This is especially worrying in light of the poor learning quality in Indian schools. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 reveals that, despite nearly universal enrollment, 4 out of 5 children in Grade 3 cannot read a Grade 2-level text and 3 out of 4 cannot do simple two-digit subtraction. Even in Grade 8, almost one-third of children lack these basic capabilities, illustrating that schooling is not leading to learning.
Recent child safety incidents in schools have further exposed the deep fissures in our educational infrastructure. From inadequate building safety protocols to cases of bullying and abuse, schools are failing to provide even basic protections for our children. The crisis goes beyond learning outcomes. How can we expect students to thrive academically when their physical and emotional well-being is at risk? The stubborn persistence of learning poverty and basic safety failures hints at deeper systemic issues— the issues that cannot be solved with piecemeal reforms or token gestures.
The academic performance and the safety of our children in educational institutions are paramount. The NEP recognises these systemic challenges and recommends revamping its governance structure. Currently, schools are regulated primarily on their infrastructure and finances, with almost no focus on the quality of learning they provide. The NEP recommends establishing an independent regulatory body called the State School Standards Authority (SSSA), which will build systemic accountability for children’s learning outcomes.
The SSSA will require all schools to adhere to minimum standards of quality, while rationalising the standards for infrastructure. It will also periodically measure student learning outcomes in all schools and transparently publicise the information on school quality. As parents will become empowered with a deeper understanding of school quality, they will make better-informed choices and healthy competition among schools will naturally increase to keep up. If implemented fully, this reform could lead to a virtuous cycle where high-performing schools are rewarded and recognised while low-performing schools are given targeted assistance.
Establishing the SSSA will actually kill two birds with one stone, as it will also resolve a significant conflict of interest. Currently, the same Department of Education (DoE) that operates government schools also regulates all schools, i.e., it regulates its own competitors. This is like a sports match where the referee is a member of one of the teams! Unsurprisingly, this has created an uneven playing field where private and public schools are held to very different standards.
Private schools are not only forced to seek recognition from the DoE in a process that is often long and tortuous, they are also held to stricter land and infrastructure norms than their public counterparts. As a result, despite virtually no regulation on education quality, the market entry and operations of private schools are seriously hindered, and investment in the sector is stifled. Moving the governance function of the DoE to the independent SSSA will not only reinvigorate the private school sector, but it will also free up the DoE’s resources to focus on its core role of operating public schools, thus ultimately improving the quality of education for all school-going children.
Several states and the centre have taken regressive steps to set up a SSSA, based on varied interpretations of NEP’s recommendations. The central government has notified CBSE as the SSSA for central schools. Similarly, several states have also notified the state Examination Board. Sikkim and Punjab have designated the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), the expert body for academic affairs, as the SSSA.
These actions run counter to the spirit of the NEP’s recommendations. If a regulator’s decision-making is influenced by external factors, such as political pressure, industry interests or the government, it can potentially lead to biased regulations that do not serve the public interest. The SSSA must be an autonomous body that specialises only in regulation.
Many crucial questions must be considered before forging ahead with setting up the SSSA. As an activist working on child safety issues for over a decade—and as a lawyer who has seen firsthand how poor governance can derail even well-intentioned policies—I cannot stress enough how critical it is to get this right. To properly shield the SSSA from executive influence, it must be established as a statutory body via a Legislative Act with clearly defined powers and responsibilities, including the power to regulate government-run schools.
Its composition and its members’ selection process and terms of service must be clearly defined by the Legislature. To ensure a balanced and objective decision-making process, its members should represent all key stakeholders—educators, parents, and child safety experts—and its decisions must be transparent and subject to public scrutiny. Even after the SSSA is established, it will be essential to stay vigilant and carefully examine all policy decisions.
We cannot afford another missed opportunity like the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act of 2009, which set ambitious goals but failed to follow up with implementation and accountability. Fifteen years later, many schools still do not meet the RTE standards. The SSSA must be careful to establish norms that are ambitious yet practical. Its budget and spending plan should also be made public annually to ensure financial transparency.
India is home to 18% of the world’s children, and we must not fail them. The NEP has rightly recognised a governance challenge that is hamstringing our education system and holding back student learning. Its recommended solution, the SSSA, has the potential to reform our schools and build a system capable of providing quality education to every single child. These recommendations must be transformed into reality. The time to act is now.
—The author, Suresh Kumar, is Executive Director at Centre DIRECT, a leading NGO working for the empowerment of women, youth and children. The views are personal.
