The Importance of Supplemental Funding for Education in India - Research Paper Example

This paper also gives a detailed review of the relevant literature touching on the importance of extra funding on the education system and student performance. The methodology section gives a detailed examination of the data used to test the hypothesis for this research and the empirical probabilities expected for the outcome. The paper then concludes with a policy implication examination and recommendations for the betterment of education in Bihar. Introduction The success of the education sector is possibly the greatest achievement of any government in the world.

The rate of attendance and investment a government puts to its education sector demonstrates its commitment to achieving educational success. Education is a paramount component of many sectors in modern society, including skilled labor force, which requires effective communication; it is primarily the basis for good citizenship. In contemporary society, a good education is a key to opening up a child's potential and preparing them for later professional training that will open their ways for future success.

With such a responsibility falling in the care of the Indian government, education must be made available to children with the highest quality attainable.  Problem Statement A government has many functions, but its most fundamental role is to provide funding, governance, and a funding scheme for making sure its citizens get educated. For that reason, the citizen’s expectations of their government are free public education, universal to all, providing not only equal educational opportunities but also to impart the knowledge necessary for academic success required for professional training to build their career.

Unfortunately, Bihar's education system is unable to sustain the community academically with adequate finances to foster academic success in most students.

The state of Bihar has a total of 38 districts and a population growth rate of 25 percent as per the population census of 2011. Despite having an upward trend in its literacy levels, the state of Bihar is still experiencing issues of academic efficiency due to limited funding (India Population Census). Gupta et al. estimate Bihar’s budget allocated to education and training at 10908.75 Rs. in crores, which is 21.85 percent of the total revenue budgeted (Gupta, Sain, and Nagar 19). In addition, the 2011 Indian census shows that the population of Bihar increased by 25.42 percent (India Population Census). These values show that there is still more to be done when it comes to financing the education sector. Bihar, being approximately 89 percent rural, has a population of 10.41 crores as of 2011, with 19,133,964 of them being children of six years and below. The report also discloses the district's illiteracy levels at 61.80 percent and is the lowest in India (India Population Census). According to the 2019 NITI Aayong SEQI data released, Bihar has approximately 10 percent educational infrastructure, with an accessibility quotient of 42.9 percent and 41 percent learning outcome achievement. In addition, NITI Aayong estimates the total population of children between ages 5-14 at 28 percent of the total population, with about 35 percent of them being out of school and only about 500,000 teachers available (NITI Aayong). Although the current state of education in Bihar might be improving, the staggering rates of illiteracy and low quality of education indicate the lack of commitment to the education sector.

Despite the fact that the quality of teachers, the curriculum design and administrator effectiveness have a significant impact on the academic performance, the rate of spending dedicated to education and its related affiliations have a significant impact on the outcome of the general performance and literacy rates of the state of Bihar. With an increase in expenditure on education, such subsectors imperative to educational success as school resources, quality teacher training, investment in academic facilities, administrative capacity, and resources for the students become effective in increasing the overall academic success. However, the structure used by a specific school may also play a part in the overall academic performance. For instance, if a school does not provide an adequate stipend to its teachers, the quality of education may reduce through the exit of more experienced educators in search of better salaries. In spite of this, an institution that provides an extremely generous stipend may be forced to overlook their investment in better classroom conditions and technological equipment, thereby placing them at risk of inadequate exposure to educational materials. Even though the number of resources allocated towards the education sector matters, the way institutions allocate these resources plays a bigger role in ensuring their academic goals are achieved.

Because the institutional expenditure of educational facilities remains a fundamental determinant of educational success in India, policies, and programs have been formulated to give a guideline to the education sector to manage their education programs best. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is one such program that is aimed at ensuring education is universal. In addition to this universalization, the program aims at reforming the administrative capacity in diverting the way schools are viewed to a "continuum" (SSA). This reform, ensuring the educational requirement of Indian children is achieved with equity, is not enough without the government's necessary funding. The interconnection between government funding, educational expenditure, and the overall quality of education in India is the driving factor in this research. ...Download file to see next pages Read More