criteria for teacher/school assessment, but it can never be the only criterion. However, we certainly need standardized scaled testing (at least in math, languages, and science) at lower primary, upper primary and high school level on scientifically sampled students. The primary purpose of such testing can be as follows:

·        Develop various educational interventions for improved practices

·        Test effectiveness of interventions

·        Scale up the interventions and evaluate effects

·        Design policy and Evaluate its effects over years (standardized test may help compare students of different cohort across years)

·        Gradually, move on to maintaining database on educational progress of all students (with vertically scaled tests we should be able to compare students’ progress across grades)

Given that educational policies are primarily formed at state-level, each state needs to take this testing responsibility. As and when required, the centre government can fund research studies to assess educational outcomes of nationally representative sample of students. The centre may also facilitate the development of a scaling system to compare scores of different educational boards.

One very important suggestion – keep all raw data-files publicly available on website with concealed personal identities. If states only publish results, that is not sufficient. Data sharing in a transparent manner will not only help establish credibility, but will facilitate educational researchers across the world greatly. More research will then inform policy and the cycle of knowledge production will eventually perturb the quality improvement, which is perceived to be in a hibernate state.     

          Such a system will bring everyone out of the rhetoric of educational quality improvement. The politicians, all educational stake-holders, the media and civil society – all will have something concrete to talk about and the serious political discourse on educational outcomes will find its way. As today various governments project their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth-rates, someday they will be able to highlight improvements in the educational outcomes.

But, how will politicians ensure improvements in educational outcomes?

Answer is simple:

·        Ask researchers what interventions may produce positive educational outcomes.

·        Ask them to implement those interventions on a few randomly selected schools. Let them come up with findings.

·        If findings are positive, scale up the project. Implement in several villages/districts. Start talking about the results in your speeches.

·        If findings are still positive, talk about findings in the media. Use your political persuasion to convince all districts (it is very important for the people to buy-in intervention because they are the one who will implement it. If they do out of your fear/ negative consequence attached, things may fall apart soon.)

·        Ask bureaucrats to set up time-line for state-wide expansion of project. It may take 2-3 years, but if people know the process is on, they will appreciate you. Avoid over-night implementations; as system may not digest interventions completely. Halfhearted educational interventions are extremely prone to failure. If at any stage an intervention shows negative results, ask the researchers to fix it and withheld the expansion plan.

·        Bonus tips: Communication with people is the key. If you start talking the language of educational outcomes, the media will soon follow and so will your political opponents (else they will be washed out).  

India needs the best of its politicians. It is like swimming against the tide and I could totally be naïve, but am still a believer. 

I welcome your comments...